Optimal sizing of the CAES system in a power system with high wind power penetration

The compressed air energy storage (CAES) system is a mature and reliable bulk energy storage technique with promising potential to accommodate high wind power penetration in power systems. This paper proposes an optimization model to decide the rated power and capacity of a CAES system, which is crucial to maximizing economical profits. This methodology involves several steps. Firstly, the constraints of the CAES system's rated power are considered, which include the CAES system's compensation for power shortages during peak load period, the influence of the operation on power flow and the impact on the system when CAES is switched. Secondly, an exponential distribution is adopted to calculate wind power curtailment at night, based on which the benefits from recovering wind power curtailment can be estimated. Finally, the economical profits are optimized according to the CAES investment cost, operation cost and turnout. The results show that the proposed methodology can provide a referential guidance for CAES sizing according to different situations in practice. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.