Critical Challenges for Wind Power

Effective integration of wind resources is of high priority for both wind developers and the affected utility
companies. Although experience in wind generation has been growing for the last 25 years, both the scale
and the economic stakes of wind integration have recently increased rapidly. In fact, many of the
assumptions and speculations on how large scale wind plants may affect the power system are now being
experienced in practice.
No doubt large-scale wind can be difficult to predict and plan for. Wind farms have some very unique
characteristics compared to the much more familiar conventional generation resources normally
considered in electric power system planning. The rapid growth of wind generation throughout the world
is already creating situations in which the intermittent and variable nature of the wind resource is
affecting electricity transmission and distribution systems. And analytical tools are not generally available
to predict these problems in the planning phase.

Power System Planning and Operation

System Generation Fundamentals
The main function of generation in an electric power system is to produce electric energy to serve the
power system load. This function of generation may include regeneration from stored energy. The
Authoritative Dictionary of IEEE Standards Terms, Seventh Edition, ANSI/IEEE Std. 100, defines
generation as producing or storing electric energy with the intent of enabling practical use or commercial
sale of the available energy. A generating station is also defined as “a plant wherein electric energy is
produced from some other form of energy (for example, chemical, mechanical or hydraulic) by means of
suitable apparatus.” The operation of electric power systems is fundamentally different from other
utilities. Electric systems have two unique physical characteristics:
• Electric energy is not commercially stored like natural gas and water. Production and consumption
(generation and load) must be balanced in near real-time. This requires continuous monitoring of loads,
generation, and the voltages and flows throughout the power system, as well as adjusting generation
output to match consumption.
(Electricity is not “stored” directly. When electricity is “stored,” it is converted to another form of energy and reconverted later. Pumped storage
hydro converts electricity to mechanical potential energy by lifting water. Batteries convert electric energy to chemical potential energy. The re-
conversion to electricity uses conventional generators or inverters.)

• The transmission and distribution network is primarily passive, with few “control valves” or “booster
pumps” to regulate electrical flows on individual lines. Flow-control actions are limited primarily to
adjusting generation output and to opening and closing switches to add, remove, or reroute transmission
and distribution lines and equipment from service.
These two operating constraints lead to four reliability consequences with practical implications that
dominate power system design and operations:
• Every action can potentially affect all other activities on the power system. Therefore, the operations of
all bulk-power participants must be coordinated.
• Cascading problems that quickly escalate in severity are a real threat. Failure of a single element can, if
not managed properly, cause the subsequent rapid failure of many additional elements, potentially
disrupting the entire power system.
• The need to be ready for the next contingency may limit current operations (for example, likely power
flows that occur if another element fails could limit the allowable power transfers).
• Because electricity flows at nearly the speed of light, maintaining system stability and reliability often
requires that actions be taken instantaneously (within fractions of a second), requiring automatic
computations, communications, and controls.
These concepts have important consequences for what constitutes congestion and how wind power
interacts with the power system.

Expectations Based on Traditional Generators

Reliable and low-cost operation of the interconnected electric utility is not a “natural” state but relies on
operational scheduling, planning, and coordination of a multitude of electric utility control systems.
Therefore, a traditional electric utility generator is not just a source of energy.
There is an array of performance capabilities and specific services that operators have relied on from
traditional generators. Some of these services are simply provided by the generators as part of
participation in the energy market. Others are obtained from bidding in separate ancillary services
markets that have evolved, particularly in light of deregulation. The exact definition of these services
varies in different markets, but in general they fall into the categories described in Table 2-1.
Response time is one of the critical factors in defining these generation capabilities and services.
Time is critical because of the nature of the electric utility as described above. And wind power
integration issues as well as the value attributed to wind power are to a large degree measured by how
well the traditional generation functions are fulfilled.
† Loss of load expectation (LOLE) is the probably measure that a load cannot be served with available generation.
†† Automatic generation control (AGC) is a method for adjusting generation to minimize frequency deviations and regulate tie-
line flows.
††† Control performance standards (CPS1 and CPS2) are minute-to-minute and 10-minute average criteria for load frequency
control in each control area. These criteria require the control areas to maintain their area control errors (ACE) within tight limits.
ACE is measured in MW and is defined as the instantaneous difference between the actual and scheduled interchanges plus
frequency bias (imbalances that bias the system toward maintaining 60 Hz).
†††† Frequency regulation service is usually provided from generation that is on-line and delivering some level of base energy
power on a full-time basis or scheduled. The service is to increase and decrease power output where the average output over the
scheduled period does not change—that is, there is no net change in delivered energy attributed to the frequency regulation

service. Consequently, energy-storage devices could provide this service.

Technical Integration Issues of Wind
When wind is in the generation mix, operators must consider the unique characteristics of wind power for
planning and operating the power system. If wind is to provide a significant contribution to the system
energy, it is likely that changes in unit commitment, economic dispatch, and operating reserves will be
needed. The following list is intended to divide the technical integration issues posed by wind-power
generation into a set of six characteristics of wind energy that may impact the electric power system:
• Intermittency of wind power
• Ramping burdens in wind output power
• Wind’s fluctuating output power
• Limited reactive power control of wind power
• Distributed collection of wind power
• Distinctly remote nature of wind power

Intermittency of Wind Power

The output of most traditional generators can be planned as well as controlled, even minute-to minute, to
meet the expected daily load and to balance or regulate variations in that load. Wind power output
depends on the weather and is determined by time-varying wind speeds; its output varies day to day as
well as from hour to hour and even minute to minute. Two wind facilities may have the same capacity
rating and annual energy production. However, the different wind regimes may result in very different
hourly, daily, and seasonal operating schedules.
Forecasting wind plant variations for day-ahead or hour-ahead commitments is improving.
However, forecasting has not been perfected such that wind can be counted on as firm energy.
Backing off of the wind output, although possible with many modern turbine controls, means losing some
of the available wind resource. It is a “use it or lose it” proposition. The bottom line is that wind plant
power output is significantly less predictable and less controllable than conventional generation. This
intermittency and uncertainty affects many attributes of the wind power from dispatch procedure and
capacity credit to reserve resources and ancillary services.
Operators depend on regulating generation to follow the load, ramping up in the morning and ramping
down in the evening. Wind generation may decline in the morning and increase in the evening, potentially
increasing the necessary amount of load-following reserves, and wind cannot be practically dispatched
due to unpredictability and the “use it or lose it” nature of the resource.
Many committed generating units cannot be shut down or started up on short notice, so a day ahead
schedule is created to meet the hour-by-hour load forecast at the lowest cost. If wind is in the mix, errors
in the day-ahead and hour-by-hour wind power forecast will lead to sub-optimal generating unit
deployment and perhaps additional reserves. Because of this, wind is given a low capacity credit that is
usually around 20%. And the intermittency makes wind power not appropriate as a source for most
ancillary services.
Wind intermittency may also affect the amount of operating reserves that need to be scheduled for system
contingencies. This may impact system security and reliability. In general, wind is not suitable as a source
of operating reserve. Power system operators are responsible to maintain the system in a state where it
will survive major contingencies and minimize the customer service interruptions. The potential for wind
generation to introduce additional risk or uncertainty is one of the tough technical concerns for wind
power.
Ramping Burdens in Wind Output Power
Maintaining grid stability usually refers to moment-to-moment balancing of the load and generation by
holding a constant frequency. Rapid changes in system loads are matched by quickly ramping generation
up or down to balance load and generation in a 5-to-10-minute time frame. Also, some units are required
to ramp more quickly, following an AGC signal to maintain system balance. Operators refer to this
process as regulation, and the time frame is in minutes. A substantial load change may cause sudden
changes in frequency, to which speed governors on individual generator units must respond. The number
of plants and their capacity to provide load balancing and regulation is limited in any power system. The
challenge is to have sufficient energy balancing and regulating generation with ramp rates to meet the
worst-case load fluctuations.
It is undesirable to ramp downwind generation because the wind resource is lost if not used. Ramping up
is limited by the available wind. And the uncontrolled variations in wind-driven output, up or down, will
likely increase the need for other load-following and regulating generation. If wind is a relatively large
percent of the system generation, this problem is amplified and imbalances can lead to undesirable
variations in system frequency. In large interconnected power systems, massive system inertia would
prevent a significant change in frequency due to the fluctuations of any reasonable amount of wind
generation. In an isolated island power system, the small system inertia relative to the size of the wind
plant or plants will be more likely to affect the system frequency.

Wind Potential for Fluctuating Output Power

Rapid changes in power system loading or in generation can also cause small voltage fluctuations that
manifest themselves as light flicker. Voltage changes of 1 to 2% can cause visible flicker. Wind-turbines
can cause voltage fluctuations because of a number of natural weather and machine conditions. These
include fluctuations in the wind speed, cut-in or cut-out transients, tower shadow effects, wind shear, and
pitching and yaw errors of blades. Other factors in flicker production are the type of generator: induction
with fixed or variable poles, variable speed through electronic power conversion with or without pitch
control, directly connected synchronous generators and synchronous generators connected through a
converter.
Another case where wind-related voltage fluctuations may occur involves low-speed turbines that are
interconnected with the grid via electronic conversion. In this case, inter-harmonics may be produced by
the turbine interacting with the wind and the power system. Inter-harmonics are a source of voltage
modulation that can cause irritating light flicker for end users near the wind plant.
Although not a common occurrence, when wind turbines cause flicker, the frequencies range from:
• Power pulses of 1 to 2 per second caused by tower shadow or wind shear effects
• From less than 1 per minute up to 30 per minute caused by fluctuations in wind speed
• In the hourly range caused by switching transients with superimposed transients, depending on whether
or not the installation is equipped with soft-start equipment and if power-factor correcting capacitors are
used
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard IEC 61400-21, Measurement and
Assessment of Power Quality Characteristics of Grid Connected Wind Turbines, December 2001,
addresses wind turbine flicker issues. This standard sets forth a standard procedure to characterize,
measure, and assess voltage fluctuations that may be caused by wind turbines.

Limited Reactive Power Control of Wind Power

Reactive power supplied or absorbed by a wind-generation facility may vary along with the real power
generation. This will depend on the wind-power conversion device. Most turbines use induction rather
than synchronous generators and therefore require external capacitors to provide reactive power, usually
switched in discrete steps. Even with switched capacitors, reactive control to match wind power
generation may still be an issue. For example, externally switched capacitors will probably satisfy the
steady-state reactive power balance requirement for the system but will not address any dynamic VAR
control needs. Dispatching reactive power to maintain transmission network voltage could place new
requirements on controlled generating facilities or necessitate capital investment for reactive
compensation equipment. The addition of power electronics into the wind system can provide both
dynamic and static reactive power control.
Distributed Collection of Wind Power
Wind generation has already emerged as an option for utility-scale generation, as evidenced by the
growing number of commercial projects worldwide and increasingly favorable and competitive
economics. Even though wind is considered primarily as a bulk-generation resource, a growing number of
installations are being deployed on distribution systems at or near smaller load centers. In effect, these
wind installations face the same issues as distributed energy resources (DER) applied in distribution
systems and designed for one-way power flow.
Two types of distributed wind applications are common. One is the wind plants that utilize local
distribution to collect energy from individual turbines and deliver it to the transmission grid. The other is
the more dispersed turbines that operate at distribution voltage and interact with other nearby load and
power sources. The integration issues that may surface in these distribution scenarios are voltage
regulation, coordination of protection, and interferences or harmonic flows along right of way. In general,
these are the same integration concerns that occur when generation is added into the distribution system.
In cases of large-scale plants, the turbines are often spread over several square miles, or along bluffs or
ridges for several linear miles. Collection of wind energy is usually at distribution voltage levels. The
distribution may be built solely for the wind plant, or it may exist to serve other customers. In either case,
the objective is to deliver the wind to a central point or to several substations along a right of way and into
the transmission grid. In contrast, the more dispersed the wind plants, such as the case with small rural
windmills in northern Europe, the wind energy may never enter the transmission grid.
Distinctly Remote Nature of Wind Power
Although good quality wind sites exist throughout the United States, the large concentrations of wind
resources are located relatively far from large load centers. The site selections for construction of large
wind farms are likely to be away from population centers. This is not unique to wind; for example, other
generation types such as hydro and coal-fired stations may also be located at significant distances from
load centers. However, wind developments have had the tendency not to consider the available
transmission capacity to these sites and not to include the transmission-related costs for taking the wind to
market.