Load and Demand Forecasting in Iraqi Kurdistan using Time series modelling

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the concept of time series forecasting. More specifically, it predicts the load and power demand in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, who are today experiencing frequent power shortages. This study applies a commonly used time series model, the autoregressive integrated moving average model, which is compared to the naïve method. Several key model properties are inspected to evaluate model accuracy. The model is then used to forecast the load and the demand on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The forecasts are evaluated by examining the residual metrics. Furthermore, the quantitative results and the answers collected from interviews are used as a basis to investigate the conditions of capacity planning in order to determine a suitable strategy to minimize the unserved power demand. The findings indicate an unsustainable over consumption of power in the region due to low tariffs and subsidized energy. A suggested solution is to manage power demand by implementing better strategies such as increasing tariffs and to use demand forecast to supply power accordingly. The monthly supply forecast in this study outperforms the baseline method but not the demand forecast. On weekly basis, both the load and the demand models underperform. The performance of the daily forecasts performs equally or worse than the baseline. Overall, the supply predictions are more precise than the demand predictions. However, there is room for improvement regarding the forecasts. For instance, better model selection and data preparation can result in more accurate forecasts.