IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 23, NO.

3, AUGUST 2008

1523

Actively Managing Wind Farm Power Output

Robert A. F. Currie, Student Member, IEEE, Graham W. Ault, Member, IEEE, Robert W. Fordyce, David F. MacLeman, Mark Smith, and James R. McDonald, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractThis letter presents the outcomes of a trial of an active network management (ANM) scheme on part of the North-Scotland electricity network. The ANM scheme has as its goal the facilitation of increased connections of distributed generation (DG) from renewable resources on the Orkney Isles. The ANM scheme is the rst multigenerator application of ANM at distribution level in the U.K. The ANM scheme is briey discussed prior to the trial of the ANM scheme being introduced. The implications of the trial for full ANM roll-out are discussed. The results of the trial of the ANM scheme are of direct relevance to those working in the areas of ANM, smart grids, and advanced distribution automation. The results conrm that wind farms can be controlled within the thermal constraints of a distribution network subject to certain operating margin considerations. Index TermsActive network management, distributed generation, renewable energy.

II. ORKNEY ISLANDS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK A. Existing DG Connections on Orkney There are several DG units already connected to the Orkney distribution network, as described in [1]. Further development of generation on Orkney is constrained by a lack of available connection capacity under existing arrangements. B. Voltage Control on Orkney Several reactive compensation devices have been installed in the Orkney network, including a dynamic Var compensating device (DVAr). A more localized 33-kV radial voltage rise problem has been addressed through the installation of additional shunt reactors. The reactive compensation equipment solves short- and long-term voltage issues. C. ANM Philosophy The Orkney ANM scheme manages the output of new DG capacity to match the available thermal capacity on the network arising from diversity in both load demand and DG output. The approach to ANM is both corrective and preventative, designed to maintain current ow within safe limits but capable of taking corrective action if limits are either reached or violated. Operating margins are employed to limit current ow below the rated capacity of the critical section of the distribution network. A high level overview of the control solution can be found in [1] and [4]. The scheme takes a zonal approach to control of the Orkney New Non-Firm Generation (NNFG) units and the control logic is capable of coping with a zonal nested control problem. NNFG units extend the permitted DG connection capacity beyond normal rm limits. III. TRIAL OF ORKNEY ANM SCHEME A trial of the Orkney ANM scheme was completed in November 2006. The trial involved a programmable logic controller (PLC) that received measurements of current and power being exported to mainland Scotland and a PLC at the site of an existing Orkney wind farm which was the focus of the trial. The PLCs communicated with each other through private wire via messaged instructions. The wind farm PLC fed digital signals into the power network operator SCADA system, which in turn issued instructions to the wind farm control system. A. Output Regulation of Wind Farm During ANM Trial Fig. 1 is a trace of wind farm output during one phase of the ANM trial. The set-points that the ANM scheme issued to the wind farm are marked with arrows. In Fig. 1, the wind farm is issued a set-point of 0.8 pu by the active management scheme at around 120 s. Over the next 15

I. INTRODUCTION

HE Orkney Islands are the focus of signicant activity in the generation of electricity from renewable resources. A collaborative project between the University of Strathclyde and Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc (the network operator) resulted in the initial specication of the Orkney active network management (ANM) scheme [1]. This formed the basis for an application to the U.K. regulator to designate Orkney a Registered Power Zone (RPZ) [2]. This successful application paved the way for the detailed design and trial of the ANM scheme. The archival value of this letter lies in the presentation of the rst such ANM scheme to reach the closed-loop trial stage. The trial was undertaken in cooperation with an existing wind farm on Orkney, and the outcomes of the trial are of relevance to the planning and design of future ANM schemes. ANM addresses the concerns and technical challenges that can result from the connection and operation of distributed generation (DG) units: power ow management, voltage control, and fault level management. ANM schemes are emerging that address one or more of these constraints, as described in [3]. Previous work by the authors [4][6] provides a detailed introduction to ANM.
Manuscript received September 6, 2007; revised January 14, 2008. Paper no. PESL-00105-2007. R. A. F. Currie, G. W. Ault, and J. R. McDonald are with the Advanced Electrical Systems Research Group, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XW, U.K. R. W. Fordyce, D. F. MacLeman, and M. Smith are with Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc, Perth, PH1 3AQ, U.K. Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPWRS.2008.926722

0885-8950/$25.00 2008 IEEE

1524

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 23, NO. 3, AUGUST 2008

Fig. 1. Wind farm output during part of ANM trial.

TABLE I RESULTS OF ORKNEY ANM TRIAL

2) Control System Time Delays: Informal discussion with a wind farm developer suggests the response time can potentially be improved. Some grid connection requirements for wind farms place a more onerous requirement on the control of wind farm power output [7]. The time taken for the wind farm to achieve the set point must be taken into consideration in network control schemes that curtail DG power output based on local network constraints. It is clear, however, that preventive and corrective actions will be required, based on monitoring of the wind farm response. 3) Ramp Rate Capability of NNFG: The results of the trial show that the ramp rate of the wind farm is set around 4%5%/min. Setting the ramp rate higher will benet the operation of NNFG units in the full ANM scheme as smaller operating margins will be employed and the curtailment experienced by NNFG units will be reduced [5] for faster DG response rates. IV. CONCLUSION This letter has presented some key outcomes of a trial of an ANM scheme on the Orkney distribution network. The results of the ANM trial are being fed into the design of the full ANM scheme, to be rolled out in the Orkney network in 2008. The further implications of the trial for the full ANM scheme and the wider DG community will be expanded upon by the authors in future work. This closed loop eld trial is an essential step towards full deployment of ANM on Orkney and elsewhere in the U.K. and beyond. REFERENCES
[1] R. A. F. Currie, G. W. Ault, and D. Telford, Facilitate Generation Connections on Orkney by Automatic Distribution Network Management, DTI Project Final Rep., Contract: K/EL/00311/00/00, URN: 05/514, 2005. [2] Engineering Directorate, UK Energy Networks Association, Engineering Recommendation G85: Innovation in Electrical Distribution Network Systems; A Good Practice Guide, no. 1, 2005. [3] R. A. F. Currie and G. W. Ault, Register of Active Management Pilots, Trials, Research, Development and Demonstration Activities, DTI Project Rep., Apr. 2006. [4] R. A. F. Currie, G. W. Ault, and J. R. McDonald, Methodology for the determination of the economic connection capacity for renewable generator connections to distribution networks optimised by active power ow management, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., Gen., Transm., Distrib., vol. 153, no. 4, pp. 456462, Jul. 13, 2006. [5] R. A. F. Currie, C. E. T. Foote, G. W. Ault, and J. R. McDonald, Active power ow management utilising operating margins for the increased connection of distributed generation, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., Gen., Transm., Distrib., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 197202, Jan. 2007. [6] G. W. Ault, R. A. F. Currie, and J. R. McDonald, Active power ow management solutions for maximising DG connection capacity, in Proc. IEEE Power Eng. Soc. General Meeting, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2006, Invited Panel Paper. [7] C. Jauch, P. Sorensen, and B. B. Jensen, International review of grid connection requirements for wind turbines, presented at the Nordic Wind Power Conf., Mar. 12, 2004, Chalmers Univ. Technol., unpublished.

min, the wind farm output is reduced through set-points of 0.77 pu and 0.73 pu at 300-s intervals. Set-point instructions are sent to the wind farm in response to current breaching acceptable limits on the submarine cables to the mainland (the main thermal constraint). The wind farm output remains below the set point after reducing from the initial higher value in each case over the 15-min period. This holds true for the release of capacity to the wind farm towards the end of the trace when a 0.8 pu set-point is issued at around 1140 s and 0.84 pu set-point at around 1440 s. Table I provides some key results from the ANM trial. It is important to note that the communications and control delay identied in Table I does not distinguish between the communications delay of the network utility SCADA system and the inherent delay within the wind farm control system. The wind farm achieves the set point as issued each time by the ANM scheme. There are different time delays for each set point. The ramp rate appears to be around 4%5% of wind farm rated output per minute. B. Main Outcomes of Orkney ANM Trial 1) Wind Farm Output Regulation Capability Conrmed: The ANM trial has shown that a wind farm can achieve a desired set-point as issued by the ANM scheme. It has also been shown that the MW output from the wind farm can remain consistently below the set-point issued. The ability of the wind farm to maintain power output at the designated set-point is dependent on wind conditions.