The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) and Grid Controller of India have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly carry out a research project on hybrid day-ahead and intra-day solar forecasting for large solar parks in India.
The agreement was signed by Prof. Mohammad Rihan, director general of NISE, and Manoj Kumar Agrawal, executive director of the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), with representatives from both organizations present, including GRID-India chairman and managing director Samir Chandra Saxena.
The project will be delivered in partnership with renewable energy developers including Adani Green Energy, NTPC Green Energy, Tata Power Renewable Energy, ReNew and Serentica Renewables. These companies will provide access to large utility-scale solar parks to support real-time deployment and validation of the forecasting system.
The initiative aims to develop a hybrid solar forecasting framework combining numerical weather prediction, satellite data and real-time all-sky imager-based nowcasting. The system is intended to produce high-frequency probabilistic forecasts, including P50 and P90 outputs, ranging from minutes ahead to 48 hours.
According to the partners, the approach is designed to improve short-term predictability for solar generation, reduce risks linked to India’s Deviation Settlement Mechanism and support more reliable scheduling for developers and system operators.
The collaboration is part of efforts to strengthen data-driven forecasting capabilities to support large-scale renewable energy integration into India’s power grid.
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