Abstract
The need to take into account and explicitly model forecast uncertainty is today at the heart of many scientific and applied enterprises. For instance, the ever-increasing accuracy of weather forecasts has been driven by the development of ensemble forecasts, where a large number of forecasts are generated either by generating forecasts from different models or by repeatedly perturbing the initial conditions of a single forecast model. Importantly, this approach provides robust estimates of forecast uncertainty, which supports human judgement and decision-making. Although weather forecasts and their uncertainty are also crucial for the weather-to-power conversion for RES forecasting in system operation, power trading and balancing, the industry has been reluctant to adopt ensemble methods and other new technologies that can help manage highly variable and uncertain power feed-ins, especially under extreme weather conditions. In order to support the energy industry in the adaptation of uncertainty forecasts into their business practices, the IEA Wind Task 36 has started an initiative in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Hans-Ertel Center for Weather Research to investigate the existing barriers in the industry to the adoption of such forecasts into decision processes. In the first part of the initiative, a forecast game was designed as a demonstration of a typical decision-making task in the power industry. The game was introduced in an IEA Wind Task 36 workshop and thereafter released to the public. When closed, it had been played by 120 participants. We will discuss the results of our first experience with the experiment and introduce some new features of the second generation of experiments as a continuation of the initiative. We will also discuss specific questions that emerged when we started and after analysing the experiments. Lastly we will discuss the trends we found and how we will fit these into the overall objective of the initiative which is to provide training tools to demonstrate the use and benefit of uncertainty forecasts by simulating decision scenarios with feedback and allowing people to learn from experience, rather than reading articles, how to use such forecasts.

Abstract
One of the major barriers for the retailers is to understand the consumption elasticity they can expect from their contracted demand response (DR) clients. The current trend of DR products provided by retailers are not consumer-specific, which poses additional barriers for the active engagement of consumers in these programs. The elasticity of consumers' demand behavior varies from individual to individual. The utility will benefit from knowing more accurately how changes in its prices will modify the consumption pattern of its clients. This work proposes a functional model for the consumption elasticity of the DR contracted consumers. The model aims to determine the load adjustment the DR consumers can provide to the retailers or utilities for different price levels. The proposed model uses a Bayesian probabilistic approach to identify the actual load adjustment an individual contracted client can provide for different price levels it can experience. The developed framework provides the retailers or utilities with a tool to obtain crucial information on how an individual consumer will respond to different price levels. This approach is able to quantify the likelihood with which the consumer reacts to a DR signal and identify the actual load adjustment an individual contracted DR client provides for different price levels they can experience. This information can be used to maximize the control and reliability of the services the retailer or utility can offer to the System Operators. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract

Abstract
Flexibility is key for the decarbonization of the energy sector, contributing to decrease uncertainty in the operation of distribution networks, due to the connection of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles. However, effective deployment requires interoperable and replicable solutions, technologically agnostic and independent from the role of each actor and market models adopted. This paper presents an overview of ongoing projects that aim to deliver and demonstrate interoperable solutions across the full value chain of the energy sector. The main objective and expected results of the H2020 InterConnect, EUniversal and OneNet projects will be presented. © 2021 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Abstract
The papers in this special section focus on advances in renewable energy forecasting, predictability, business models, and applications in the power industry. During the last 25 years, research has been conducted for developing renewable energy source (RES) forecasting algorithms, especially for wind and solar energy, seeking an improvement of predictability and uncertainty forecasting products. Research on wave energy forecasting is also being conducted, although this technology is not at the same maturity levels of wind and solar energy technologies. Furthermore, the number of companies selling forecasting services has proliferated and the reliability and availability of the services have improved. Currently, power system operators and electrical energy traders use weather and power forecasts embedded in their decision-making processes. Despite all this research and adoption by the energy industry, deterministic forecasts are still predominant in utility practice mainly due to: i) lack of understanding and standardization of uncertainty forecast products; and ii) high computational time associated with stochastic and robust optimization approaches. Moreover, proven business cases are also needed to demonstrate the benefits of uncertainty forecasts to end-users.

Abstract
As the penetration levels of renewable energy sources increase and climatic changes produce more and more extreme weather conditions, the uncertainty of weather and power production forecasts can no longer be ignored for grid operation and electricity market bidding. In order to support the energy industry in the integration of uncertainty forecasts into their business practices, this work describes an experiment conducted with 105 participants from the energy industry. In the framework of an IEA Wind Task 36 workshop, the experiment aimed to investigate existing psychological barriers in the industry to adopt probabilistic forecasts and to better understand human decision processes. We designed and ran a 'decision game' to demonstrate the potential benefits of uncertainty forecasts in a realistic-although simplified-problem, where an energy trader had to decide whether to trade 100% or 50% of the energy of an offshore wind park on a given day based on deterministic and probabilistic uncertainty day-ahead forecasts. The focus thus was on a decision-making process dealing with extremes that can cause high costs in the form of security issues in the electric grid for system operators, or high monetary losses for traders, who have bid a power production into the market that failed to be produced due to high-speed shutdown of the wind turbines. This paper presents the obtained results, extracts behavioural conclusions and identifies how to overcome psychological barriers to the adoption of uncertainty forecasts in the energy industry.