Meteorology and the Energy Sector

The energy sector has a diverse requirement for meteorological services to support decision-making for both day-to-day operations and for longer term strategic planning. This requirement is driven in part by the natural climate variability (including extreme weather events) and increasingly by climate change as manifested through the physical climate and through policy responses to the issue. The meteorological services required for decision-making in this sector can be broadly categorised into two ways: (i) those that support decision-making concerning the implementation and operation of new technologies for energy production, and (ii) those that support decision-making for maintaining service and reducing emissions by existing energy sector infrastructure. This chapter focuses on the electricity production sector and examines the types of services that are currently available, and also those that are likely to be needed in the future. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the likely climate and weather service provision mechanisms that will best meet the energy sector’s needs, and the role that the Global Framework for Climate Services could be expected to play in meeting these needs.