Wind Farms Placement in an Electric Power System

Abstract

Specific conditions of wind farms operation require special treatment of the wide range of aspects, in particular, calculation of the parameters characterizing the influence of wind farms on the power system operation regime and efficient practical representation of data calculated for a long period of time. The aim of the study is to formulate a method for placing the totality of wind farms in the electric power system (EPS). To this end, it is necessary to estimate the influence of wind farms on the EPS operation regime main parameters. For carrying out the study, methods for statistical processing of big databases, optimization methods, and numerical methods were used. Computational experiments were carried out in the Microsoft Office Excel software package. Based on the study results, criteria have been obtained using which it is possible to determine the most suitable places for the installation of wind farms, for example, to reduce the fluctuations in the EPS generation schedule. In addition, the values of the revealed indicators are used to evaluate the possibility of controlling the existing conventional power plants and identify measures for widening the adjustment range. The larger the capacity of wind farms, the more significant their influence is; however, the negative component of this influence decreases if many wind farms operate in the power system.

By using the developed method, the most rational nodes of the EPC can be selected using the identified criteria at the design stage in determining the wind farms installation places. The accomplished studies have yielded a simple and practically applicable approach to determining the most optimal wind farm placement sites.