Wind farms dispatching to manage the activation of frequency support algorithms embedded in connected wind turbines

Wind energy development in power systems and their replacement for conventional generation plants are considered to be a two sided coin. Wind energy penetration process depends on two aspects, namely, the technical and economical impacts on power grid and electricity market. This paper focuses on the technical section and aims to solve a major problem related to the high wind energy penetration levels. This dilemma arises due to the intermittent nature of wind speed which mitigates its capabilities compared to conventional generation, especially in dealing with frequency drops. This research work focuses on a basic sector from this problem, particularly, dispatching the wind turbines, inside wind farms, during frequency drops mitigation. The proposed algorithm integrates several factors to determine the number of wind turbines which should contribute in system frequency recovery. Wind speed nature in the wind farm location, installed wind turbines types and their numbers are examples for these factors. However, this dispatching process is instantaneous and counts on other dynamic factors (e.g. average wind speed at wind turbine and frequency deviation severity). In addition, conventional generation is controlled based on wind farms reactions during frequency drops, likewise at normal operation. Certain zone from the Egyptian grid is integrated in this research work as a benchmark to apply the offered algorithm whereas real data for wind speeds and grid specifications are applied. MATLAB and Simulink are the implemented simulation environments. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.