Planning the Grid for Winds of Change

With larger wind generation penetration and concentration on the grid, the planning/operation requirements associated with the wind generation have evolved drastically over the last decade or so. While the old challenges such as wind resource forecasting are still under study and of significance, the new trend/attitude of treating the wind generation as the conventional generation from the perspective of the fair market principle of the ISO (Independent System Operator) brings many new challenges associated with wind generation integration. Thus the Voltage Ride-though (VRT) capability, reactive power support, frequency control and sub-synchronous oscillation become key topics from a power system planning standpoint. This chapter briefly introduces all these new study aspects including relevant discussions on WGR model Equivalencing, requirement and assessment of VRT and reactive power, inertial and frequency control of the wind generation, all from power system planning perspective.