Integrating neuro-fuzzy system and evolutionary optimization algorithms for short-term power generation forecasting

This study aims to short-therm forecasting of power generation output for this purpose, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is designed to forecast the output power of power plant based on climate factors considering wind speed and wind direction simultaneously.

Several methods and algorithms have been proposed for systems forecasting in various fields. One of the strongest methods for modeling complex systems is neuro-fuzzy that refers to combinations of artificial neural network and fuzzy logic. When the system becomes more complex, the conventional algorithms may fail for network training. In this paper, an integrated approach, including ANFIS and metaheuristic algorithms, is used for increasing forecast accuracy.

Power generation in power plants is dependent on various factors, especially climate factors. Operating power plant in Iran is very much influenced because of climate variation, including from tropical to subpolar, and severely varying temperature, humidity and air pressure for each region and each season. On the other hands, when wind speed and wind direction are used simultaneously, the training process does not converge, and the forecasting process is unreliable. The real case study is mentioned to show the ability of the proposed approach to remove the limitations.

First, ANFIS is applied for forecasting based on climate factors, including wind speed and wind direction, that have rarely been used simultaneously in previous studies. Second, the well-known and more widely used metaheuristic algorithms are applied to improve the learning process for forecasting output power and compare the results.