Effects of wind energy supplied by independent power producers on the generation dispatch of electric power utilities

Integration of wind power plants into the existing isolated system presents challenges to power system operators. The problem is further complicated to the generation dispatch imposed by the presence of wind turbine generators (WTGs), owned by independent power producers (IPP) with a large penetration of dispatchable wind energy sources. An evolutionary simulated annealing (ESA) algorithm combined with the direct search method (DSM) is developed in this paper for the solution of wind-thermal coordination dispatch (WTCD) problem without restrictions on the shape of cost functions. The proposed hybrid algorithm can be used to maximize the contribution of non-utility wind farms to reducing the cost of thermal dispatch while maintaining an adequate level of supply reliability. The developed WTCD software is also a useful tool for the evaluation of avoided generation cost (AGC) due to purchase of IPP wind energy by the utility. Numerical experiments are included to understand the wind generator output variations in system operating cost analysis and to assess the impact and economic benefits of the installation of non-utility wind farms. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.