Impact of wind power on control performance standards

As the penetration of wind power continuously increases, the impacts of wind power on frequency control have become of great concern. Frequency control requires real time balance between system generation and load, with system frequency deviation maintained within a certain range. Control Performance Standards (CPS) are indices for evaluating a balancing area’s frequency control performance in an interconnected system. They are important for quantifying the frequency control performance of the interconnected system and the relative distribution of frequency control responsibility among areas. Without mitigating action, the increasing wind power may inhibit a balancing area’s ability to comply with CPS due to variability in power output from wind plants and reduced system frequency response. This paper assesses the impacts of wind power on a balancing area’s frequency control characteristics and studies the wind power impacts on CPS. A two area Automatic Generation Control (AGC) model is used to verify these impacts. AGC changes the valve reference positions of units and restores system frequency to nominal values. Both theoretical study and simulation results show that CPS indices deteriorate as wind power penetration increases. Measures to improve CPS are provided.

► Reduced governor response and increased variation brought by wind affect CPS.
► Both CPS1 and CPS2 deteriorate with increasing wind penetration levels.
► Four effective measures are identified for improving control performance.
► Violations of BAAL are negatively affected by wind as well.
► The four proposed measures are also effective for reducing BAAL violations.