  With growing amounts of wind and solar power in the electricity mix of many
European countries, understanding and predicting variations of renewable energy
generation at multiple timescales is crucial to ensure reliable electricity
systems. At seasonal scale, the balance between supply and demand is mostly
determined by the large-scale atmospheric circulation, which is uncertain due
to climate change and natural variability. Here we employ four teleconnection
indices, which represent a linkage between atmospheric conditions at widely
separated regions, to describe the large-scale circulation at seasonal scale
over Europe. For the first time, we relate each of the teleconnections to the
wind and solar generation anomalies at country and regional level and we show
that dynamical forecasts of the teleconnection indices allow predicting
renewable generation at country level with positive skill levels. This model
unveils the co-variability of wind and solar generation in European countries
through its common dependence on the general circulation and the state of the
teleconnections.
