Optimized hybrid ensemble learning approaches applied to very short-term load forecasting

The significance of accurate short-term load forecasting (STLF) for modern power systems’ efficient and secure operation is paramount. This task is intricate due to cyclicity, non-stationarity, seasonality, and nonlinear power consumption time series data characteristics. The rise of data accessibility in the power industry has paved the way for machine learning (ML) models, which show the potential to enhance STLF accuracy. This paper presents a novel hybrid ML model combining Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), and Support Vector Regression (SVR), examining both standalone and integrated, coupled with signal decomposition techniques like STL, EMD, EEMD, CEEMDAN, and EWT. Through Automated Machine Learning (AutoML), these models are integrated and their hyperparameters optimized, predicting each load signal component using data from two sources: The National Operator of Electric System (ONS) and the Independent System Operators New England (ISO-NE), boosting prediction capacity. For the 2019 ONS dataset, combining EWT and XGBoost yielded the best results for very short-term load forecasting (VSTLF) with an RMSE of 1,931.8 MW, MAE of 1,564.9 MW, and MAPE of 2.54%. These findings highlight the necessity for diverse approaches to each VSTLF problem, emphasizing the adaptability and strength of ML models combined with signal decomposition techniques.