A novel hybrid BWO-BiLSTM-ATT framework for accurate offshore wind power prediction

Abstract

Accurate wind power forecasting is pivotal in facilitating the efficient integration of renewable energy sources into existing power grids. This study proposes a novel hybrid framework, termed BWO-BiLSTM-ATT, which synergistically combines the strengths of a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network, a self-attention mechanism, and the Beluga Whale Optimization (BWO) algorithm. The BiLSTM architecture, with its unique ability to capture bidirectional temporal dependencies, effectively models the intricate dynamics present in wind power time series data. Integrating the self-attention mechanism further enhances the model's performance by discerning and emphasizing the most salient features within the input data. Furthermore, employing the BWO algorithm optimizes the model's hyperparameters, ensuring optimal configuration and enhancing its predictive accuracy and generalization capabilities. The proposed BWO-BiLSTM-ATT framework was rigorously evaluated using real-world data from an offshore wind farm in Yangjiang City, China. Comparative analyses were conducted against several baseline algorithms, including persistence, ARIMA, SVR, and vanilla LSTM models. The results demonstrate the superior performance of the BWO-BiLSTM-ATT framework, achieving higher R-squared and explained variance scores, coupled with lower error metrics such as MSE, RMSE, MedAE, and MAE. Statistical significance tests further corroborated the substantial performance improvements offered by the proposed framework. The combination of advanced deep learning techniques and metaheuristic optimization algorithms embedded in the BWO-BiLSTM-ATT framework provides a robust and accurate solution for wind power forecasting, enabling efficient management and seamless integration of renewable energy resources into existing power grids.