Lessons Learned From Wind Integration Studies

LESSONS LEARNED FROM INTERNATIONAL
WIND INTEGRATION STUDIES

AEMO WIND INTEGRATION WP4(A)
Thomas Ackermann
Rena Kuwahata
Energynautics GmbH, Germany

Commissioned by Australian Energy Market Operator
16 November 2011
Energynautics GmbH
Mhlstrasse 51
63225 Langen, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)151 226 619 55
t.ackermann@energynautics.com
http://www.energynautics.com
Australian Energy Market Operator

Level 22, 530 Collins St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
http://www.aemo.com.au/
[2011] - All rights reserved.
Cover Design: energynautics
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is expecting a significant increase in wind
power generation in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). To accurately identify
issues that might affect the NEM and adequately deal with the integration of wind power,
AEMO solicited assistance from a number of international experts to research and report on
international experiences and work being done on wind power integration. The work was
divided into three work packages, to summarise and put into the context of the NEM:
1) experiences in wind integration across the world (WP1);
2) the implications on grid codes (WP2); and
3) the approaches used to assess the impact of increasing wind power generation on
power system operations (WP4(A)).
energynautics was selected to carry out the third task (Work Package 4(A)), to review experiences
reported in various wind integration studies, with a specific focus on technical power system issues.
Issues that are considered major challenges for high penetration of wind power in a power system
vary from region to region. Some of them may affect the security of the entire system while some
of them may only affect local operation. In this context, the objectives of Work Package 4(A) are to:
assess the key issues treated in wind integration studies worldwide;
summarise the methodologies and general results of wind integration studies; and
report on key lessons learned.
This work package is also to determine in conjunction with AEMO which of the key results
and lessons are relevant to the NEM for consideration in future wind integration studies.
A. Technical issues typically considered
A broad review of wind integration studies around the world identified the issues commonly
investigated, as listed in Figure 1 below.
System adequacy
System security
System operation
Capacity credit
contribution
to generation
adequacy
System stability
characteristics
Balancing
methodology
and reserve
requirements
Grid planning
Fault current
contribution
Inertia and
frequency
response
Voltage control,
real-time
monitoring
and network
management
Figure 1: Overview of technical issues considered by wind integration studies. Source: energynautics
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
System adequacy: As wind power is added to a generation mix it may introduce an extra
level of uncertainty in the ability of the power supply to meet load. This is particularly relevant for power systems where the peak load is expected to increase at the same time as
conventional power plants to be replaced by intermittent renewable power generation. It
is important that a reasonable estimation of the capacity credit of wind power is made so
that adequate generation capacity can be secured to meet the future load. Furthermore,
because wind power plants are often built in remote areas, grid extension and/or reinforcements are also often required. Since the lead time for construction of wind power plants is
much shorter than that of transmission lines and conventional power plants, it becomes critical that grid augmentations are planned with significant foresight into political and industry
intentions for the development of renewable energy based generation.
System security: Like all new generation, the addition of wind power may affect system
stability and frequency response characteristics. The impact depends on the location, size,
connection voltage level, and technical performance of the wind power plant. Most wind
turbines use converters which decouple them from the grid, so direct impact on rotor angle
stability is negligible. However, if the turbines displace significant proportions of synchronous generation they may have an indirect impact. The most significant impacts are seen
following a voltage dip, which can cause wind power plants to disconnect if they do not have
low voltage fault ride-through (FRT) capability (which is nowadays mandated by many Grid
Codes around the world). When wind power generation is high and conventional power
generation is displaced, the predominant oscillatory mode may be changed, or minimum
system inertia might be required to control frequency excursions and maintain rotor angle
stability. To ensure good security, the contribution that wind power plants make to fault
currents must be assessed to ensure that the fault levels are adequate for the proper functioning of protection equipment and HVDC devices. Depending on the finding, this may
require redesigning the protection scheme.
System operation: Wind power output depends on the wind speed (and weather) which is constantly changing. Wind forecasting helps to reduce the uncertainty inherent in nature and give a
certain level of predictability for short-term planning and the generation dispatch process. Forecasting systems have improved significantly over the past years, however, forecast errors still exist,
and may impact balancing and the requirements for reserves. While most systems are designed
to handle some degree of uncertainty, it is prudent to assess the reserve requirements with wind
power added to the system and make sure that the balancing procedures in place can manage the
additional level of uncertainty. Many studies on wind integration found that high penetration rates
are likely to increase both secondary and tertiary reserve requirements1, even if forecast errors
are minimised. The impact on secondary reserve is less compared to the latter, due to the fact that
forecast errors get smaller the closer to dispatch. In some cases, especially in shorter time frames,
price volatility in the power market may also cause severe impacts on reserve requirements.
Capacity credit
of wind power
Transmission planning
for renewables
integration
Fault ride-through
and voltage support
capability
Wind power plant
contribution to
fault levels
System inertia and
frequency control
Reserve requirements
Voltage control
1 The terminology for reserves varies between countries. In this report, secondary reserve corresponds to
regulation reserve, defined as reserves made available in 5-15 minutes. Tertiary reserve corresponds to dispatch or load following reserve, available in 15-30 minutes and short-term capacity reserve, available in 30
minutes to some hours (and up to a day).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
B. Measures that support wind integration
Several solutions are suggested to deal with the technical issues investigated. Some of the
common measures are listed below:
Aggregating wind power plants over a larger area to reduce the variability of wind
power output and improve the capacity credit. This also improves the accuracy of wind
power output forecasting, therefore reducing the requirements on balancing reserves.
Augmenting the grid to increase access to wind power resources and share balancing
resources over a wider area. This includes transmission reinforcements to relieve
congestion, strengthening of tie-lines to facilitate power exchange between regions
and extending the network to provide access to areas with excellent wind resources.
Since it takes time to build transmission assets however, optimising the use of existing
infrastructure using dynamic line rating, Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System
(FACTS) devices and phase shifting transformers are suggested as a possible intermediate
measure.
I mplementing operation constraints to secure minimum contingency and balancing
reserves, system inertia, voltage support, fault current level and dynamic stability, so that
synchronous generators can adequately provide these services. However, modern wind
power plants can also provide many of these services and they should be included in the
Grid Code if not already the case.
Real-time network management based on wind power output can facilitate the
transition from the current system to the future one. A good example is the control centre
for renewable energies (CECRE) in Spain and Portugal, where aggregated control of wind
power plants and other renewable energy generation such as solar power are used to
calculate dynamic operating constraints.
Some studies evaluate the effectiveness of these measures, through market simulations in
simple financial and environmental terms, such as the likely impact on market performance
(costs and price volatility), and the resulting CO2 emissions. In some studies operation efficiency is measured by network losses, the amount of unused (or curtailed) wind energy, and
the cost impacts that high wind power generation has on the performance requirements of
conventional power plants.
C. Relevance to NEM
Given the characteristics of the NEM and the expected wind power development in the
NEM area, it was identified that some technical issues are likely to be more important than
others. Figure 2 summarises the technical issues that have highest significance for future wind
integration studies in the NEM.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Top priority issues
Development of
comprehensive
renewable energy
scenarios
Use a system-wide
approach
Review of grid
planning approach
Fundamental issues that need further analysis
Power balance
fluctuations &
frequency
regulation
Frequency
stability
Modelling WPP
support to
voltage and
frequency
dynamic issues
Transient
stability
Figure 2: Overview of topics that should be considered by the NEM. Source: energynautics
Development of comprehensive renewable energy scenarios

In particular, discussions with various transmission systems operators indicated that solar PV
growth should also be considered in renewable integration studies. For example, in Germany
and Italy, the growth of solar PV has been so rapid that some giga-watts are connected in the
distribution networks, and considerable challenges have been observed affecting voltage
stability and balancing issues similar to those of wind.
Include solar PV
in future studies
The Australian NEM only has a few hundred megawatts of solar PV power installed to date,
however, policy support and development of larger scale solar PV plants in the planning
pipeline could mean fast expansion in a short time frame. This could raise challenges in distribution and possibly transmission levels and it is recommended that solar PV is included in
any future renewable energy integration studies for the NEM area.
Use a system-wide approach
It is recommended that generation adequacy, balancing and dynamic stability impacts of
wind power are evaluated across the NEM rather than for individual states. Even though
interconnections between states are currently limited, there are benefits that system-wide
studies can bring in certain situations. For example, in the case of a storm front hitting the
coastline of South Australia, there might be the risk that a large amount of wind power plants
in the state are shut down consecutively within a few hours due to extremely high wind
speeds exceeding the safe operating limits of the wind turbines. In this situation it may be
more beneficial to allow import of reserve generation from another state rather than to
secure it locally.
Investigate the
benefits of a
system-wide
approach
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Review of grid planning approach
The grid planning approach in the NEM is also important in integrating wind energy. With
the current approach, much of the wind power resources that are available at remote areas
will not be able to access the grid because they are likely to require grid extensions which
are deemed more expensive than building conventional generation closer to the demand
centre. However, in other countries and regions grid augmentations are considered in a
broader policy context, with long-term security of supply and renewables integration as the
primary objective. Unless the way the NEM plans grid augmentation is revised, long-term
security of supply may be compromised.
Renewables integration
as primary objective
Modelling wind power plant support capabilities

It is important that the ability of the wind power plant to support voltage and frequency are
modelled appropriately when assessing frequency response and transient stability aspects.
Some studies performed in the NEM assume the worst case scenario, that wind power
generation is expanded using old turbine technology without voltage support capabilities.
This is an unrealistic assumption, as the technology is developing towards providing more
and more grid support capability options. Many turbines can now offer not only FRT capabilities but frequency control and virtual inertia capabilities. Therefore, it is recommended
that a system-wide study is performed with a variety of turbine technology capabilities, and
to test if the current Grid Code is sufficient for mixed turbines scenarios.
Wind turbine
technology for
grid support
Balancing and frequency regulation

Compared to many other power systems which settle generation bidding in a day-ahead
market and manage the balancing with ancillary services, balancing issues in the NEM will be
easier to deal with since it has a 5-minute dispatch market. However, this also indicates that
the market prices will be subject to higher volatility with low prices resulting from high wind
power generation and high prices from moments of low wind power generation. Therefore,
it is important to investigate the impact on long-term price in markets for high penetration
of wind power.
Market price
volatility
Other issues
Other issues that may be investigated if the particular circumstances require it, are smallsignal stability (for example, to test power system stabiliser capability of wind power plants),
sub-synchronous interaction (if series-compensated lines are introduced to connect remote
wind power plants) and the impact of wind power plant contribution to short-circuit fault
current, especially for weakly connected parts of the network and to ensure correct operation of HVDC devices.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..........................................................................................................3
ABBREVIATED TERMS............................................................................................................9
GLOSSARY.............................................................................................................................10
1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................15
2. STUDY APPROACH.........................................................................................................17
3. KEY TECHNICAL ISSUES.................................................................................................28
3.1. Generation adequacy.......................................................................................................................... 28
3.2. Grid planning......................................................................................................................................... 35
3.3. Steady-state analysis............................................................................................................................ 37
3.4. Power system security......................................................................................................................... 41
3.5. Balancing (frequency regulation, dispatch, and short-term capacity reserve).................. 53
4. KEY TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS: MEASURES THAT SUPPORT WIND INTEGRATION....65
4.1. Wind turbine technical requirements............................................................................................ 65
4.2. Use of flexibility mechanisms to support wind power integration....................................... 67
5. EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL IMPACTS WITH SYSTEM PERFORMANCE..............71
5.1. Wind energy curtailment................................................................................................................... 71
5.2. CO2 emission.......................................................................................................................................... 73
5.3. Change in power flow characteristics on system losses............................................................ 73
6. CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................................75
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................84
8. APPENDICES.....................................................................................................................96
8.1. Appendix 1: Summary of selected wind integration studies reviewed (non-NEM studies).....96
8.2. Appendix 2: Summary of selected wind integration studies in the NEM................................... 106
ABBREVIATED TERMS
ABBREVIATED TERMS
AEMO
CECRE
CREZ
DFIG
DSM
DSO
ENTSO-E
ERCOT
FACTS
FCAS
FRT
FSFC
HVAC
HVDC
IMO
ISO
LVRT
NEM
NTNDP
NYISO
NYSERDA
OPF
PSS
PUCT
RES-E
SCIG
SSCI
SSI
SSR
SSTI
SVC
TSO
TYNDP
UPS
VAR
WPP
WTG
Australian Energy Market Operator

Control Centre of Renewable Energies
Competitive Renewable Energy Zone
Doubly Fed Induction Generator
Demand-side Management
Distribution System Operator
European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity
Electricity Reliability Council of Texas
Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System
Frequency Control Ancillary Services
Fault ride-through
Full Scale Frequency Converters
High Voltage Alternating Current
High Voltage Direct Current
Independent Market Operator
Independent System Operator
Low voltage ride-through
National Electricity Market
National Transmission Network Development Plan
New York Independent System Operator
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Optimal Power Flow
Power System Stabiliser
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Electricity from Renewable Energy Source
Squirrel Cage Induction Generator
Sub Synchronous Control Interaction
Sub Synchronous Interaction
Sub Synchronous Resonance
Sub Synchronous Torsional Interaction
Static VAR Compensator
Transmission System Operator
Ten Year Network Development Plan
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Voltageampere Reactive
Wind Power Plant
Wind Turbine Generator
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
ASYNCHRONOUS
GENERATOR
An asynchronous or induction generator is a type of AC electrical generator that uses the principles of induction motors to
produce power.
CAPACITY CREDIT
See CAPACITY VALUE
CAPACITY VALUE
Also denoted as CAPACITY CREDIT. The amount of conventional generation that can be replaced by wind power capacity
while maintaining existing level of supply security.
DELTA CONTROL
Fast secondary reserve made available by first down regulating

the wind turbine by a certain delta applying pitch control, which
can then be used to very fast up-regulate the wind turbine if
needed.
DYNAMIC VOLTAGE
CONTROL
Continuous voltage control by different generation resources.
FIRM GENERATION/
SUPPLY
Firm generation is the percentage of a generators maximum

capacity that is counted toward calculation of the reserve margin.
GENERATION
RESERVE
Reserves to mitigate a contingency, which is defined as the

unexpected failure or outage of a system component such as
a generator, transmission line, circuit breaker, switch, or other
electrical element.
HARMONIC
DISTORTION
Harmonic distortion is found in both the voltage and the current

waveform. Most current distortion is generated by electronic
loads, also called non-linear loads. As the current distortion is
conducted through the normal system wiring, it creates voltage
distortion according to Ohm's Law.
INSTANTANEOUS
MAXIMUM PENETRATION RATE
The instantaneous maximum penetration rate of wind power is

calculated as the installed wind capacity divided by the off-peak
demand.
INTERCONNECTORS
Interconnectors are transmission links (e.g. tie-line or transformer)

which connect two control areas.
10
GLOSSARY
MAXIMUM FAULT
Largest possible single loss of generating capacity resulting from

either forced outage of generation or transmission equipment.
MINIMUM SYSTEM
INERTIA
The minimum system inertial constraint is analogous to imposing

a constraint whereby a minimum number of synchronous generators must be online at all times (must run units).
N1- SITUATION
The N-1 criterion is a rule according to which elements remaining in operation after failure of a single network element (such
as transmission line/transformer or generating unit, or in certain
instances a bus bar) must be capable of accommodating the
change of flows in the network caused by that single failure.
POWER FLOW
SIMULATIONS
Power flow simulations involve numerical analysis applied to a

power system. It usually uses simplified notation such as a oneline diagram and per-unit system, and focuses on various forms
of AC power (ie: voltages, voltage angles, real power and reactive power). A number of software power flow simulation tools
exist such as DIgSILENT PowerFactory and Siemens PSS/E.
POWER VOLTAGE/
REACTIVE POWER
VOLTAGE
Steady-state analysis of voltage stability limits is done by calculating the active power versus voltage (PV) curves and reactive
power versus voltage (QV) curves for dispatches with zero
exchange over interconnector.
PRIMARY,
SECONDARY
AND TERTIARY
RESERVES
Primary reserve is to mitigate a contingency, which is defined as

the unexpected failure or outage of a system component such
as a generator, transmission line, circuit breaker, switch, or other
electrical element.
Secondary reserve is an amount of reserve that is sufficient to
allow for normal regulating margins. Regulating reserves, which
are responsive to AGC, are the primary tool for maintaining the
frequency.
Tertiary reserve: Capability above firm system demand required for regulation, load forecasting error, forced and scheduled
equipment outages, and local area protection. This type of
reserve consists of both generation synchronized to the grid
and generation that can be synchronized and made capable of
serving load within a specified period of time.
11
GLOSSARY
REACTIVE POWER
Reactive power is an imaginary component of the apparent

power. It is the portion of electricity that establishes and sustains
the electric magnetic fields of alternating-current equipment
such as motors and transformers and causes reactive losses on
transmission facilities. It is provided by generators, synchronous
condensers, or electrostatic equipment such as capacitors and
directly influences the electric system voltage.
REGULATION
RESERVE
See SECONDARY RESERVE.
ROTATING
INERTIA
The sum of all rotating mass inertias of the connected synchronous generation opposing a change of system frequency. The
rotational speed of synchronous generators is an exact representation of the system frequency.
ROTOR ANGLE
STABILITY
Rotor angle stability refers to the ability of synchronous machines of an interconnected power system to remain in synchronism after being subjected to a disturbance.
SINUSOIDAL
VOLTAGE
A sinusoidal voltage waveform is one where the voltage as a

function of time follows the trigonometric function sin(x).
STEADY-STATE
ANALYSIS
Using power flow simulations to investigate the risk of system

overload, voltage instability and (N-1)-safety problems.
STEADY-STATE
STABILITY, TRANSIENT STABILITY
AND OSCILLATORY
STABILITY
Stability is the ability of an electric system to maintain a state of

equilibrium during normal (steady-state) and abnormal system
conditions or disturbances (transient). Oscillatory stability refers
to the ability of the power system to damp oscillatory modes
created by the interaction of generators connected to the power
system.
SUB SYNCHRONOUS
OSCILLATIONS
Shaft mechanical systems for large synchronous or induction

motors and turbine generators can be subjected to severe
torsional stresses due to triggered sub synchronous resonance
(SSR) especially in electric grid networks with heavily seriescompensated transmission lines.
12
GLOSSARY
SYNCHRONOUS
GENERATOR
Synchronous generators are capable of converting mechanical

energy into electricity when operated as a generator and power
mechanics when operated as a motor. Synchronous generators
are used in the majority of hydroelectric and thermoelectric
plants.
TAP CHANGERS
A transformer tap is a connection point along a transformer winding that allows a certain number of turns to be selected. This
means that a transformer with variable turns ratio is produced,
enabling voltage regulation of the output. The tap selection is
made via a tap changer mechanism.
TRANSIENT
OVERVOLTAGE
Transient overvoltages are brief, high-frequency increases in

voltage on AC mains.
TRANSIENT
STABILITY
The ability of an electric system to maintain synchronism between its parts when subjected to a disturbance of specified
severity and to regain a state of equilibrium following that
disturbance.
UNITY POWER
FACTORS
The power factor of an AC electric power system is defined as

the ratio of the real power flowing to the load over the apparent
power in the circuit, and is a dimensionless number between 0
and 1 (frequently expressed as a percentage, e.g. 0.5 pf = 50% pf).
13
1
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
The use of wind power for electricity generation is growing in many places around the world.
Countries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain deal with a high penetration of wind power
already today and are leading in their integration to the grid. Other countries which are
showing strong growth and significant research activities are Ireland, UK, Scandinavia, South
Australia and the USA. Although the current rate of penetration may be low, wind power is
growing rapidly in China and India, and should be kept in mind.
Based on planning studies conducted by AEMO, wind power production is predicted to

grow further in Australia. This is due to a combination of factors, namely the governments
goal to achieve 20% of electric energy supply from renewables by 2020, the introduction
of carbon tax, necessity to build more supply to cater for rising demand, and falling costs of
building wind power plants which is making the investment more attractive.
According to the latest National Transmission Network Development Plan (NTNDP) published by AEMO in December 2010, the NEM could see up to 5,480 MW of wind power by
2020, with 2,177 MW in South Australia and 1,298 MW in Tasmania (1).
Like most power systems, the NEM is designed to deliver electricity from large-scale power
plants with controllable outputs to large load centres located around the country. When
intermittent power sources such as wind power are introduced in large quantities, this may
impact certain existing regulatory, technical and market aspects.
To gain a better understanding of the possible impacts of increasing wind penetration in the
NEM, AEMO contracted energynautics to investigate how other system operators around
the world approach the uncertainty of possible wind integration, in particular, regarding
technical issues related to power system operation.
Technical issues are typically investigated using power system studies based on simulation
models of the power system in question, considering the expected future development, for
instance future wind power installations. The details of the simulation model as well as the
scenarios vary depending on the technical issues to be investigated.
To identify the relevant technical issues and possible methods to investigate them, as well
their relevance to the NEM context, energynautics has reviewed selected power system studies performed by different Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and similar organisations around the world. Based on the review findings, this report develops key suggestions
for possible similar studies to be conducted by AEMO in the near future.
This report (corresponding to work package 4(A)) forms part of the AEMO Wind Integration Study: International Experience, together with work packages 1 and 2, which cover
general experience and grid codes for wind integration around the world respectively. Together these studies can be used to formulate future wind integration studies for the NEM.
15
2
STUDY APPROACH
QLD
Max. Demand: 10,012 MW
Total Generation: 13,855 MW
STUDY APPROACH
2. STUDY APPROACH
672 MW
SA
A. Overview of NEM
In Australia, the National Electricity Market (NEM) is expecting significant growth in wind
power generation. According to the latest figures from the NTNDP2, up to 5,480 MW of
580 MW
wind is expected by 2020 predominantly in southern regions covering the states of Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and South Australia (SA).
680 MW*
Since the geographic locations where wind power development is expected
are remote
Max. Demand:
9,570 MW
Total
Generation:
11,713
from major demand centres (Figure 3), it is expected that much of the energy will have MW
to
flow through the high voltage transmission network. The transmission system of the NEM
covers a very large distance and has relatively weak interconnection between states.

3,200 MW
594 MW
478 MW
TAS
theoretical max. interconnector transfer capacity

NEM
major demand centres
QLD

672 MW
SA
1,298 MW
NSW
580 MW
3,200 MW
680 MW*

1,900 MW
VIC
594 MW
478 MW
TAS
max. interconnector transfer capacity

Figure 3: Map of interconnected regions of the NEM, with highlighted regions

of expected wind development and demand centres. Modified from (1)
theoretical max. interconnector transfer capacity

areas with high wind potential
NEM
2 NTNDP is the National Transmission Network Development Plan published on a yearly base by AEMO. The
major demand centres
latest
version is available on: http://www.aemo.com.au/planning/ntndp.html
Max. Demand: 1,694 M
Total Generation: 2,883 M
areas with high wind potential
1,900 MW
VIC
max. interconnector transfer capacity
1,298 MW
NSW
17
STUDY APPROACH
In the states where large wind power development is expected (SA and VIC), the high voltage
transmission system will be subject to extremely high penetration rates. In fact, the instantaneous maximum penetration rate3 in South Australia is already today one of the highest in
the world for weakly interconnected network areas, with over 80% instant penetration level
(without considering interconnector flow) observed. This can be seen in Table 1, where the
instantaneous maximum penetration with and without interconnectors are compared for
the states within the NEM and a number of selected power systems which are known to be
almost island systems with high penetration of wind power generation. As it stands in 2011,
the instantaneous maximum penetration of wind power in South Australia is comparable to
that experienced in the interconnected power system of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
2020
2011
Year
Off-peak
demand
(MW)
Theoretical
instantaneous
maximum
penetration
without
interconnector5
Theoretical
instantaneous
maximum
penetration with
maximum export6
1,019
859
119%
(observed: >80%)
71%
(observed: 54%)
TAS
223
776
29%
(observed: 17%)
16%
(observed: 10%)
VIC
531
3,718
14%
(observed: 8%)
7%
(observed: 6%)
NSW
186
5,739
3%
2%
QLD
12
4,371
0%
0%
SA
2,177
1,247
175%
105%
TAS
1,298
948
137%
84%
VIC
1,390
5,062
27%
14%
NSW
536
6,935
8%
5%
QLD
79
6,918
1%
1%
Installed
wind
capacity
(MW)
SA
System4
3 The instantaneous maximum penetration rate of wind power is calculated as the installed wind capacity
divided by the off-peak demand.
4 Information corresponding to the NEM was taken from (122) or through correspondence with AEMO.
5 Calculated values: Installed wind capacity / Off-peak demand
6 Calculated values: Installed wind capacity / (Off-peak demand + Maximum export capacity)
18
STUDY APPROACH
2020
2011
Year
Off-peak
demand
(MW)
Theoretical
instantaneous
maximum
penetration
without
interconnector5
Theoretical
instantaneous
maximum
penetration with
maximum export6
1,8898
1,6649
114%
108%
Iberian
Peninsula
24,37810
19,20511
127%
118%
ERCOT12
9,50013
22,42614
42%
41%
Qubec
67515
19,14316
4%
2%
All Island
5,96217
1,678
355%
264%
Iberian
Peninsula
38,00018
19,205
198%
184%
ERCOT
19,50019
22,426
87%
69%
Qubec
4,000
19,143
21%
14%
Installed
wind
capacity
(MW)
All Island7
System4
Table 1: Installed wind power capacity and penetration with and without interconnectors for the NEM and some selected systems. Source: Various, see footnotes.
Without any substantial plans for increasing the interconnector capacity, the theoretical
maximum penetration rates in Tasmania and South Australia will reach levels comparable to
those of the Iberian Peninsula20 by 2020, where concrete plans already exist for increasing
the interconnector transfer capability. While there are some tentative plans in the NEM to
enhance the interconnection between states (Table 2), wind power penetration levels in
selected states will be some of the highest in the world.
7 All Island refers to the interconnected power system of Ireland and Northern Island.
8Source: http://www.iwea.com/index.cfm/page/barchart (Accessed 26/9/2011)
9Source: http://www.eirgrid.com/media/Transmission%20Forecast%20Statement%202011-2017-web%20version2.pdf
10 Figures at end of 2010 according to GWEC: http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=9 (Accessed 26/9/2011)
11 Corresponding to 24/4/2011, RED ELECTRICA: http://www.ree.es/ingles/operacion/curvas_demanda.asp and
REN: http://www.centrodeinformacao.ren.pt/EN/InformacaoExploracao/Pages/DiagramadeCargadaRNT.aspx
12 ERCOT (Electricity Reliability Council of Texas) refers to the interconnected system of Texas, USA.
13Source: http://www.ercot.com/content/news/presentations/2011/ERCOT%20Quick%20Facts%20-%20March%202011.pdf
14 According to the Ancillary Services Requirement Report by GE Energy (70) Page 3-28.
15Source: http://www.hydroquebec.com/generation/index.html
16 Peak: 38,286 MW according to Annual Report 2010 (http://www.hydroquebec.com/publications/en/annual_
report/pdf/rapport-annuel-2010.pdf), (110) estimates minimum load to be half of maximum, therefore
38,286/2 = 19,143 MW.
17 4350 MW in Ireland + 1012 MW onshore + 600 MW offshore wind in Northern Ireland.
Source: http://www.eirgrid.com/media/GCS%202011-2020%20as%20published%2022%20Dec.pdf
18Source: http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=131 (Accessed 26/9/2011)
19Source: http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_rps-portfolio.htm (Accessed 26/9/2011)
20 Iberian Peninsula refers to the interconnected region of Spain and Portugal.
19
STUDY APPROACH
Maximum export/import
capacity for 2011 (MW)
Export/import
upgrade (MW)
Expected
commissioning
NSW to QLD
672/1,298
300/600
2010/11 to 2014/15
VIC to NSW
3,200/1,900
0/500
2010/11 to 2014/15
VIC to SA
680/580
240/250
2025/26 to 2029/30
TAS to VIC
594/478
Not applicable
All Island
80/45022
500
201122
500 (+900)/1,300 (+600) 23
1,500
2,700
201424
2020 +
ERCOT
86025
5,00026
Information not available
Qubec
8,060/11,05027
1,20028
2015
Interconnection21
Iberian Peninsula
Table 2: NEM interconnector upgrade plans compared with other selected regions.
Source: Various, see footnotes.
21 Information corresponding to the NEM was provided by James Lindley based on NTNDP modelling data.
22 NTC values for winter 2010/2011 published by ENTSO-E:
https://www.entsoe.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/_library/ntc/archive/NTC-Values-Winter-2010-2011.pdf
23 NTC values for winter 2010/2011 published by ENTSO-E. Figures in brackets correspond to export/import
to Morocco.
24 Expected commissioning according to the Ten Year Network Development Plan published by ENTSO-E,
available on: https://www.entsoe.eu/index.php?id=232
25 The ERCOT control area is not synchronously connected to the Eastern or Western Interconnection but
it can exchange about 860 MW with the Southwest Power Pool and Mexico through DC links. Source:
http://www.ferc.gov/market-oversight/mkt-electric/texas.asp#inter (Accessed 26/9/2011)
26 This figure corresponds to the proposed Tres Amigas project, which will link the Eastern Interconnection,
Western Interconnection and the ERCOT system. Source: http://www.tresamigasllc.com/docs/ERCOT_TA.pdf
27Values published by Hydro Qubec on: http://www.hydroquebec.com/transenergie/en/index.html
(Accessed 26/9/2011)
28 Project to increase the energy interchange capacity between Qubec and New England by building a 1,200-MW
interconnection to link Qubecs power grid with new Hampshires. Commissioning is scheduled for 2015.
Source: http://www.hydroquebec.com/projects/new-hampshire.html (Accessed 26/9/2011)
20
STUDY APPROACH
B. Wind power integration studies
Wind power integration studies are important for power systems expecting large wind
power developments. Prominent studies have been performed in Europe and North America covering system-wide issues as well as country (or state) based issues, while a myriad
of academic studies has been published in journals dealing with specific issues on a more
general basis.
The approach used in WP4(A) for the review of international wind integration studies is
shown in Figure 4.
2
I. Filtering
2. Gathering
information
3. Consolidation
4. Report
Survey 113 wind integration studies in international arena

Categorise studies into high, medium and low relevance to the NEM
Select 16 most relevant studies out of categories high (& medium)
Review & summarise six NEM-related wind integration studies (by AEMO)
Review WP1 & WP2 reports
Review the 16 selected studies in detail
Identify issues relevant to NEM
Conduct workshop to discuss consolidation process, gain feedback

and develop recommendations with AEMO to have a stronger link
to the NEM
Develop set of recommendations for future wind integration studies in

the NEM
Hand in final report
Figure 4: Outline of approach for WP4(A). Source: energynautics
First, studies investigating wind integration issues were surveyed from various regions of the
world where wind power has seen significant growth. In total 113 studies were selected,
varying from region-wide system studies to academic papers on specific integration issues.
Step 1
These studies were ranked as having a high, medium or low relevance to the purpose of
this work package, which is to identify technical issues and approaches that are likely to be
important for a wind integration study for the NEM. In determining the ranking, factors such
as the level of similarity of the study region to the NEM (island systems or weakly interconnected power systems), the level of wind penetration assessed in the study and the level of
coverage of technical issues were considered. AEMO staff were involved in this process, to
add an insight based on actual experience with the NEM.
21
STUDY APPROACH
From the complete list of studies, 16 were selected to ensure that all key technical issues
were discussed in some way. In this process, focus was placed on island systems with weak
interconnections to neighbouring systems like Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Texas, Qubec,
Western Australia and New Zealand.
In addition, studies from the New York ISO were reviewed due its similarity with the NEM, in
having a 5-minute real-time market in conjunction with a day-ahead market.
Table 3 lists the selected 16 studies selected. A more detailed list can be viewed in Appendix 8.1.
2
Study Area
Organisation
(and consultant)
Date
published
Name
NATIONAL/SINGLE AREA STUDIES
ERCOT
(Texas, USA)
Electricity Reliability Council of

Texas (GE Energy,
ABB)
2008-03
2010-12
Analysis of Wind Generation Impact on ERCOT

Ancillary Services Requirements, GE Energy.
ERCOT CREZ Reactive Power Compensation
Study, ABB.
Assessment of AGC and Load Following Definitions
for Wind Integration Studies in Qubec, I. Kamwa,
et al., Article in Proceedings: 8th International
Workshop on Large Scale Integration of Wind
Power and on Transmission Networks for Offshore
Wind Farms 255-265.
Hydro
Qubec
(Canada)
Hydro Qubec
(Hydro Qubec ,
RE Power)
2009-10
2010-10
A New Simulation Approach for the Assessment of

Wind Integration Impacts on System Operations,
M. de Montigny, et al., Article in Proceedings: 9th
International Workshop on Large Scale Integration
of Wind Power and on Transmission Networks for
Offshore Wind Farms 460-467.
Frequency Control in Qubec with DFIG
Wind Turbines, M. Dernbach, et al., Article in
Proceedings: 9th International Workshop on
Large Scale Integration of Wind Power and on
Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Farms
342-347.
Transpower
(New
Zealand)
Western
Power
(Western
Australia)
New Zealand
Electricity
Commission
(Transpower
System Operator)
2007-03
2008-06
Wind Generation Investigation Project (WGIP),

Transpower NZ.
Western Power
2010-01
Effects of increased penetration of intermittent

generation in the SWIS.
22
STUDY APPROACH
Study Area
Germany
Organisation
(and consultant)
Deutsche EnergieAgentur GmbH

(DEWI, E-ON
Netz, EWI, RWE,
Vatenfall)
NYISO
(New York,
USA)
The New York

State Energy
Research and
Development
Authority and
New York Independent System
Operator (GE
Energy, NYISO)
Minnesota
(USA)
Minnesota
Department of
Commerce Office
of Energy Security
(The Minnesota
Transmission
Owners)
Date
published
2005-02
2010-11
Name
DENA Grid Study I: Energy Management

Planning for DENA Grid Study I: Energy
Management Planning for the Integration of
Wind Energy into the Grid in Germany, Onshore
and Offshore by 2020.
DENA Grid Study II: Integration of Renewable
Energy Sources in the German Power Supply
System from 2015-2020 with an Outlook to
2025.
2005-03
2010-09
The Effect of Integrating Wind Power on Transmission System Planning, Reliability and Operations,
GE Energy.
Growing Wind: Final Report of the NYISO 2010
Wind Generation Study, NYISO.
2008-06
Minnesota Dispersed Renewable Generation

Transmission Study Vol. I, II and III.
Renewable Energy Generation Working Group:

Summary of Processes and Outcomes, IMO
Work Package 1:
Scenarios for Modelling Renewable Generation in
the SWIS, ROAM Consulting.
IMO
(Western
Australia)
Independent
Market Operator
(ROAM Consulting, McLennan
Magasanik
Associates,
Sinclair Knight
Merz)
2010-08
2010-11
Work Package 2:
Reserve Capacity and Reliability Impacts,
McLennan Magasanik Associates.
Work Package 3:
Assessment of FCS and Technical Rules, ROAM
Consulting.
Work Package 4:
Technical Rules, Sinclair Knight Merz.
23
STUDY APPROACH
REGIONAL STUDIES
Iberian
Peninsula
(Spain and
Portugal)
Red Elctrica
Espaa, Spain
Rede Elctrica
Nacional, Portugal
All Island
(Ireland
and North
Ireland)
Governments of
Ireland and North
Ireland (TNEI)
EirGrid (Ecofys
and DIgSILENT)
2008-01
2010-06
Northern
Europe
Risoe National
Laboratory
(SINTEF)
2005-11
Wind Power Integration in a Liberalised Electricity

Market (WILMAR): System Stability Analysis
(WP5), SINTEF.
Europe
ENTSO-E and
European
Commission
(ENTSO-E)
2010-03
European Wind Integration Study (EWIS):

Towards a Successful Integration of Large Scale
Wind Power into European Electricity Grids
Southwest Power
Pool (Charles
River Associates)
2010-01
South West Power Pool Wind Integration Study
SPP (USA)
2005-05
Study of Wind Energy Stability in the Iberian

Peninsula (Confidential)29
All Island Grid Study: Transmission Network

Assessment for All-Island Grid Study (WS3), TNEI.
All Island TSO Facilitation of Renewables Studies,
Ecofys and DIgSILENT GmbH.
ACADEMIC STUDIES
IEA25
(Global)
International
Energy Agency
(VTT)
Reserves
(Global)
NREL
SC current
(General)
NREL
2009
IEA Wind Task 25 Phase I 2006-2008, H.

Holttinen, et al., 2009.
2010-10
Operating Reserves and Wind Power Integration:

An International Comparison, M. Milligan, et al.,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
2010-10
Wind Power Plant Short-Circuit Current

Contribution for Different Fault and Wind
Turbine Topologies, V. Gevorgian, et al., National
Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Table 3: Overview of selected wind integration studies. Source: energynautics
As seen from the Organisation (and consultant) column, most of the system-wide studies
are financed by the governments or transmission system operators (TSOs). This reflects
the fact that wind power development is mainly driven by political initiative while the
responsibility for ensuring a secure supply to customers lies on the shoulders of the system
operator. Therefore it makes sense that many studies are co-financed by these two bodies.
Either TSOs in cooperation (in the case of EWIS) or independent consultants (in the case of
ERCOT) are contracted to actually perform the studies so as to promote information sharing
under confidentiality agreements and to have an unbiased view.
29 Some European studies are not published in the public domain due to confidentiality issues. Information
regarding the methodology and results has been obtained as best as possible by energynautics based on
summary reports and through dialog with relevant European TSOs.
24
STUDY APPROACH
The second step (Figure 4) was to review the selected studies in detail. Focus was placed on
extracting information about the types of issues investigated in each study, the methodologies used, assumptions made, and the main conclusions drawn from the results. Figure 5
shows a list of issues commonly considered in wind integration studies. The dots marked in
the figure correspond to the issues considered by the studies for the regions which are considered most relevant to the NEM. It shows the technical issues that are investigated in local
or system-wide studies, as well as the timeframe for corresponding simulations.
Step 2
It can be seen that the most studied aspects are the impacts of wind power on balancing and
reserve requirements, as well as voltage stability. The former is because it is recognised that
an increase in reserve requirements can have large financial implications, while the latter is
concerned with system security. In actual fact, voltage stability studies have lead to much of
the recent developments in Grid Codes regarding fault ride-through requirements. Also of
high concern are long-term planning issues, such as generation and grid adequacy.
Wind integration issues
Secondary
1 reserve 5
3
6
(AGC
4
7
regulation)
Electromechanical stability
1 3
5 7
(rotor angle stability, small-signal
stability, sub-synchronous
resonance)
1 2 5 6 7
Grid
adequacy
Congestion
2 management
(transmission
efficiency)
Selected studies:
Primary
reserve
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
(governor
response)
&
frequency
response
2 5 6
Australia (NEM)
Iberia (REE & REN)
Texas (ERCOT)
Hydro Qubec
Ireland (All Island)
Germany (DENA)
NEW Zealand (Transpower)
Voltage
control
1
2
3
Voltage 5
stability 6
(LVRT)
Fault current
1 2 level & 5 6
protection
years
1 month
1 day
1 hr
1min
1
Time-constant/Period time
system wide
CO2
& fuel prices
1 Tertiary 4
2
5
reserve 6
3
(unit commitment &
replacement
reserve & network
control reserve)
regional
Generation
adequacy
1 5 6
100 ms
Power quality
(harmonics, electromagnetic transients)
10 ms
local
1 2 5 6
1 ms
Figure 5: Overview of technical issues considered by wind integration studies. Source: energynautics
This information was synthesised with the findings from WP1 and WP2, as well as detailed
summaries of wind integration studies already conducted in the NEM region, to draw out
the key issues related to system-wide wind integration studies as well as the common
approaches used to investigate each of the technical issues identified.
25
STUDY APPROACH
Table 4 below gives a summary of the six NEM studies reviewed.
Study area
Organisation
(and consultant)
Date
published
Name
South
Australia
ElectraNet
2008-12
Internal ElectraNet Report
Victoria
VENCORP
[now AEMO]
2007-12
Capacity of the Victorian Electricity Transmission

Network to Integrate Wind Power
Tasmania
Transend
2009-05
Future wind generation in Tasmania study
South
Australia
NEMMCO
[now AEMO]
(DIgSILENT)
2005-06
Assessment of Potential Security Risks due to High

Levels of Wind Generation in South Australia Stage 1.1
NEM
Clean Energy
Council (ROAM
Consulting)
2010-04
Transmission Congestion and Renewable

Generation
South
Australia
Electricity Supply
Industry Planning
Council
2003-03
South Australia Wind Power Study
Table 4: Overview of wind integration studies in the NEM. Source: AEMO
As with other wind integration studies around the world, the studies within the NEM are
often commissioned by the TSOs. However, the studies focus on issues within a single state
only and there are no prominent studies that cover NEM-wide issues. A more detailed list
can be viewed in Appendix 8.2.
Step three involved detailed discussions with AEMO staff in a workshop to put the intermediate findings in the perspective of the NEM. The workshop discussed key issues and
conclusions from the investigation and sought to identify the aspects that are relevant for
the NEM, which of these have not yet been adequately investigated, whether the study approaches can be adopted for the NEM and what assumptions can be made for each specific
investigation.
Having put the analysis in the context of the NEM, the final step involved presenting the
consolidated information in a report for the public domain, as well as an internal report.
The report presents issues most relevant to wind integration in the NEM, and recommends
approaches that could be adopted by AEMO to investigate them.
Step 3
Final step
26
3
KEY TECHNICAL ISSUES
3. KEY TECHNICAL ISSUES

The following sections form the main body of analysis, describing each issue listed in Figure5 in detail. Common methodologies adopted and the findings of wind impact studies are
reported in order to draw conclusions on whether they are applicable to the NEM context.
These conclusions should allow a set of recommendations to be developed for how AEMO
can undertake a NEM-wide wind integration study in the future.
3.1. GENERATION ADEQUACY

The issue: Power systems must have adequate capacity to supply and deliver
power required by customers at any time. The capacity of supply is dictated by
the availability of the source. For conventional power plants this can be assumed
to be constant at the level it is designed to operate, however, for wind power
plants it is inevitably variable, as with other intermittent renewable energy generation such
as hydro and solar power. Further to this, all power plants are subject to scheduled maintenance, therefore cannot be available all of the time. Therefore, for a system to be adequate
there must be sufficient generation to cover demand during periods of low generation availability, while at the same time cover for critical contingencies such as the sudden loss of the
largest power group delivering to the system30. With the peak demand projected to grow in
the NEM (as with many other countries in the world), generation capacity must be expanded.
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: The uncertainty resulting

from wind intermittency and long-term wind forecasting makes it challenging
to determine how much wind power will actually be available and can be considered as firm generation capacity. This can become an issue when wind power
replaces conventional power generation, because an underestimation of firm wind capacity
will cause an over-supply in the system, implying redundant investment, while an overestimation could lead to power shortages. In addition, with wind power expected to replace
retiring conventional power plants, the largest power group for assessment of contingency
reserve may become a group of wind power plants, and, there may be fewer units that can
provide contingency reserve.
Typical methods used for studying the issue: To estimate generation adequacy,
each power plant is assigned a capacity credit, which indicates the likelihood of
the generator being available when it is needed. According to the NERC 2009
report31, the capacity credit of a wind power plant can be determined in two ways:
30 (37) Page 515

31 (98) Page 38
28

Reliability-based method: Estimation of the Effective Load Carrying Capacity (ELCC) of
wind generation based on calculation of reliability metrics; and
Approximation method: Calculation of the capacity factor of wind generation during
specified time periods that represent high-risk reliability periods (typically peak hours).
The most recommended method, both by the IEA Task 25 report32 and the NREL report33,
is the reliability-based method.
Reliability-based method
Assessment of generation adequacy is often based on reliability metrics such as Loss of Load
Expectation (LOLE), Loss of Load Probability (LOLP) or Loss of Energy Expectation (LOEE),
which indicate the likelihood that system load will not be met by the available generation at
a given time. The level of reliability required is often expressed in terms of a percentage or
maximum hours per year that generation cannot meet load, and is typically determined by
the power system operator.
Using these metrics, the capacity value of wind can be estimated by calculating the Effective Load Carrying Capacity (ELCC), which is the amount of additional load that can be
served at the target reliability level with the addition of the generator being considered.
This may also be compared relative to a perfectly-reliable generating unit or a benchmark
conventional unit (5).
Significant data and rigorous analysis is required to determine the capacity value of wind
power generation using this method. For example, for a chronological method as described
in the IEA Task 25 report (2), hourly or sub-hourly load and wind generation data covering
a period of 10-30 years would be required to accurately estimate the capacity credit. In the
case where extensive data is not available, wind data from numerical weather prediction
models can be used to produce wind speed estimates to the required level of detail. This
can then be converted to realistic representations of large scale wind power production. An
alternative approach, to use sequential Monte Carlo to simulate wind generation retaining
diurnal and seasonal characteristics has been used in Iberia34 and the All Island Grid study35,
however, this method is not recommended36 unless the process is benchmarked against
several years of actual wind data.
32 (2) Page 132

33 (7) Page 26
34 (47) Page 77
35 (121) Pages 53-55
36 (7) Page 10
29

Another approach in the reliability-based method is to use frequency distribution or duration curves. This approach immediately converts wind power time series into probability
density of power levels, to be combined with the probabilities of conventional power
stations availabilities (2). The DENA study uses this approach (6), which uses probability
distributions of wind and conventional power to calculate how much conventional power
can be replaced with wind without compromising the level of reliability.
Capacity value is sensitive to the timing of wind energy delivery relative to peak load periods.
Correlation of wind generation and load is difficult to calculate, therefore, it is important to
use wind and load profiles that come from a common weather driver to calculate capacity
value, such as historical data. In addition, data from several years is preferred to a single year
because there is often significant variability in wind ELCC from year to year (7).
Approximation method
The approximation method calculates the wind capacity value as the capacity factor achieved
by wind generation in peak periods. This method is not as accurate as the reliability-based
method, but is used in several studies because it requires less intensive calculations and not
as much data. This method is predominantly used in the USA (2). The study performed by
NYSERDA on New York ISO (5) demonstrates this method by calculating the wind capacity
factor during peak periods between 2 to 6 pm from June through to August, and 4 to 8 pm
from December through to February (2). The capacity credit calculated with this approximation method is compared with a number of other methods including a reliability method
based on three years of data.
A summary of the data requirements for each method is shown in the following Figure 6.
Cronological
Load
Wind
Conventional
generation
Frequency distribution
Approximate
Time series data

hourly, etc.
10 - 30 years
Load duration
curve
Peak load
Time series data

coupled with load
Probability density,
varying by month
or season
Capacity factor
at peak load
Usable capacity
Forced outage
Probability
distribution
N/A
Figure 6: Data requirements for typical methods to calculate wind power capacity credit. Source: energynautics
30

International experience: Many wind integration studies investigate wind
impact on generation adequacy. Of the studies reviewed, these include the
DENA study, the studies in NYISO, the All Island Grid study, studies in the
Iberian Peninsula, IMO in Western Australia, as well as other prominent studies
such as the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (3) and Eastern Wind Integration
and Transmission Study (4) (not reviewed).
Table 5 gives a summary of the level of capacity credits calculated by each of the studies.
Study
Capacity credit (method)
IEA2537
5-40%
Spain38
10% (Monte Carlo)
All Island39
DENA
20% (ELCC/Monte Carlo)

5-6% (Duration curve)
New York ISO40
10% (Peak Period)
ESIPC41
8% (Peak Period)
Table 5: Capacity credit calculated in each study reviewed. Source: Various
37 (2) Page 156

38 According to article by Red Elctrica Spain due to be published in Wind Power in Power Systems, Ed. 2,
Editor Thomas Ackermann
39 (121) Page 21 and 25
40 (2) Page 89
41 (10) Page 4
31

Capacity credit of wind power
45 %
40 %
35 %
30 %
Capacity credit
25 %
20 %
15 %
x
10 %
5%
0%
0%
10 %
20 %
30 %
40 %
50 %
60 %
Wind power penetration as % of peak load

Germany
x
UK 2007
Mid Norway 3 Wind Farms
US Minnesota 2004
Mid Norway 1 Wind Farm
US Minnesota 2006
Ireland ESBNG 5GW
US New York on-off-shore
Ireland ESBNG 6.5GW
US California
Figure 7: Capacity credit of wind power. Source: Reproduced with permission from (2) Page 185
It can be seen from Figure 7 that capacity credit reduces with higher penetration levels.
However, this does not necessarily mean that less conventional capacity can be replaced
by wind power, but rather that a new wind plant added to a system with high wind power
penetration levels will substitute less than the first wind plants in the system (9).
Conclusions: Capacity credit calculations for wind power can be adapted to reliability calculation methods used by the system operator. However, to accurately
assess the impact of the forecast error of wind generation on reliability requires
data that demonstrates wind production characteristics coupled with system demand. Monte Carlo methods are often used to regenerate wind power data in cases where
real measurement-based data is lacking, however, this is at a compromise of accuracy since
there will be a weaker correlation with load.
Although it is easy to demonstrate how wind power contributes to energy adequacy, it is
more difficult to ascertain the contribution to power demand adequacy because wind (and
weather) is uncertain and variable. This can be mitigated to some level by aggregation across
wider geographic areas (e.g. covering different balancing areas) and coupling with storage
options or demand-side management, however, inevitably results indicate that the higher the
32

penetration level of wind power the lower the capacity credit42.
In addition, with variable forms of generation like wind and solar PV expected to replace
conventional forms of generation, rather than be built in addition to it, the generation that
contributes to contingency reserve may be reduced.
Relevance for NEM system: The 2003 South Australian Study by ESIPC (10),
makes a comparison of the capacity factor resulting from calculations based on
peak load periods, an all hour analysis, and a summer peak hours analysis. It
was found that while the average output from wind power is higher during the
summer peak hours, it does not necessarily provide more power during the periods of peak
load. It concludes that the contribution from wind generation during the peak hours of the
summer months is not sufficiently reliable to be considered firm supply.
In the context of the NEM, the capacity factor for wind power in each State is calculated by
comparing the average historical wind generation output with its rated capacity. The ability
to meet seasonal maximum demand is calculated from the minimum level of output available
at least 85% of the time during the top 10% of the seasonal demands in a region43.
Based on international experiences, this conclusion should be revised as most international
studies consider a capacity credit for wind power. It is particularly important to consider the
whole NEM area for capacity credit calculation of wind power.
Recommendations: The calculations used to determine the contribution of
wind generation in reliability studies should be based on a reliability calculation
method rather than a simplified method as it gives a more accurate indication of
the firm contribution of wind power generation to generation adequacy. However, extensive data is required that demonstrates wind production characteristics coupled
with system demand. Therefore, AEMO should select the most appropriate methodology
based on:
the mandated level of reliability,
type of data available, and
the amount of wind penetration expected.
42 (2) Page184
43 (122) Page 12
33

Generation
adequacy
Ability of power supply to meet energy and power demand, even during
faults of generation units and transmission lines
Energy consumption and peak demand are typically increasing
Certain reserve capacity above demand must also be secured
Increasing share of renewable energy is driven by political decisions
Long-term reliability is a system issue
Wind impact
Studies that look

into the issue
Challenge
Wind forecast
error affecting
wind power
availability
DENA
NYISO
IMO-WA
All Island
Iberia
WWIS44
EWITS45
Accurately assess the impact

of wind forecast errors on
generation adequacy
3
IEA 25
ESIPC
Results
Existing reliability calculation methods can be used to calculate capacity
credit of wind power
It is important that wind power data used for reliability calculations is
closely correlated with the load data
Wind power contributes to energy adequacy
The higher the penetration level of wind generation the lower the
capacity credit
Aggregation over large geographic area reduces uncertainty related to
variability, therefore improves the capacity credit of wind power generation
Generation with particular reserve response characteristics may be required
to maintain required reliability level
Wind power coupled with storage or DSM can improve capacity credit
Figure 8: Summary of issues involving generation adequacy. Source: energynautics
44 Western Wind and Solar Integration Study

45 Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study
34

3.2. GRID PLANNING
The issue: Even if there is sufficient generation capacity, if it cannot be delivered
to the consumers, the system is still not adequate. Therefore, ensuring sufficient
delivery capacity is also part of power system adequacy. Power flow in a system
can be limited due to thermal and voltage equipment ratings, reactive power
reserve requirements and the dynamic characteristics of the network. The grid must be designed so that supply can be delivered to consumers without violating any of these limits. It
is also important to build in a certain level of redundancy to cover for contingency situations
such as when there is a fault on a transmission line (N-1 situation).
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: These impacts are not unique
to wind power; they are part of standard grid planning practices. However,
wind power is often available in remote locations requiring grid extensions or
they are connected to the distribution rather the transmission network, which is
more susceptible to voltage issues. Due to the short construction lead-time of wind power
compared to conventional power plants and transmission equipment, it is important to
understand potential problems and prepare mitigation for high wind penetration even if it
is anticipated in some years time.
Typical methods used for studying the issue: Transmission planning studies
are typically based on steady-state load flow and voltage analysis for future
generation scenarios. In some cases (typically in Europe), focus is placed on the
available transfer capability between balancing areas, while investigations into
the dynamic stability limits would be required for detailed planning studies.
International experience: Most studies assess the impact of wind power generation on the transmission grid in order to identify reinforcement efforts that
will be required to support the future integration of wind power. Of the studies
reviewed, these include the DENA study (6), the Transpower wind integration
study (11), All Island Grid study (12), studies of the Iberian power system46, EWIS (13), as
well as Southwest Power Pool (14) and New York ISO (15) in the USA.
There is a general tendency in Europe (with the exception of the Iberian Peninsula and
offshore projects) for wind power plants to be connected at the distribution level, while
in the USA the power plants are larger in size (and often remote in location) hence connected to a higher voltage network. This explains why distribution codes and voltage support requirements for wind power plants have been developed and adopted rapidly in
European countries, whereas large transmission projects have been seen predominantly
in the USA.
46 Summaries of the Study of Wind Energy Stability in the Iberian Peninsula by Red Elctrica Espaa, Spain
and Rede Elctrica Nacional, Portugal available on:
http://www.ewec2006proceedings.info/allfiles2/743_Ewec2006fullpaper.pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/we.253/pdf
35

In Texas (16) for example, it was recognised that there was a severe lack of incentive for building transmission lines to cater for wind power, which is generally available in remote parts of
the network. To overcome this problem, competitive renewable energy zones (CREZ) have
been created and strategic transmission planning has been underway to cater for these regions
to connect to the ERCOT network.
Developing transmission alternatives based on studies of the best wind resource availability
has also been carried out in a study for the Southwest Power Pool, in Midwest USA and in
California.
In Europe, an extensive study was performed by the TSOs in the Iberian Peninsula, and the
German DENA study also identified the need for large transmission projects to help integrate
the North Sea Offshore grid to the land-based grid. Since in Europe however, the lead time
for transmission projects can be more than a decade, some studies, such as EWIS identified the
need to implement short-term intermediary measures.
Conclusions: Given the unique characteristics of location and short lead time for
wind power expansion, the Transmission System Operator (TSO) must anticipate
and prepare to address potential issues before they arise. Solutions range from
implementing voltage control requirements for wind power plants, upgrading the
distribution and transmission grid to accommodate larger power flows in the long-term, and
to optimise the use of currently-installed equipment in the short-term.
Many power system operators are now realising that, compared to traditional transmission
planning where the main concern was designing supply systems which can most efficiently
supply demand centres, major changes are required to the planning process to effectively
integrate wind power and other renewable energies. When large transmission projects such
as grid extensions to remote areas are required, politically-backed schemes such as the CREZ
project appear to be most effective (16).
Relevance for NEM system: Most wind resources in the NEM are located at a
significant distance from the main demand centres, implying that grid extension and reinforcements may be required for effective integration of wind
power. However, grid augmentations in the NEM are market-driven, therefore
only take place if there is seen to be a market benefit. This has the potential to create an
obstacle to wind integration as wind power. Effectively, plant developers require a connection option to build, while the grid will not be extended until the plant is generating
and creating market benefits.
Furthermore, wind power plants in the NEM tend to be larger than those in Europe, and
Australias widespread adoption of the latest turbine technologies is expected to be slower
than Europe or North America since there is no manufacturing base onshore. Technical performance requirements in the NEM will therefore need to be sufficient to manage voltage issues.
36

Recommendations: For efficient integration of wind power, it is recommended
that the grid planning approach is reviewed to identify strategies to better
accommodate the particularities of wind power.
In the short term however, wind power may increase congestion on grid, and therefore
face curtailment without adequate grid reinforcements. To avoid this, there are short-term
measures to manage the expected power flows that can be investigated.
3.3. STEADY-STATE ANALYSIS

The issue: With the connection of new wind power plants, active and reactive
power is injected in different parts of the power system, altering the power
flow characteristics in such a way that thermal and voltage limits may be violated.
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: The addition of new generating capacity may:

change the power flow, so N-1 criteria might be violated in certain cases;
change the voltage profile, requiring additional reactive power support measures, or
displace conventional generation, changing the amount and location of
available reactive power supply.
Typical methods used for studying the issues: Most wind integration studies
observe this impact through power flow simulations based on a set of conditions which emulate the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is a
situation which results in high power transfers across the grid. This may occur in
a high demand situation when the load centre is a long way from generation, such as is the
case in Australia, where all the available power has to be transferred to the load centres in
the cities. High power transfers are also possible in a low demand situation combined with
high wind power output, as it occurs in Spain, where wind power generation can displace
other generation that may be closer to the load centre, but more expensive.
International experience: In the study of the Iberian Peninsula system (17), assessment was done using winter peak and summer off-peak demand scenarios
combined with three different levels of wind power integration. The country
was divided in four zones to study the influence of wind power in the transmission system. Wind power generation is set up to 80% of the installed capacity in the
studied zone, while the wind power generation in the other three zones is fixed according
to studies of statistical production data. Solar generation was also considered in the study.
Load flow analysis was conducted to study network contingency situations (N, N-1 and
N-2), and short-circuit scenarios were also simulated to study the power system recovery
37

after a disturbance. Transient stability simulations were solved to validate wind power
production scenarios that have been admissible in the steady-state studies. The planned
wind and solar power generation must be capable of providing mainly dynamic voltage control, given the massive penetration of these new technologies. Simulations were
carried out during 20 seconds from the beginning of the three-phase faults, studying in
particular the voltage recovery and how wind power penetration affects the power system. Dynamic voltage control implementation was emphasised, since without it, voltage
dips would be deeper and more extensive, resulting in an unacceptable situation from the
point of view of transient stability.
Even if long-term studies can identify network augmentation requirements, the actual construction of transmission infrastructure can take a long time and short-term solutions are
required. The European Wind Integration Study (EWIS) (13) performed year-round market
analysis coupled with detailed representations of the networks to assess use of interconnectors. This study identified that Europe would encounter significant problems related to loop
flows, and recommended ways to deal with the situation using the resources available until
major grid reinforcements could be put in place.
The Irish All Island (12) grid study used security-constrained optimised power flow (OPF)
to assess how much the new renewable electricity sources were going to contribute to load
flow in the system. This approach identified how what portion of future power system
upgrades are instigated by wind integration, separate to those upgrades required for conventional generation or change in demand. This approach can also help account for costs.
Most of the wind integration studies look at a specified amount of wind power and use
steady-state analysis to determine grid upgrades necessary to integrate it. However, the
final priorities for upgrades are typically based on economic and market integration
studies.
The Minnesota study (18) is unique in that it aims to determine the maximum capacity
of wind power that can be installed at 42 potential connection points. At any single connection point a maximum of 40 MW can be connected. Therefore power flow studies
are performed starting with 40 MW of wind power capacity. If this results in a violation,
the connected capacity in the model is reduced by 5 MW and the resulting power flow
is checked again. This process is continued until no more violations occur, and for all
42 sites.
Relevance for NEM system: Wind power already has significant influence on
the power flow in certain areas of the network and its relevance will increase as
more wind power is introduced. For example, a study by Vencorp (19), identified that the increased injection of wind power at certain points of the network
may result in thermal overloads and low voltages requiring reinforcement and support mea-
38

sures to be implemented. The impact on reactive power requirements appear to be critical
in the networks of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania for dealing with large quantities
of wind power integration (19), (20), (21). Furthermore, for the relatively isolated systems
of South Australia, a minimum level of conventional generation remaining online near the
major load centre, to provide voltage support, was found to be critical (20).
Recommendations: Based on the characteristics of the transmission network
and wind resource availability, it is recommended that a number of future renewable energy development scenarios are used to study the possible augmentation requirements and associated costs. In this way a system which is prepared
for a variety of possible future directions can be developed at least cost. In addition to
assessments based on the worst case scenarios, which are typcially summer-peak scenarios,
off-peak scenarios coupled with high wind power output, as well as situations subject to
extreme weather can also assist in the design of a robust system.
39

Grid adequacy
Ability to deliver available generation to demand even during faults of
generation units and transmission lines (N-1)
Energy consumption and peak demand are typically increasing
Increasing share of renewable energy is driven by political decisions
Retirement of nuclear and coal power plants
Long-term reliability is a system issue
Wind impact
Challenge
Location and capacity

Remote location
Distribution or transmission connected
Short lead time for construction
Adapt transmission
planning procedures
to ease the integration of renewable
energy sources.
3
Studies that look
into the issue
DENA
Minnesota
Iberia
All Island
EWIS
SPP
IEA 25
ElectraNet
Vencorp
Tansend
NEMMCO-SA
Results
Impacts on grid adequacy are not unique to wind power.
Wind integration on large scale requires major grid augmentations because:
wind power is often available in remote locations requiring grid extension
wind power is often connected at distribution level rather than
transmission level, which is more susceptible to voltage issues
Transmission planning methods need to be modified to support renewable
energy integration, particularly location and lead-time.
In the short-term, wind power may increase congestion on grid, requiring
temporary measures such as FACTS, DSM or storage.
Wind power may need to be curtailed if there is insufficient grid adequacy.
Figure 9: Summary of issues involving grid adequacy. Source: energynautics
40

3.4. POWER SYSTEM SECURITY
Power system security is concerned with the ability of the system to withstand contingencies,
set requirements for generation reserve and limits to transmission loading, as well as to avoid
cascading outages leading to a blackout. Overall security is managed by protection schemes,
set to operate at the operating limits for voltage, frequency and current.
Figure 10 depicts the different issues that affect system security. It should be noted that these
aspects are not unique to wind power integration; rather they must be tested for addition of
all types of new generation as well as any system augmentations. These issues are explained
in more detail in the following sections.
Fault level
- Short-circuit current
Frequency response
Small-signal stability
- Inertia
- Primary reserve
- Oscillatory mode
Transient stability
Power System
Security
- Fault ride through

capability
Sub synchronous
interaction
- Power electronic
devices
Figure 10: Issues affecting power system security. Source: energynautics
3.4.1. TRANSIENT ANALYSIS

The issue: The goal of transient analysis is to assess the ability of the power system to maintain synchronism when subject to a severe transient disturbance
such as a fault on transmission lines, loss of generation, or loss of a large load.
Generating units may lose synchronism and be disconnected by their own protection systems if a fault persists on the power system beyond a critical period.
41


change the system stability characteristic by displacing synchronous

generation, and
make post-fault recovery more challenging if wind power plants (WPPs) are
tripped during the fault.
For the second point in particular, the capability of the WPP to remain connected during
and following a fault (fault ride-through) is important.
If the wind turbine is an old model, and the grid code does not require the wind power plants
to ride through faults, protection devices may disconnect them when a transient event occurs, affecting the ability of the system to return to a stable operating point after the contingency event.
The degree to which the wind power plant contributes to fault ride-through and post contingency recovery of the system can therefore have an impact (worsening or improving) on
the recovery of the system after the fault, which is the transient response.
Typical methods used for studying the issues: Loss of synchronism due to transient
instability will be evident within 2 to 3 seconds of the initial disturbance. Therefore,
transient stability is assessed using dynamic simulations, where parameters such as
the generator rotor angles, machine speeds, and bus voltages are observed while a
fault is applied for a fixed amount of time, cleared, and the behaviour is observed for some 20-30
seconds after the fault, until the system becomes stable or a generating unit becomes unstable.
Lightly loaded cases and high wind penetration cases are more susceptible to transient instability because there are less synchronous generators online which normally provide reactive
power support during and after a fault.
International experience: The study by Transpower New Zealand47 investigated the impact of wind power integration on stability-related constraints. The
constraints limit power flows between areas to levels where power system transient stability can be maintained. The constraint may be increased or decreased
depending on the new generations capability to support system stability. This is not unique
to new wind power generation. However, wind powers ability to support system stability
varies greatly with the type of technology employed. The analysis in this study showed that
old Fixed Speed Induction Generation (FSIG) absorbs reactive power during and after a
fault, worsening the transient stability performance. These kinds of units will eventually trip
off when there is a disturbance on the power system unless additional dynamic reactive
support (e.g. static compensators) is built.
47 (22) Page 18
42

Other types of turbines such as Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIG) and Full Scale Frequency Converters (FSFC) have improved fault ride-through capability, and have the potential to improve transient performance. However, this is largely reliant on the requirements
stipulated by the Grid Code.
In systems where the wind turbines are not equipped with fault ride-through (FRT) capabilities, the main objective of the study is to determine the amount of wind generation that
would be disconnected due to the disturbance.
For example in Spain and Portugal, many of the already installed wind turbines are not equipped with FRT capability and studies48 have shown that large quantities of wind power would
be switched off during a voltage dip. Based on this finding, a new FRT requirement was
introduced, as well as coordinated operation and control schemes, improved forecasting
and aggregation techniques. On the other side in Germany, FRT requirements for the wind
turbines to remain connected but not provide reactive power support has been in place for
over a decade. Therefore, many of the old wind power plants are available for generation
following a fault. All new wind power plants as well as re-powered plants must comply with
an updated requirement for the wind turbine to contribute reactive current during a fault in
the same manner as a synchronous generator. To get the requirements right, it is important
to have accurate modelling of the dynamic characteristics and fault ride-through capability
of different turbine technologies that are in the system. In this context, the German DENA
grid study was performed with a variety of wind power plant capabilities incorporated.
Most systems these days have FRT requirements in their grid codes. Therefore, future wind
power plants are expected to have low voltage ride-through (LVRT) capabilities as well as
a certain level of voltage control. Most studies performed in Europe and the USA consider
these aspects when assessing the impact on transient stability.
Relevance for NEM system: In the NEM, transient stability was investigated in
the studies carried out for South Australia (20) (23), Tasmania (21) and Victoria
(19), where the most wind power growth is expected. Introduction of wind
generation was not found to significantly degrade transient stability. However,
WPP models were not available for the transient studies.
In some of the studies, reactive power support and fault ride-through requirements were
met with static compensators, therefore these are included in the analysis. However, depending on the expectation of the future technology employed, it would be beneficial to
include modern wind generation technology with inbuilt FRT capabilities in the models.
48 (47) Page 76
43

3.4.2. FREQUENCY RESPONSE ANALYSIS
The issue: Frequency response refers to a number of aspects, namely the inertial
response of the power system, which acts in a few seconds, the governor response, which is the primary response reacting in 1s to 10s of seconds, and the
AGC response, which is the secondary response acting in a time frame of tens
of seconds to minutes (explained in section 3.5). The key to maintaining frequency stability
when there is a disturbance such as a loss of a generator is to have high rotating inertia in the
power system. For large interconnected systems like the UCTE system in Continental Europe,
the aggregate inertia is high enough that frequency problems are rarely seen. However, for
smaller systems, particularly island systems like the Irish All Island system, or systems with a
slow primary frequency response such as those with large amount of hydropower, like the
Hydro Qubec system, frequency stability may be difficult to maintain when large amounts
of wind power are introduced to the system.

change the maximum fault level with the single connection of a large WPP, and
reduce inertia in the system if conventional generation is switched off
during high times of wind generation.
Typical methods used for studying the issues: The systems frequency nadir
following a transient event such as the loss of a generator can be observed, to
ensure that it remains within a controlable range. Loss of synchronism due to
lack of inertia will be evident within 2 to 3 seconds of the initial disturbance. The
amount of primary reserve required to bring back the frequency can then be evaluated on
a longer time scale. Therefore, frequency response is assessed using dynamic simulations,
where the system frequency is monitored for some 20-30 seconds after the loss of a generator, until the system becomes stable. Lightly loaded cases are more susceptible to instability
because there is less rotational inertia to absorb the disturbance. The same can be said for
situations where wind power penetration is high, as inertia-less wind power plants displace
conventional synchronous generators.
International experience: A number of studies have been performed in various
regions, particularly for systems which are frequency islands or weakly coupled
such as Ireland, UK, Hydro Qubec and ERCOT. Although none of these studies
indicate critical security issues, some recommended operating limits have been
found. The most prominent of these is the All Island Renewables Facilitation study (24), where
a 60-80% limit was identified for inertia less penetration.
This implies that the maximum amount of generation which does not contribute to system
inertia (such as wind generation and import via HVDC) should not exceed 60-80% of the
total system generation to maintain adequate system frequency response.
44

Two potential mitigation measures have been suggested, one being to run conventional
power plants in synchronous compensation mode, providing inertia without generating
active power. The other is for wind turbines to emulate inertia, utilising kinetic energy
stored in the rotor to provide a boost in power over a short time frame of a few seconds.
For larger systems such as the European UCTE system and the eastern and western interconnected systems in the USA, the lack of inertia from wind turbines is not likely to bring about security
issues. However, if significant amounts of conventional generators providing primary reserve
are displaced, the financial implications in securing further reserve may become of concern.
The following table 6 gives a summary of inertia response requirements for wind power
plants in selected power systems.
Region
Requirement
Red Electrica, Spain
REE encourages development of a virtual inertia requirement but does not

foresee a need for it for the Iberian Peninsula for a long time.
Hydro Qubec,
Canada
Wind Power Plants are required to contribute to reducing large (> 0.5 Hz), shortterm (< 10 s) frequency deviations in the power system, an equivalent response
as provided by a synchronous machine with a inertia constant, H=3.5 s.
ERCOT, USA
No formal requirement exists although it has been under discussion for a number
of years.
UK
No formal requirement exists although National Grid has been studying this for
the last 2-3 years. A current draft suggests a primary control with +10 % over 5 s,
and 1 s max delay time.
Ireland
No formal requirement exists. The issue has been studied and so far been
concluded not critical.
Denmark
Similar to Hydro-Qubec
ENTSO-E
Draft EU
Grid code
The TSO shall have the right to require an equivalent delivery related to the rate
of change of frequency.
Table 6: Frequency and inertia response requirements for wind power plants in selected systems.
Source: energynautics
Relevance for NEM system: The Transend report (21) found that the displacement of conventional generation by wind generation leads to a reduction in
system inertia which in turn increases the requirement of fast FCAS and increases
the rate of change of frequency following disturbances. Displacement of conventional generators also reduces of the amount of online plants available to deliver FCAS.
It is recommended that a more thorough study be conducted for the systems of Tasmania
and South Australia (in island mode), as increasing wind power penetration levels may lead
to a requirement for a minimum must run synchronous generation.
45

3.4.3. FAULT LEVEL ANALYSIS
The issue: Short-circuit fault may draw large amounts of fault currents which then
trips the current protection to isolate the fault. But to function correctly, the
protection must be designed to withstand the expected fault currents. Also the
fault current must be sufficiently large enough for it to be detected by protection.
Therefore, it is important to calculate the expected level of fault currents.
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: The addition of any new generating capacity may affect fault levels and require a change in protection settings.
Wind power can change the fault currents in both directions. Adding generation
capacity may increase the local short-circuit level in the electricity system. However, short-circuit
capability of wind turbines are significantly lower than that of synchronous generators, and depend on the wind turbine technology (26). As a consequence, short-circuit levels of the system
may also decrease if conventional generation is replaced by wind power (24).
Typically methods used for studying the issues: Steady-state analysis can be
performed for different wind penetration scenarios to gain an insight into the
general impact on fault levels. However, to properly design the system, electromagnatic time domain transient simulations for short-circutis at particular points
in the network, such as the connection point of the wind power plant or at the terminals
of a HVDC device, are needed to ensure that the short-circuit ratio of the wind turbine is
adequate for correct operation of equipment at that point.
International experience: A comprehensive investigation was conducted for
the New Zealand system by Transpower (27) and for the Irish All Island grid
in the Facilitation of Renewables report (24).
In the Transpower report, steady-state analysis was used to analyse the changes in fault levels. A scenario with light system load was considered as this is when the most conventional
generation is displaced by power (equating to an instantaneous maximum penetration of
75% ). The displacement of conventional power changes the dispatch pattern and alters
the distribution of system fault levels. It was found that introducing wind generation in load
centres where local generation is sparse, increases short-circuit levels locally, whereas the
regions with significant conventional generation may experience a reduction in fault level by
more than 50%. In addition it was found that Full Scale Frequency Converter (FSFC) wind
turbines more significantly impact fault levels than Full Scale Induction Generators (FSIG) and
Double Fed Induction Generators (DFIG). This is because FSFC fault current contribution is
limited by the power converter rating. This is a problem because reducing the fault level
makes it more difficult for the power system to maintain voltage during short-circuit faults.
46

In the Irish All Island Facilitation of Renewables study, short-circuit calculations were carried
out in a similar fashion. In this study it was found that in general, fault levels decreased with
increasing wind power. None of the fault levels fell low enough to compromise the correct
operation of the protection system, however. It was found that, at buses close to large wind
power plants, but far from conventional generation, fault levels increased with higher wind
generation. Furthermore, in areas where the fault levels were already quite high, additional
contribution from the wind power plants could push the system beyond allowable limits.
As a sensitivity check, the Irish study varied the share of wind capacity connected to the distribution and transmission systems, respectively, (80%/20% versus 65%/35%). It also varied
the share of FSFC turbines in the total wind capacity (15%/85% versus 50%/50%). However
in both cases, the results did not change significantly.
In the Iberian system and German DENA (6) studies, similar approaches were used to determine the impact on fault levels for the high voltage system and offshore system respectively.
In both cases, no values low enough to compromise the correct operation of the protection
system were found.
Relevance to NEM system: In the Vencorp study49 it was mentioned that connecting wind power generation to the Victorian transmission network increases
overall transmission network fault levels. Several factors affect the amount of the
fault current contribution from a wind power plant however, such as the type of
the wind turbine, the installed capacity of the wind power plant, and the impedances of the
wind turbine, the step-up transformers, and the collector cable network and transmission
connection. This is assumed to be because the wind power generation is in addition to existing generation and does not actually displace it.
However, it is also possible to have very low fault levels when wind generation displaces a
significant portion of conventional generation. The Transend report50 stresses the importance of maintaining system fault levels above a certain level in the Tasmania region, since if
the fault level falls too low then Basslink operation will be curtailed. If the total system fault
level is too low then problems involving high dynamic over-voltages, voltage instability, harmonic resonance and objectionable voltage flicker may also arise51.
Given the characteristic of the NEM that wind power plants are likely to be connected at
higher voltage levels and in weakly connected areas of the network, it is recommended that
fault level analysis is conducted in detail for each connection to ensure the correct operation
of the system.
49 (19) Page 48
50 (21) Page 16
51 (120) Page 528
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3.4.4. SMALL-SIGNAL STABILITY ANALYSIS
The issue: Small-signal stability refers to the ability of a power system to remain
in synchronism when subjected to small disturbances. These disturbances can
be variations in load and/or generation which occur in normal operation. Synchronous machines respond to these variations by varying their rotor angle,
which need to be sufficiently damped, otherwise can result in a group of machines swinging
output against another group of machines, leading to a loss of synchronism. The natural
frequency of these oscillations is typically in the range of 0.1 to 1 Hz (28).
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: Wind power plants generally
do not induce new oscillatory modes since they are not synchronously connected to the grid. However, depending on the wind turbine concept (constant
or variable speed), and penetration level, it may be possible that the damping
performance of the system is indirectly changed by:
wind power generation displacing synchronous generation,

significantly altering the power flows in the transmission network, and
wind power interacting with synchronous machines to change the damping torques
induced on their shafts52.
Typical methods used for studying the issue: Modal analysis by eigenvalue calculation is the most common method used to investigate small-signal
stability.
International experience: Of the studies reviewed, only a few investigate the

impact of wind power on small-signal stability. For example the Transpower
study (29) assesses the impact of four wind power scenarios on the damping
performance of the existing North Island and South Island power systems. This
study compares the damping performance of a base case scenario which has no wind generation to a scenario where wind generation is introduced to the system by displacing an
equivalent amount of synchronous generation.
The investigation also considers the sensitivity of the damping performance to the following
factors:
Type of wind turbine technology employed (includes Doubly-Fed Induction Generators
(DFIG), Full Scale Frequency Converter (FSFC) generators and conventional induction
generators driven by an active-stall or passive-stall turbine);
Whether or not selected wind power plants are equipped with continuously acting
voltage controllers (i.e. STATCOMs);
52 (29) Page 6
48

Level of system loading; and,
Variation in the power output from a WPP.
The results of the sensitivity studies indicated that such voltage control facilities are unlikely
to significantly affect the damping performance of the system.
It was found that the damping performance of the system with DFIG and FSFC type turbines
were practically identical, and that large-scale wind generation did not appear to significantly
affect small-signal stability on the New Zealand power system.
The Irish All Island study (24) also investigated small-signal stability. Its analysis focused on
dispatch cases with zero export because HVDC interconnectors and wind power were assumed not to introduce any electromechanical oscillation modes but basically change the
number of online synchronous generators with their corresponding controllers and modes.
The general finding was that an increase of wind power tends to improve the damping of
oscillations in the system. This is because the system coupling is strengthened by synchronous
generation being replaced by wind power generation.
The WILMAR study (28) and EWIS (13) also reported results of small-signal analysis however in these studies the models used for analysis were not very detailed and only general
conclusions could be drawn. In either case major impacts were not caused by the integration
of wind power generation, and the oscillation modes already known to exist in the respective
systems continued to exist in the system with wind power integrated.
Relevance to NEM system: Of the studies reviewed, the study by ElectraNet
(20) and NEMMCO in the South Australian region (23) mentioned results from
small-signal analysis. In either case no major impacts were reported, however,
the NEMMCO study reported a slight tendency for small-signal damping to
decrease under high load, high wind conditions.
In both the NEMMCO and ElectraNet studies WPPs were modelled as negative loads as
appropriate small-signal models were not available. Thus the impact of wind generation on
small-signal stability of the NEM has not been studied in detail.
49

3.4.5. SUB-SYNCHRONOUS STABILITY ANALYSIS
The issue: A number of studies reviewed (30) (31) (32) indicated that wind power plants with power electronic converters and controls operating near seriescompensated transmission lines can experience sub synchronous stability issues.
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: If the connection of a new
wind power plant in a remote location requires HVDC or series-compensated
lines, particularly in a radial configuration, this may result in sub synchronous
interactions between the wind and the transmission system. Such resonant conditions can lead to severe system overvoltages, undamped oscillations and instability, risking
system outages and equipment damage.
Typically methods used for studying the issues: A variety of sub synchronous
interactions (SSI) exist (Figure 11), and can be investigated by electromagnetic
time domain transient simulations, however, the main concern for wind integration studies (if any) is the sub synchronous control interactions (SSCI). This was
demonstrated in a real life example in Texas, where a line fault left a large wind farm connected radially with a series-compensated line and caused a fast build-up of sub synchronous
oscillations, which caused damages both to the series capacitor and the wind turbines (30).
Sub Synchronous Resonance (SSR)

Interaction between generators and the electrical resonance formed by series capacitors
and the system effective impedance.
Often seen when series capacitors are installed near gas turbines or thermal generators.
Frequencies of oscillation are fixed and determined by the known mechanical torsional
modes of oscillation in the generator shaft system.
Sub Synchronous Torsional Interaction (SSTI)
Interaction between power electronic controller (such as an HVDC link or SVC) and
generators.
Can cause undamped or growing oscillations in known mechanical torsional modes
of oscillation in the generator shaft system, including WTGs, although the torsional
modes are generally at low frequencies and do not pose a problem.
Sub Synchronous Control Interaction (SSCI)
Interaction between a power electronic device (such as an HVDC link, SVC, wind
turbine, etc) and a series-compensated system.
There is no mechanical shaft system that is part of the oscillations, so the frequency
of the electrical resonance formed by a series capacitor and the system effective
impedance will change under different load or system conditions.
These oscillations can build up quickly (as it is purely control/electrical), and depend
highly on the power electronic controller algorithm.
Figure 11: Explanation of sub synchronous interactions. Adapted from (30)
50

International experience: The issue of sub synchronous interaction has been
investigated in association with the transmission plans for the competitive
renewable energy zones (CREZ) development in the ERCOT system, which are
mostly series-compensated HVAC lines. According to the CREZ Reactive Power
Compensation Study, Squirrel Cage Induction Generators and Wound-Rotor Induction
Generator with Variable External Rotor Resistance wind turbines generally do not have subsynchronous interaction (SSI) if they are close to synchronous frequency. However, DFIGtype turbines are more sensitive to SSI, due to the controls responding to the sub synchronous
series resonance. Furthermore Full-Converter turbines did not show any sensitivity to SSI.
A report published by Elforsk (32), Sweden, also investigates SSI of wind turbines, in this
instance for the impact of variable-speed wind turbines. Using an aggregated model of a
power plant, frequency scanning analysis was performed to estimate the harmonic impedance of the network to screen for conditions that can give rise to potential resonance in
the power network. The Elforsk study findings agree with the ERCOT study that full-power
converter turbines have minimal effect due to the decoupling between the generator and
transmission line, while DFIG generators were more susceptible to resonant conditions at
low frequencies.
The main findings from these studies are summarised below:

Fixed-speed wind turbines might be affected by SSR if radially connected to a seriescompensated line, while variable-speed full-power converter turbines do not seem to
be affected.
If a frequency matching the resonant frequency of the DFIG wind turbine exists in the
transmission network due to the presence of the series capacitors, the system might
become unstable and sub synchronous oscillations can grow.
The resonant frequency of the DFIG is highly dependent on the converters (both the
rotor-side and the grid-side converter) controller parameters as well as on the operating
conditions. This dependency leads to a fairly wide range of frequencies, meaning that
resonance can occur for a wide range of series compensation levels.
It is important to represent the DFIG and full-converter type wind turbine impedance
characteristics to accurately assess SSR and induction generator effects. These
characteristics should cover a frequency range of 0Hz to 120Hz in 1Hz or smaller
increments for normal SSR screening studies. Higher frequencies may be needed for
other types of harmonic impedance calculation studies and should also be provided up
to approximately 1kHz.
51

Relevance to the NEM system: Since wind power potential in the NEM is mainly
in remote areas, it is likely that series-compensated HVAC lines or HVDC lines
will be used more in the future to bring the wind power to the demand centres.
In addition, integration of wind farms into systems where the short circuit ratio
(SCR) is low (<5) should be identified as potential locations for SSR. Therefore, if specific
projects are foreseen, it is recommended that studies are performed to investigate the possible sub synchronous interactions.
System security
Ability of the system to withstand contingencies, such as short-circuit faults and

the sudden loss of generation.
The system must be able to return to safe operation following large transient
events, as well as damp out small-signal disturbances.
Primary generation reserve and operating limits may need to be set.
System security may be a local or system issues.
Wind impact
Challenge
Wind power generation
displaces synchronous
generation with certain grid
support capabilities.
Studies that look

into the issue
Results
ERCOT
DENA
Qubec
NYSERDA
IMO-WA
All Island
Iberia
EWIS
SPP
Transpower
Identifying the limits

where the system may
become unstable based on
an uncertain mix of wind
power penetration rates
and technical capabilities.
IEA25
SC Current
ESIPC
Transend
Vencorp
NEMMCO
Electranet
Fault ride-through and voltage support requirements in Grid Codes are

important to recover from transient faults.
Displacing large amounts of synchronous generation with wind power
generation reduces system inertia and may lead to a minimum must run
synchronous generation requirement for island and weakly interconnected
systems.
Wind power generally lowers fault levels. It is more critical for wind power
plants connected in weak parts of the network and for HVDC devices.
If the connection of a new wind power plant in a remote location requires
HVDC or series-compensated lines, particularly in a radial configuration, this
may result in sub synchronous interactions between the wind system and the
transmission system.
Figure 12: Summary of issues involving system security. Source: energynautics
52

3.5. BALANCING (FREQUENCY REGULATION, DISPATCH, AND SHORT-TERM
CAPACITY RESERVE)
Operation of a power system is largely concerned with balancing supply and demand at
any time. Given the few options to store electricity available in a modern power system, it
is important that the same amount of generation is produced at the instant that it is consumed. To do this efficiently, the system operator optimises the use of available resources
(often through markets), given a set of transmission constraints, to cover the amount of
electricity consumption forecasted at a certain point ahead of time. The degree of time
lag between the forecast schedules and delivery in this process can be broken down into
a broad categorisation of 5-15 minutes (regulation), 15-30 minutes (dispatch or load following) and 30 minutes to some hours (short-term capacity). These are highlighted in
orange in Figure 13 below.
3
Seconds
Minutes
Stability
Hours-Days
Months-Years
Balancing
Inertial response
(governor)
Regulation
(AGC)
Primary
reserve
Secondary
reserve
Dispatch
(load following)
Adequacy
Short-term
capacity
(typically day
ahead market)
Scheduling
(maintenance
planning)
Tertiary
reserve
Figure 13: Time scale for different balancing categories. Source: energynautics
The terminology for reserves varies between countries. In this report, primary reserve is
reserve that acts on a seconds basis, through Governor response, and corresponds to fast
and slow contingency FCAS in the NEM. Secondary reserve corresponds to regulation
reserve, defined as reserves made available in 5-15 minutes. Tertiary reserve corresponds
to dispatch or load-following reserve, available in 15-30 minutes and short-term capacity
reserve, available in 30 minutes to some hours (and up to a day).
The issue: Power system operation is concerned with ensuring that enough
generation capacity with the right characteristics is available to respond to the
variable nature of demand and supply (i.e. wind and solar PV) as well as forecast errors.
53

Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: As with system load, there
are seasonal, diurnal, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute, and second-to-second
variations to wind power output. Figure 14 below, adapted from the NYSERDA
report (5), shows that wind generation variability has less correlation between
wind generating resources as the time frame decreases.
Power system planning and operation
Seasonal wind patterns
Wind power plant

Individual wind turbine
Planning
Short-term capacity (day-ahead)

Dispatch (load following)
Regulation (AGC)
Year
Month
Week
Day
Hour
Inertial response (governor)

Minute
Operation scheme
Wind power
output
fluctuations
Aggregation of wind
power plants in a region
Time
scale
Figure 14: Power fluctuation and operation time scales. Adapted from (5) Page 16
While individual wind turbine generators can experience power output variations over time
frames of seconds to minutes, when many of them are aggregated as a wind power plant, the
short-term variations are smoothed out and the power output variations will be in the range of
minutes to hours. This variation is typically covered by market dispatch (e.g., 1 hour in Germany,
5 minutes in the NEM), and regulation ancillary services after that. Similarly, in systems with
multiple wind power plants, regional wind fluctuations will be in the hour to day range,
which is covered by a short-term capacity planning process (e.g. unit-commitment in USA).
Seasonal wind patterns, of course, fall into the several-month timeframe53 and should be
captured in long-term planning.
Wind generation forecast errors can also impact the balancing processes, particularly when
the actual generation dispatch differs from what was forecasted during generation scheduling. The risk in this case is that the power system cannot adjust quickly enough to accommodate for the discrepancy between the scheduled generation and actual required output54.
This is more of a problem for markets with 1 hour dispatch like that of Germany, with slow
conventional generation. For the NEM, this is less of a concern as it has a 5-minute market,
where the generators can adjust their scheduled output closer to the actual time of dispatch.
53 (5) Page 16
54 (115) Page10
54

Typical methods used for studying the issue: According to the NREL report
on Operating Reserves and Wind Integration (33), most wind integration studies measure wind energys impact on balancing by evaluating the incremental
need for additional operating reserves. This is done through simulation of operation, where available generation is matched to the forecast demand on a rolling basis. The
time lapse between the forecast schedule and actual delivery can vary from days ahead to
minutes, which are normally administered through a number of markets.
This process varies significantly between power systems. A comparison of the balancing time
frames in selected areas is shown in Table 7.
Power
system
Frequency
response
reserves
(seconds)
Regulating
reserve
(5-15 minutes)
Ramping
reserve
(30 minuteshours)
Load following
reserve
(available in
15-30 minutes)
Supplemental
reserve
NEM
X
(Contingency
services)
X
(Regulating
services and
network
loading
control)
X
(Short-term
capacity
reserve)
ENTSO-E
(Europe)
X
(Primary
reserves)
X
(Secondary
reserves)
X
(Tertiary
reserves)
Spain
X
(Primary
reserve)
X
(Secondary
reserve)
Ireland
X
(Operating
reserves,
primary,
secondary
and tertiary
reserves)
X
(Regulating
reserves)
X
(Replacement/
substitute)
X
(Contingency/
substitute)
Hydro
Qubec
X
(Stability
reserves,
spinning
reserves)
X
(Frequency
regulation
reserves, AGC)
X
(Load
following
reserves)
X
(Energy
balancing
reserves)
New
Zealand
X
Instantaneous
reserves)
X
(Frequency
regulating
reserve)
ERCOT 55
X
(Responsive
reserve)
X
(Regulation
reserve)
X
(Loadfollowing,
15 minute
dispatch)
X
(Replacement
reserve)
X
(Deviation
reserve)
X
(Nonspinning
reserve)
X
(Tertiary
reserves)
X
(Tertiary
reserve)
55Reference: http://www.uwig.org/FortWorth/workshop/Dumas.pdf
55
Power
system
Frequency
response
reserves
(seconds)
NYISO
Germany
X
(Primary
regulation
reserve)
Western
Australia
X
(Spinning
reserve)
Regulating
reserve
(5-15 minutes)
Ramping
reserve
(30 minuteshours)
Load following
reserve
(available in
15-30 minutes)
X
(Frequency
and tie-line
regulation)
X
(Unit commitment and
day-ahead
scheduling)
X
(Load
following,
5 minute
dispatch )
X
(Secundary
regulation
reserve)
Supplemental
reserve
X
(Minute
reserve)
X
(Load
following)
Table 7: Summary of reserve types used in operations today. Adapted from (33) and (25)
In the NEM, pre-dispatch is one day ahead and actual market dispatch is 5 minutes ahead of
delivery. For the variations within this final 5 minutes, ancillary service is employed to correct
for discrepancies between final dispatch and actual demand.
According to the IEA Task 25 report (2), the method to evaluate the impact of wind power
on balancing involves the determination of reserve requirements based on statistical evaluation of variability in load and wind power, or the net load (i.e. load minus wind power). The
results of this evaluation however are not likely to be universally applicable, as the characteristics are highly dependent on the location and size of the power system, as well as the
distribution of wind power within the system.
The only study out of the ones that have been reviewed where the market arrangement
is close to the NEM is the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). The NYISO
system has a 5 minute real-time market that complements its day-ahead market, as well as an
AGC with 6 second operation.
New York ISO

The study by NYSERDA (5) evaluated 3,300 MW of wind power on the 33,000 MW peak
load NYISO system. Based on Milligans method (35), the confidence level for how much of
the variations (wind and load) should be covered by reserves is calculated to be three times
the standard deviation of the variability. Therefore, to determine the impact on regulating
reserve requirements, the standard deviation of 6-second variability due to net load was
compared with that of load only. The finding was that approximately 14% more regulating
reserves would be required compared to the current level. Furthermore, the study concluded that no incremental contingency reserves would be needed since the largest single
severe contingency would remain the same.
56

Table 8 below summarises the impacts on balancing found by different studies.
Power system
security studies
ERCOT
Balancing
Impact of integrating 15,000 MW wind power in 65-GW peak load system with
15 minute dispatch period.
54 MW increase in up-regulation and 48 MW in down-regulation required.
Qubec
Impact of integrating 3,000 MW wind power calculated using statistical method used
by BPA, an additional 2% of AGC and 22% of load following reserves are required.
However, significant seasonal discrepancies are found to exist. A simulation based
approach for determining the impact on balancing is currently being developed.
Impact of integrating 20% of renewable energy generation (majority wind) with
day-ahead dispatch. The calculation of an average day-ahead regulating and reserve
power capacity is discussed. It was found that:
DENA
An additional maximum 7,064 MW of positive regulating and reserve power

capacity is needed, of which on average 3,227 MW has to be contracted dayahead (9 % of wind power capacity). In 2003, the corresponding values were
2,077 MW maximum and 1,178 MW on average.
Additional maximum 5,480 MW of negative regulating and reserve power
capacity is needed, of which on average 2,822 MW has to be contracted day
ahead (8 % of wind power capacity). In 2003, the corresponding values were
1,871 MW maximum and 753 MW on average.
NYSERDA
Impact of integrating 3,300 MW wind power in 33-GW peak load system with
5 minute dispatch period. 36 MW increase in regulation required. No additional
spinning reserve is needed.
IMO-WA
It was found that the load following requirement increases substantially, from the
current value of 60 MW to around 200-300 MW by 2030. This corresponds to an
average increase of 14% of the new installed wind power capacity. It was also found
that placing ramping limits on wind power generator would not be effective at
reducing variability.
Western Power
Iberia
All Island
Load following requirements would increase around 320 MW in 2019/20 for a

scenario with 20% of wind power installation penetration.
Studies by REE and REN concluded that deterministic methods and classical
probability methodologies were insufficient for evaluating reserve requirements.
A time-stepping Monte Carlo simulation as a method is now being studied to
determine operational reserve strategies. It has been identified that operational
reserve, defined as reserve mobilised in less than one hour, should be sufficient to
absorb changes in net load within that time frame. However, unit commitment has to
be redefined and this is still being investigated.
The maximum amount of wind power that could be integrated without compromising system reliability was evaluated. The scheduling and dispatch study found
that it was feasible to operate the All Island power system reliably with up to 42 %
energy from renewable resources, mainly wind.
57

Power system
security studies
Balancing
Impact of 10% and 20% wind power penetration on balancing costs were evaluated.
The general findings were that:
Wilmar
Integration costs are highest in Denmark and Germany which are dominated by
thermal production, whereas they are lowest in Norway where hydro-based
generation dominates.
Norway with high amounts of flexible hydro power generation is extremely
suitable for integrating wind power. The integration costs for Norway decreases
from 10% to 20% wind power integration scenarios.
Integration costs increase in a country when its neighbouring country gets more
wind power.
The study found that even if all needed transmission upgrades are in place, integrating 10-20% of wind power will increase operational complexity and lead to
economic challenges. Specifically the following impacts were reported:
The need for flexible resources increases as forecast errors increase. Therefore,
consolidating SPP into a single balancing area (as planned) will reduce the overall
needs for reserves and flexible resources.
SPP
Ancillary service requirements depend on the wind power penetration level.

Regulation-up and regulation-down requirements are not symmetrical. Wind
power plants may be able to provide regulation-down during high wind periods.
Forecast errors increase start-ups of flexible units and reduce generation of less
flexible units.
The impacts of forecast errors are different depending on whether the deviation from the forecast is positive or negative. Wind under-forecasts tend to
exacerbate wind curtailments while over-forecasts have a much smaller impact on
curtailment but could lead to reliability issues if not enough non-wind resources
are committed.
ESIPC 56
ESIPC used the PLEXOS model to make a half hourly chronological analysis. It was
found that the volumes of installed wind power used in the study were able to be
accommodated without significant operational impact.
Transend
A total installed capacity of 1043 MW of wind generation in the state, as well as a

potential further 700 MW has been considered. This is against the current off-peak
demand of around 780 MW. It was found that generation scheduling and regulation
reserve requirements will be manageable even for very high wind penetrations. A
modest increase in regulation FCAS requirements is likely to be required.
Table 8: Summary of balancing in the wind integration studies selected for review. Source: energynautics
Conclusions: In general, wind variability and forecast errors increase the required level of reserve. If the wind penetration level is low, significant changes are
not usually required because the existing operating method is designed to deal
with a certain level of uncertainty. As the wind penetration level increases, however, challenges arise due to the displacement of conventional power plants (which provide
spinning reserve) and the introduction of potentially higher ramp rates.
56 This was not a detailed study of operational impacts.
58

Relevance for NEM system: In a market such as the NEM, where bidding is relatively short, at 5 minutes before dispatch, the real balancing concern is on the
very short-term basis, particularly regulation reserves. It has been found, however, that wind forecast errors are the main factors affecting reserve, and they are
larger with increasing time frame away from dispatch. The closer to real-time dispatch the
better the forecast accuracy. Therefore, it is envisioned that impact on balancing in the NEM
will be less burdensome than for some other power systems with day-ahead markets. However, it would be pertinent to conduct a study of the variability of the wind power based on
measurement data in the NEM, particularly regarding weather-based changes in output, for
example to assess the event of a storm front coming through the coast line of South Australia,
and whether changes to the existing regulating reserve requirements are necessary.
Similarly, integration of solar power should be considered, as forecast error and weatherrelated variability issues (max ramp rates) could also impact balancing depending on the
expected penetration level.
Balancing
There must be generating capacities available within a short time interval

(seconds to minutes) to meet demand. These include:
Adequacy of AGC response and spinning reserve requirements for frequency
regulation (may be provided by ancillary services)
Short-term reserve (unit-commitment) adequacy
Adequacy of replacement reserve requirements
Wind impact
Uncertainty of variability of
wind and forecast errors.
Challenge
Of particular concern are

high ramp rates caused by
extreme weather.
Studies that look
into the issue
Results
DENA
Transpower
Western
ERCOT
IMO-WA
Qubec
NYSERDA
All Island
Iberia
SPP
Wilmar
How to determine whether

sufficient reserve with
the right characteristics
is available, and what is
the most effective way to
deploy it when needed.
IEA 25
ESIPC
NEMMCO-SA
Transend
Wind power integration leads to higher reserve requirements due to displacement of conventional units which have controllable output.
Without WTG active power control capability, increased wind penetration
can add to higher reserve requirements.
WTG active power control may be required to increase spinning reserves.
Price signals can cause large ramp rates which can be more severe than
weather-dependent changes.
Aggregation over a large geographic area can reduce forecast errors.
If primary and/or secondary reserve requirements are increased, replacement
reserve requirements will also increase.
Figure 15: Summary of issues involving balancing. Source: energynautics
59

3.6. VOLTAGE CONTROL
The issue: The main challenge for voltage control is to maintain acceptable
steady-state voltage levels and voltage profiles in all operating conditions,
ranging from minimum load and maximum wind power production to maximum load and zero wind power57. Constantly changing supply and demand
implies a constantly changing power flow and voltage profile all over the network. Therefore operation is also concerned with keeping these parameters within operating limits.
Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: Since adding wind power to
the system changes the steady-state and dynamic stability characteristics of the
power system, new voltage support systems may be required. Furthermore, if
wind power plants with inferior voltage support capabilities replace conventional
generators, more support measures may be required.
Typical methods used for studying the issues: Reactive power demand must
be provided locally, since it cannot be transported over long distances. This
is generally managed by obtaining reactive power support from generation,
loads, or external voltage support devices. Power Voltage (PV) and Reactive
Power Voltage (QV) analyses are typically used to determine the stability limit for a particular area. These analyses calculate the relationship between voltages and load as the load is
increased. The load is increased until the load flow cannot be solved, indicating the point of
collapse and the limit for load in the region.
International experience: The Irish All Island Renewables Facilitation study58
performed steady-state analysis of voltage stability limits by calculating the
PV and QV curves for dispatches with zero exchange over the interconnector
to Great Britain. The worst case scenario was emulated by assuming that tap
changers of all transmission to distribution transformers were locked and that reactive
power capability of wind power plants was limited to unity power factor. Analysis of this
case identified that a high amount of distribution-connected wind power decreases voltage stability. This is because distribution-connected wind power plants (35% in this case)
cannot participate in voltage control unless they are equipped with additional reactive
power compensation. In addition, providing reactive power at distribution level would not
effectively solve reactive power issues at transmission level. Since reactive power capability
of wind power plants are generally lower than that of synchronous generators, when they
displace conventional generators, it was found that significant amounts of reactive power
sources were needed at strategic locations in the transmission system. Based on the findings, a number of mitigation measures were suggested:
57 (2) Page 94
58 (24) Pages 32-35
60

Specify a continuously variable and continuously acting voltage regulation system (e.g.
power factor for different operation points) in the Grid Code for transmission-connected
wind power plants.
Place additional reactive power sources, e.g. static VAR compensators (SVCs) or similar
equipment, at strategically chosen locations where necessary.
Define a minimum requirement for conventional generation units that should never be
put offline (must run units) in certain regions.
Sensitivity analysis suggested that it makes little difference whether additional reactive
power is provided by static VAR compensators, similar equipment or large wind power
plants connected to the transmission system because wind power plants are dispersed
throughout the All Island Power System. But if wind power plants provided reactive
power in a region where wind speeds suddenly fell, they would have to continue feeding
reactive power into the transmission grid (even at zero active power) until conventional
power plants with synchronous generators are started up.
Transpower New Zealand59 also performed PV analysis to assess the impact on voltage stability limits when wind generation with limited ability to control voltage displaces other forms
of regional generation. The worst case scenario was used as a preliminary study to identify
areas which may require detailed investigations at a later date. It was found that the addition
of wind generation (or any other generation) within most regions has a positive effect on
voltage stability limits because the real power output of the new generation reduces the
amount of power transferred into the region (reducing reactive losses and voltage drop).
However, it was also found that the displacement of other forms of regional generation by
wind generation reduces voltage stability limits by about 10-34% of the amount of regional
generation displaced by wind generation.
The IEA Task 25 report (2) suggests some common mitigation measures. Firstly, modern
wind turbines equipped with power electronics to control reactive power output and
terminal voltage should be employed. This can be enforced by a Grid Code, particularly
for transmission-connected wind power plants.
After the generators themselves, capacitor banks and transformer tap changers represent
the most common means to control voltage profiles. Static VAR Compensators (SVC) and
STATCOMs placed in the grid or at wind power plants open up possibilities to serve both
the grid and wind power plants and benefit both. It is also possible for synchronous generators to operate as reactors, or voltage support services to be sought from network ancillary
services.
59 (117) Page 11
61

Relevance for NEM system: As noted in section 3.3, studies of the NEM indicate
that the addition of wind power can have significant impacts on the availability
and location of reactive power sources. In the NEM, most reactive power is
provided through performance standard requirements placed on generators. A
relatively small amount of voltage control services is provided by Network Control Ancillary
Service (NCAS). Additional NCAS may be sourced if there is a lack of reactive power.
Under these ancillary services, generators absorb or generate reactive power from or onto
the electricity grid and control the local voltage accordingly.
It is recommended that voltage stability studies are performed for specific connections
and regions, appropriately considering the voltage support capabilities of the wind power
plants, to assess whether the performance standard requirements in place are sufficient.
3.7. POWER QUALITY

The issue: Power quality is observed at the connection point, and includes
aspects such as harmonics, flicker, and voltage and current distortion due to
unbalanced faults. It is affected by WTG converters and reactive compensation
equipment such as STATCOM, series capacitors and switched capacitors.
It is important that the power delivered to consumers has an adequate quality according its
usage. Without this, an electrical load may malfunction, fail prematurely or not operate at all.
In this respect, the following items are often observed:
Transient overvoltage is a brief, high frequency increase in voltage on the AC mains. Low
frequency transients in the 100 Hz range are typically caused by capacitor switching which
resonate with the inductance of the distribution system. High frequency transients in the
1 kHz range are caused by lightning and inductive loads, and can be absorbed using surge
suppressors.
Harmonic distortion occurs when there are loads that draw current only at the peak of the
voltage waveform, causing distortion in the sinusoidal voltage and current. Total Harmonic
Distortion (THD) and Total Demand Distortion (TDD) can be used to measure the level of
distortion. It is an important aspect for efficient and accurate power system operation, as it can
affect transformer and meter operation and interfere with protection circuit breaker operation.
Flicker is a specific problem related to incandescent light and a humans sensitivity to it. The
sensitivity is a function of the fluctuation frequency as well as the voltage level of the lighting.
The voltages and currents on each phase of the three-phase system can be unbalanced if
there is a problem such as a fault that affects the phases differently.
62

Possible impact of increasing wind penetration: The operation of wind
turbines can affect power quality of the local grid. Depending on the grid
configuration and the type of wind turbine used, different power quality
problems may arise. Fluctuating power production from wind generation
using old turbines (fixed speed induction generator type) may cause flicker disturbances.
In the case of variable speed turbines, one drawback might be the injection of harmonic
current into the grid. Depending on the type of inverter used, different orders of harmonics
might be produced.
Typical methods used for studying the issues: Investigation of impact on
power quality resulting from wind integration is not the subject of systemwide studies; it is more relevant for small island studies. Therefore it is relevant
for studies on the installation of certain types of equipment, but should not be
the focus of large system-wide studies.
International experience and relevance for NEM system: Of the studies

reviewed, the only one that investigates power quality is the DENA study, and
even in that, it is specifically for the offshore wind power plant. This is most
likely because power quality is a problem (if any) observed on a local level, and
the study must be performed for each and every specific setup of the wind power
plant and connection. Therefore it makes little sense to investigate this issue in
detail for a system-wide wind integration study. Rather, it is recommended that
this issue be investigated when specific connection studies are required.
63
4
KEY TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS:
MEASURES THAT SUPPORT
WIND INTEGRATION
KEY TECHN. SOLUTIONS
4. KEY TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS: MEASURES THAT

SUPPORT WIND INTEGRATION
A number of technical solutions are introduced in the wind integration studies to counterbalance the negative impacts of wind power and to support their integration into power
systems. Mostly, solutions relate to modifying the output of the wind power plant to provide
network services similar to those of conventional power plants. Another objective is to increase the flexibility of the power system to be able to adapt to variable generation.
4.1. WIND TURBINE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Modern wind turbines can offer sophisticated controllers which can provide a variety of
network support and production services. These are described below.
4.1.1. Low voltage ride-through
Voltage ride-through mechanisms can be integrated into all modern wind turbine generators
(Type 3 and 460), mainly through modifications of the turbine generator controls and adding
additional equipment such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to the wind turbine.
This allows the wind turbine to remain connected during voltage dips, rather than disconnect,
and contribute to post-contingency recovery. Older Type 1 or 2 wind turbine-generators
typically need additional equipment such as DVARs (subject to detailed studies)61 to achieve
low voltage ride-through.
4.1.2. Dynamic reactive power support
Reactive power support and power factor control can be provided through built-in
capability (available for wind turbine generators Types 3 and 4), however, some manufacturers still choose to use farm level reactive compensation through a combination of switched
capacitor banks and/or power electronic transmission technologies such as SVC/STATCOM,
reserving more converter capability for real power production.
4.1.3. Frequency regulation
Sudden changes in wind power output may cause fast frequency changes. When demand is
low and wind production is high, there may not be enough conventional units online to adjust
to these changes and maintain frequency stability. Since wind turbine outputs are controllable
60 Type 1: Squirrel Cage Induction Generators (SCIG), Type 2: Wound-Rotor Induction Generators with Variable External Rotor Resistance, Type 3: Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), Type 4: Full Converter
Wind Turbine Generator
61 (98) Page 23
65

with very fast response times, in a high frequency situation the outputs can be reduced and
contribute to frequency control. Figure 16 depicts different ways in which the wind turbine
output may be controlled. In addition, a concept called delta control is being demonstrated
in Denmark. This is where the wind power plants output is normally operated at a compromised level so it has room to either boost or reduce its output as a conventional spinning
reserve unit would. The wind power output from such a control mechanism can be seen in
Figure 16 below (far right). In this way, wind power plants can also provide ancillary services.
However, for this concept to work, it would have to be financially compensated for constantly
curtailing production (for example through the FCAS market in the case of the NEM).
4
Figure 16: Power control options. Source: (36) Page 6
4.1.4. Virtual inertia capability

Wind turbines can provide inertia in the case of a frequency excursion, by taking out all the
energy stored in the rotating mass of the rotor in a short time frame, effectively mimicking
inertia response from a synchronous generator for a few seconds. This service can be solicited
by the grid operator and would only be used when there is a significant frequency deviation.
Providing virtual inertia can be useful during low demand periods when high wind penetration displaces conventional synchronous generation which would normally provide system
inertia in contingency situations.
4.1.5. Power system stabiliser
Currently under academic discussion and development by some wind turbine manufacturers
is to offer power system stabiliser (PSS) features which can add to system damping. In the
case of a Type 3 wind turbine, the contribution to damping can be made by including an
auxiliary PSS loop in the control scheme that, under oscillatory network conditions, injects
power variation into the network that stimulates additional damping power in the network
synchronous generators62.
62 (119) Pages 172/173
66

4.2. USE OF FLEXIBILITY MECHANISMS TO SUPPORT WIND POWER INTEGRATION
In addition to advanced turbine capabilities, there are a number of measures that are commonly used to accommodate wind power variability. The term flexibility options is often
used to refer to these measures because they make the system more flexible and adaptable
to wind power characteristics.
4.2.1. Grid optimisation

Operating limits of the grid are often designed against the worst case scenario, which rarely
occurs in reality. Incorporating a monitoring scheme for critical parameters may allow a
flexible operating limit to be applied, and opmise the use of the existing system.
The EWIS (13) for example, examines the use of power flow control to optimise the use of the
existing grid. Particularly on a medium term, while wind power capacity is increasing much faster than transmission capacity, dynamic rating and flow control with phase shift transformers
are suggested as measures to reduce the bottlenecks. Dynamic rating adapts the allowable
line loading according to the line temperature, while flow control permits power flow sharing
between parallel circuits to be controlled in order to maximise available capacity.
The DENA study (6) also investigates the potential of a temporary loading and dynamic
rating of overhead lines to increase their transmission capacity.
In Portugal, phase shift transformers are already operating in selected substations and dynamic
rating is being used for main transmission lines to support the integration of wind energy63.
Although these measures can help to relieve network congestions, they are only effective as
temporary solutions, until actual grid reinforcements are implemented.
For voltage support, stability can be improved by installing FACTS devices (dynamically modifying the impedance of the power system seen from the generating unit terminals64), switchable
reactors or static VAR compensators/static synchronous compensators (SVC/STATCOMs).
4.2.2. Demand-side management and storage

Rather than having generation follow demand for balancing all the time, it may be possible
to control some parts of demand. With more and more smart appliances being installed
and smart grid initiatives being considered, it is anticipated that in the future demand-side
management (DSM) could be used to counterbalance the variation in renewable energy
63 (109) Page 2
64 (32) Page 10
67

sources and support its integration. There are very few studies that assess the impact of DSM
coupled with wind integration; however it may be a valid topic for investigation. Similarly,
storage devices such as Electric Hybrid Vehicles (EHVs) are seen to play a major role in DSM
strategies. Emerging storage devices like EHVs, traditional forms of storage like pumped
hydro schemes, as well as newer forms of storage like hydrogen can be coupled with wind
power to reduce curtailment and also to assist with balancing.
4.2.3. Grid upgrades/widening balancing areas

It has been shown in a variety of studies65 that the aggregation of wind power plants over a
wide geographic area reduces output variability and forecast errors. In addition, by widening
balancing areas through strengthening tie-lines and coordinated markets, balancing resources
and reserves can be shared, alleviating the burden on conventional resources within a region.
Therefore it makes sense to reinforce the grid so that wind power can be delivered to the
demand centres without causing congestions which may impede the supply of required
reserves.
4.2.4. Monitor and real-time network management

Although most of operation is automated, it is constantly monitored from a control centre
by system operators. The system operators ensure that operating limits are not violated, and
take actions to prevent or deal with violations if they occur. The system operator may also
produce system performance reports using the data that is monitored and recorded.
With increasing amounts of wind generation and other renewable energies, the system is
becoming more complex. Even if there are automatic adjustment measures, the system may
run into situations where human judgement and manual adjustment are required.
In Spain and Portugal, a special control centre for renewable energies (CECRE) has been set
up to monitor and collect information about production from renewable energy resources.
In this control centre almost real-time calculations can be made to analyse the interaction
of the power system with wind power and to avoid contingency situations. Due to the fact
that not many systems actually have high penetration of renewable energy, or the facilities
to collect and analyse such large amount of data, experiences from this control centre is expected to produce interesting results and valuable insights as to what factors are important
in wind integration studies. For example it has already been demonstrated that there is value
in treating wind production in an aggregated manner to improve forecasts, and even across
different types of renewable technologies.
65 (115) Page 3, (2) Page 12, (77)
68

Furthermore in Germany, it has been observed that treating renewable energy other than
wind simply as embedded generation may cause complications. With close to 18 GW of
installed solar PV capacity in Germany, at this size it cannot be treated as embedded
generation without grid support requirements. In order to properly assess the type of risks
involved, it is important that this technology is appropriately modelled and included in
system-wide integration studies to prepare for future scenarios where large penetration of
wind and solar PV is expected. (The solar PV forecast for NTNDP of the NEM is vulnerable
in this sense because it is treated as embedded generation (i.e. reduced demand) and does
not consider the potential impact at all.)
69
5
EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL
IMPACTS WITH SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION
5. EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL IMPACTS WITH SYSTEM

PERFORMANCE
To ensure that all the measures are implemented in the most efficient manner possible
(i.e. lowest cost), certain parameters can be monitored. These include economic evaluation
of grid reinforcements versus curtailing energy production to relieve bottlenecks, the cost
of changing merit order versus benefits from avoided CO2 emissions, and an evaluation of
transmission and distribution losses.
5.1. WIND ENERGY CURTAILMENT

Traditionally, base load is covered by large conventional power stations (e.g. coal/nuclear)
and variable load by sources that can adapt to fast changes such as gas and hydro. Intermittent renewable power in small quantities can be considered as negative load, displacing
the conventional units responding to variable load. With only small amounts of intermittent
generation the overall dispatch process is relatively unchanged.
However, with larger penetration levels, conventional power generation is displaced,
while increasing CO2 prices and fuel prices raise production costs for conventional power.
Furthermore, base-load units such as nuclear and coal power plants may be phased out.
These factors mean that that the characteristics expected from traditional base load units
are changing. For example, despite the fact that they were not designed to operate in a
flexible manner, they may be required to shut down or operate at part of their load levels
more often. This kind of operation may place stress on the components of the units and
could lead to increased outages and plant depreciation (38).
Particularly in the case of nuclear and coal power plants, a certain minimal generation level
may be required, both for operational and economic reasons. Furthermore, generation units
with certain characteristics may also be needed online, in order to meet minimum reserve
and/or inertia requirements. If this is coupled with a low demand and/or a high wind period,
there may be too much generation available in the system even with the export capability.
In this case the only option is to curtail the wind energy (in the absence of storage options).
Figure 17 on the next page gives an overview of the situation.
71
EVALUATION
Change of generation merit order
CO2 + fuel price
Phase-out of nuclear/coal units
Wind power
replaces
conventional
generation
Wind power may

need to be curtailed
to maintain minimum
reserve level.
Change in production
characteristics demanded
from conventional power
plants has possibility to
cause increased outages
and costs.
Figure 17: Impact of wind power on generation pattern. Source: energynautics
A commonly raised issue is what to do if there is a surplus of renewable energy generation

during low demand. It would be logical to reduce the output of wind to match demand,
however, this results in financial loss and wasted energy, because wind energy must be harnessed instantaneously and cannot be stored (sometimes referred to as volatile energy).
The decision is usually made based on which option is more economic, however in a regulated market where renewable energy may be mandated to produce a certain amount of
energy, this could result in unnecessarily high prices (likely in the case of NEM, where wind
is competing with cheap coal and gas units). Also the question remains about the spinning
reserve required to cover for wind volatility, when there is sufficient wind generation to
cover for more than the minimum demand. (37)
While in most countries in Europe, TSOs can curtail wind energy in order to preserve system
security, in some countries, the ability to curtail is extended to other specific situations (for
example, if significant congestion occurs or if wind production exceeds consumption levels).
Financial compensation for wind power curtailments is provided in some countries and not
in others. For example, in Spain, weak interconnection with France constrains dispatching,
especially in low load hours where wind power cannot substitute conventional generation
that would be required only some hours later66. This power cannot be exported, neither can
reserve be imported. Therefore, the need for a certain amount of conventional generation
in low load moments makes wind curtailment unavoidable.
The study by NYSERDA (5) found that no operating conditions justified the need for wind power
curtailment at a state-wide level (i.e. backing down all wind generators at the same time). Rather,
curtailment may be required to maintain system reliability, to handle temporary local transmission limitations (e.g. line out of service) or in anticipation of severe weather (e.g. intentionally curtail
wind generation in advance of a severe storm affecting a large portion of the state). This may be
done by sending maximum power orders to wind power operators or via SCADA in the case
of unmanned generation facilities. In light of this investigation it was recommended that market
mechanisms should include incentives to reward the accuracy of wind generation forecasts.
66 (13) Page 48
72
EVALUATION
One solution is to add an interconnection with a neighbouring power system and export the
wind generation and share ancillary services. However, these problems must be foreseen
well ahead of time because building additional capacity between states in the NEM is an
arduous and time consuming process at best. This is why a system-wide study is recommended, at least considering wind and ancillary service import/export capabilities.
5.2. CO2 EMISSION

CO2 emission resulting from generation dispatch is likely to be reduced with higher penetration of wind power generation because conventional power such as coal-fired power generation will be displaced. However, if gas units are operated more frequently to compensate
for the variable wind power output, the reduction in CO2 emission from coal power plants
may be offset somewhat by emissions from gas power plants.
The DENA study, NYSERDA, All Island and EWIS study make brief investigations into the
effect of resulting CO2 emissions. Despite the stated concern, in all cases the general trend
was that CO2 emissions are reduced with increasing wind penetration.
If the cost of CO2 emission is included in the analysis, this may also affect the resulting
dispatch pattern. Therefore an investigation including market interaction is recommended.
5.3. CHANGE IN POWER FLOW CHARACTERISTICS ON SYSTEM LOSSES

Transmission loss increases if high power transfer is required from one location to another.
Whether wind power has positive or negative effect depends on the installed capacity and
location. If large wind power plants are installed at remote locations from the load centres
and contribute to power flows on the transmission network when it is already congested,
losses will increase. However, if wind generation is mostly distributed generation and installed locally in and around load centres, it will reduce losses.
This was demonstrated by the study in Minnesota (18), which evaluated the change in
system-wide electrical losses caused by integration of wind power. PSS/E load flow program
was used to evaluate summer peak and summer off-peak scenarios for a base case which has
no additional wind installation and a distributed renewable generation case with 600 MW of
predominantly wind generation. In this model, losses decreased in the summer peak scenario
compared the base case, whereas the losses increased in the summer off-peak scenario. The
reason for the increase in losses for the off-peak scenario was that local generation may not
be used to supply the load centres, in favour of a more economical dispatch.
Because system loss is highly dependent on the distribution of power sources, it is unlikely that
integration of wind power will decrease system losses in the NEM, since wind resource is available at the margins of the system in South Australia and Tasmania where there is very small load.
73
6
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
6. CONCLUSIONS
The review of various wind integration studies has identified the type of issues commonly
investigated and the approaches used. A summary of these findings is presented in Table 9.
The common findings and conclusions for the studies are explained below, with their relevance
to the NEM highlighted.
The impact of generation capacity build-up on system adequacy and security is a concern
for power systems, regardless of the energy source. Adding new generation can change the
expected power flows and stability characteristics. For wind power however, new challenges
and concerns are introduced because its output is weather dependent, the resources are
typically available in remote areas of the network, and time from planning to construction is
much shorter than for conventional power plants or system components.
Generation adequacy: For long-term reliability, it is important to provide adequate generation capacity to cover the projected peak demand. The capacity credit of wind power becomes an important aspect in this assessment, especially if retirement of conventional power
plants is envisioned, so that wind power could partly replace the current base load generation. Since in most cases generation adequacy is assessed using reliability metrics, calculation
of wind power capacity credit using a reliability method is most intuitive, and recommended,
as it is the most accurate calculation method. However, if the wind penetration level is distinctly low, and the purpose for calculating the capacity credit is for an analysis which does
not require a high level of confidence, an approximation method may be sufficient.
Grid planning: Wind power plants often require grid extensions and reinforcements to
be able to efficiently deliver their energy because they are located further from loads.
Combining this with the short lead time for construction of wind power plants, it becomes
vital that grid adequacy and integrity is assessed well ahead of time. In many countries and
regions, grid planning is driven by political will to increase the penetration of renewable
energies, rather than economic efficiency of transmission investment. In order to build a
robust network which can adapt to a range of future wind development scenarios, the
current grid planning process in the NEM may require revision.
System security (electromechanical impact): Although direct impact on rotor angle
stability, small-signal stability and sub synchronous interaction is not warranted for wind
turbines which are generally decoupled from the grid, indirect impact may be visible when:
1) large amounts of synchronous generation is displaced by non-synchronous generation
and changes the oscillatory characteristics of the system; or 2) HVDC or series-compensated
HVAC lines are used to connect remote wind power plants.
Accurate estimation
of wind power
capacity credit
6
Priority for renewable
energy integration
Displacement of
synchronous generation
may impact system
stability
System security (low voltage ride-through): The main concern for wind power integration
is the impact following a short-circuit fault or a voltage dip. Older turbine types, and in
some cases wind power plants treated as negative load, do not provide fault ride-through
75
CONCLUSIONS
capability. In these cases the wind power plants are disconnected when a voltage dip is
observed, leaving the system more prone to instability. In response to this issue modern
turbines can provide fault ride-through capability and Grid Codes can mandate that wind
turbines remain connected during voltage dips, and provide reactive power support postcontingency. If this feature is not offered by the generator technology, it can be provided
with external equipment like DVARs.
System security (frequency response): When wind power generation reaches high penetration
rates, there may be times when demand is supplied completely by wind power (e.g. during offpeak periods). In these situations, it may be necessary to have a minimum inertia requirement,
to maintain the ability to control frequency excursions, particularly for weakly interconnected
systems. The Irish system operator for instance currently limits the non-synchronous generation
(mainly wind and PV) to 60-80% of system generation. With a peak penetration of over 80%,
which is one of the highest instantaneous penetration levels for weakly interconnected power
systems observed in the world, South Australia may need to impose a similar limit.
System security: It is important that the ability of the wind power plant to support voltage
and frequency is modelled appropriately when assessing steady-state, transient, small-signal
stability and frequency response. It was found that until now, some studies performed in
the NEM assume the worst case scenario, that wind power generation is expanded using
old turbine types without voltage support capabilities. This is an unrealistic assumption, as
future wind generation technologies are developing in the direction to provide more and
more support capability options. Therefore, it is recommended that a system-wide study
is performed with a variety of wind technology capabilities, and to test if the current Grid
Code is sufficient for mixed turbines scenarios.
Frequency regulation (balancing): One of the major aspects of wind power integration
frequently investigated is that it is weather dependent and intermittent. Although its output can be forecasted with a good level of accuracy, the increased degree of uncertainty
in the balancing process often results in higher requirements for operating reserves. Power
systems are already designed to operate with variability and uncertainty of load, and the
process to incorporate wind power does not require reinventing the wheel. Nonetheless
it is important to check the adequacy of existing reserves and make sure that the existing
procedures are sufficient for handling the additional level of uncertainty.
FRT and voltage support

capability requirements
in Grid Code
Frequency response
requirements more
important for weakly
interconnected systems
Assess system security

reflecting actual technical capabilitiy of
wind power plants
Ability of balancing
system to accommodate uncertainty and
ramp rates caused
by wind power
Variability and ramp rates: One of the major concerns of wind power integration is that
it is weather dependent and intermittent. For example, in the case of a storm front hitting
the coastline of South Australia, there might be the risk that almost all wind power plants in
the state are shut down consecutively over a short to medium time frame (details have not
been studied yet for SA) due to extremely high wind speeds. Furthermore, some studies
have shown that the impact from ramp rates created by price volatility can be larger than
weather-based variability. For the NEM which trades on a 5-minute dispatch market, this
could also be a problem as it is subject to highly volatile prices.
76
CONCLUSIONS
Solar PV power: Although the focus of this report is on wind power integration, discussions
with various transmission systems operators indicated that solar PV growth cannot be dismissed as an insignificant issue for renewable integration studies. For example in Germany
and Italy, the growth of solar PV has rapidly reached some giga-watts, and considerable problems that affect stability and balancing have been observed. Although in the NEM solar PV
penetration may be considered to be at insignificant levels, the potential growth and impact
should not be underestimated. Therefore, it is recommended that how solar PV is treated
is revised and included in any future renewables integration studies.
System-wide study: Compared to many other power system which settle the market bidding in a day-ahead market and manage the balancing with ancillary services, balancing issues
in the NEM will be easier to deal with since it has a 5-minute dispatch market. However,
it is recommended that generation adequacy, balancing, and dynamic stability impacts by
wind power, are evaluated on a NEM-wide basis rather than a state-by-state basis. It has been
shown in many studies that aggregation of wind power over a larger geographic area reduces
variability, improves forecast accuracy, and balancing resources can be shared between interconnected regions. Although interconnections between states are currently limited, there are
benefits that system-wide studies can bring in certain situations.
Development of
future renewable
energy scenarios
including solar PV
Consider the
benefits of
system-wide
studies
Power quality: The effect of wind power variability and technology employed for the
installation of wind power plants on power quality issues such as harmonics and flicker, as
well as the response to unbalanced faults may be investigated. These effects are likely to be
observed locally however, therefore it is recommended that power quality is studied for
each particular connection when specific sites are considered.
Measures that support wind integration: To deal with the potential issues identified
through technical analysis, several solutions have been suggested in the wind integration
studies. Some of the common measures, that have been identified as being important for
smooth wind integration and with merit for further investigation, are the following:
Aggregation of wind power plants over a larger area, coupling with storage devices,
implementing demand-side management to reduce variability of wind power output.
Aggregated control of wind power plants and other renewable energy generation such
as solar power plants.
Augmentation of the grid to increase access to wind power resources as well as to share
balancing resources over a wider area.
Optimisation of the use of existing infrastructure using FACTS devices and phase shifting
transformers are suggested as an intermediate measure.
77
CONCLUSIONS
Application of operation constraints to secure minimum contingency and balancing
reserves, system inertia, voltage support, fault current level and dynamic stability.
Implementation of generation performance requirements in Grid Codes.
Implementation of real-time network management based on wind power output.
Evaluation of system performance: To evaluate the financial consequences of technical
impacts of wind power and to assess system efficiency, the performance of the power system including wind power is often evaluated. Market simulations are used to determine
the likely impact on market performance (costs and price volatility), as well as the resulting
system wide CO2 emissions, while operation efficiency is measured by network losses and
the amount of unused (or curtailed) wind energy. It is recommended that AEMO consider
carefully the objectives of the studies, and use an appropriate performance indicator to
assess the effectiveness of the implemented solution.
78
Data requirements
Technical
issue
Method
Estimate the capacity credit of

wind power by:
a) Calculation of reliability
metrics such as LOLP, and
compare reference case with
wind power integration case
Generation
adequacy
b) Calculation of average
capacity factor corresponding
to high demand periods
Type a) is the preferred
methodology
a) Steady-state power flow

simulations for (N) and (N-1)
situations
Grid
planning
b) Time-synchronised dispatch
(market) simulation (analysis
of inter-area flows, often
compromised grid model)
Studies that look

into it
Demand
Non-wind generation
Historical
demand
(+10 years)
High/medium/low wind
development scenarios
(different distribution of
wind power plants may be
considered)
a) Available generation capacity

considering scheduled
and forced outages
IEA Task 25
b) Not considered
b) NYSERDA, NYISO,
ESIPC
a) P&Q output model

with full availability
corresponding to the
point in time analysed
a) DENA, Minnesota,
Iberia, All Island,
SPP, IEA 25, NYISO,
ERCOT
b) Available generation capacity

considering scheduled
and forced outages
a) EWIS, NEM, ESIPC
a) Hourly/15
minutely historical
demand profiles
b) Defined high
demand period
based on analysis
of historical
demand
a) Hourly/15 minutely
historical wind power
generation may be
developed from wind
speed measurements
(time-synchronised with
demand)
a) Iberia, All Island,

IMO-WA, DENA
b) Wind power generation

corresponding to high
demand periods
a) Peak demand
High & low wind output
b) Forecast
demand (historical
demand scaled to
future)
P&Q output based

on fixed wind speed
corresponding to the point
in time analysed
Aggregated wind power
plant model with fixed
wind speed corresponding
to the point in time
analysed
Relevant NEM area
Currently using a
process that looks
at average capacity
factor corresponding
to high demand
periods on a region
(type b)) by region
basis. It may be
pertinent to review
the calculation
methodology and
also consider capacity
factor on a whole of
NEM basis.
NEM: Grid planning

approach should be
more top-down
CONCLUSIONS
79
Data requirements
Technical
issue
Method
a) Dynamic power flow

simulations following a
3-phase fault or sudden loss of
a generating unit
Stability
(steady-state,
transient,
oscillatory)
b) Modal analysis by
eigenvalue calculation of
small-signal stability with and
without wind power
Non-wind generation
a) Off-peak
demand
a) High wind power

output for aggregated
WPP model, P&Q output
based on fixed wind
speed. Model must include
corresponding LVRT and
reactive power support
capability of WPP.
a) Dynamic models
of generators,
external reactive
power devices and
protection equipment
b/c) Appropriate
static and
dynamic load
modelling
b) Detailed WPP models,

or assume constant
mechanical torque
c) Electromagnetic
time domain transient
simulations to evaluate the
sub synchronous control
interaction (SCCI) between
the wind turbine converter
or solar PV inverter and
the HVDC link or seriescompensated system
Short-circuit calculations
(steady-state)
Fault level
Demand
b/c/d) Dynamic
models of generators, excitation, speed
governors and power
stabilisers
Studies that look

into it
Voltage: DENA,
Transpower, Minnesota, IMO-WA,
Iberia, All Island,
SPP, EWIS, Wilmar,
IEA 25, ElectraNet,
NEMMCO-SA,
Transend, Vencorp
Relevant NEM area
NEM: In support of
grid planning studies
SA, TAS, VIC: Regions
with high wind power
penetration
Rotor angle: All Island,

EWIS, ElectraNet
Oscillatory: Transpower, All Island,
Wilmar (limited),
EWIS, ElectraNet,
NEMMCO-SA
c) Detailed models of
WTGs and external
devices providing reactive
power support
Sub synchronous:
ERCOT, Forsk, Elforsk
Off-peak demand
P&Q output based on

fixed wind speed
(Electromagnetic transient
simulations for detailed
connection studies)
P&Q output model

with full availability
corresponding to the
point in time analysed
General: NREL report

on SC current
Thorough: Transpower, All Island
Brief: Iberia, DENA
(offshore only)
Basslink: Low fault

levels may impact
Basslink operation
SA, TAS, VIC: Weakly
connected WPPs
CONCLUSIONS
80
Data requirements
Technical
issue
Method
Dynamic frequency simulations following the sudden

loss of generation
Balancing
(regulation,
dispatch,
scheduling)
SA and TAS:
frequency island
Non-wind generation
Off-peak demand
P&Q output based on

fixed wind speed (high
output level)
Dynamic models of
generators, excitation,
speed governors and
power stabilisers
Minimum inertia:
All Island
Hourly/minutely historical
wind power generation
and forecast profiles (timesynchronised with demand)
Available generation
capacity considering
scheduled and forced
outages
General: NREL report

on operating reserves,
IEA 25
Wind power output

and forecast values may
be estimated based on
historical wind speed
measurements
Conventional reserve
availability characteristics (ramp rates,
unit start/shut down
times, etc)
Inertia and
frequency
response
The performance can also

be evaluated in terms of
the resulting CO2 emissions,
utilization rate of major
interconnectors (if modelled),
and curtailed amount of wind
energy.
Relevant NEM area
Demand
Wind power plant features

such as low voltage ridethrough, reactive power
support, low/high frequency ride-through,
and virtual inertia may be
considered if expected to
be implemented.
Estimate reserve requirements resulting from timesynchronised simulation of the
dispatch process
Studies that look

into it
Historical
demand (x years)
scaled to future
Statistical analysis of wind

power output (or net
load) variability to find
highest ramp rates (typically
experienced during extreme
weather conditions)
Primary reserve:
Hydro Qubec,
Transpower, IMOWA, IEA 25, Wilmar,
ElectraNet, Transend
NEM
Regulation: ERCOT,
NYISO, SPP, Hydro
Qubec, Wilmar,
DENA, IMO-WA,
Iberia, Transend
Dispatch: Transpower,
Western, DENA,
NYISO, SPP, All Island,
Iberia
Scheduling:
Transpower, All Island
CONCLUSIONS
81
Data requirements
Technical
issue
Method
Steady-state PV and QV
analysis
Voltage
control
Demand
Non-wind generation
Peak demand
Model the behaviour of

the wind power plant at
the point of connection
considered. (For example
in the case of New Zealand, WTGs must meet
minimum power factor
correction requirements,
therefore, WTGs were
modelled as PQ loads
with unity power factor).
Various generation
and dispatch scenarios
Studies that look

into it
Relevant NEM area
Transpower, All Island,

NEMMCO-SA
Weakly connected
WPPs
Table 9: Technical issues and approaches commonly used to investigate them in wind integration studies. Source: energynautics
CONCLUSIONS
82
7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. AEMO. NEM Background Information for WP4A: The NEM in a Nutshell for Wind Techos.
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2. Holttinen, Hannele, et al., et al. Design and operation of power systems with large
amounts of wind power. Final report, IEA WIND Task 25, Phase one 2006-2008. Helsinki :
VTT Tiedotteita, 2009. Research Notes 2493. 200 p. + app. 31 p..
3. GE Energy. Western Wind and Solar Integration Study. Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. s.l. : National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL), 2010.
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8
APPENDICES
8. APPENDICES
8.1. APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF SELECTED WIND INTEGRATION STUDIES REVIEWED (NON-NEM STUDIES)
Study area
Study name, date, organisation (and consultant), link (where available)
Purpose, scope and impact of study
NATIONAL/SINGLE AREA STUDIES
ERCOT
(Texas, USA)
1. Analysis of Wind Generation Impact on ERCOT Ancillary Services

Requirements, March 2008, Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (GE Energy).
1. To assess the impact of integration up to 15 GW of wind power capacity (57%

penetration) on the requirements for ancillary services procurement.
http://www.uwig.org/AttchB-ERCOT_A-S_Study_Final_Report.pdf
The findings will aid the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the
Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) to evaluate the reliability implications of
wind generation penetration and to develop procedures and protocols for ancillary
services procurement needed to keep a balance between system reliability and
economic operation of the system.
2. ERCOT CREZ Reactive Power Compensation Study, ABB, 3 December 2010,

Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ABB).
2. As part of the CREZ Transmission Plan, the reactive power support requirements
had to be defined for nine circuits designated with approximately 50% series
capacity compensation.
http://www.uwig.org/CREZ_Reactive_Power_Compensation_Study.pdf
Hydro
Qubec
(Canada)
The size, type and location of reactive power support required were determined
based on steady-state, dynamic and chronological analyses.
The potential for sub synchronous interactions between the proposed reactive
compensation devices and nearby generators were also assessed.
Much focus is placed on frequency control in the Hydro Qubec system because
it is mainly interconnected with neighbouring systems through DC links, making it a
dominantly electrically isolated region.
1. Assessment of AGC and Load-Following Definitions for Wind Integration

Studies in Qubec, October 2009, Hydro Qubec.
1. Three methods for calculating AGC and load-following requirements are

compared in this report. The approaches are based on statistical analysis of yearlong minute/minute time series of load, wind and their forecasts, and are compared
with actual AGC measurements.
APPENDICES
96
Study area
Hydro
Qubec
(Canada)
2. A New Simulation Approach for the Assessment of Wind Integration Impacts

on System Operations, October 2010, Hydro Qubec.
2. The impacts of wind integration on AGC and load-following is assessed through

simulation, and compared with two other statistical methods. The impact on the
number of additional alternators start-ups and shut-downs, as well as the number of
interrupted exports/imports are also evaluated.
3. Frequency Control in Qubec with DFIG Wind Turbines, October 2010,

Hydro Qubec (RE Power).
3. Wind power contribution to frequency response is evaluated. The use of DFIG

wind turbines running under a controls scheme to support grid frequency through
additional active power contribution is assessed.
Note: All papers are published in the proceedings to the International

Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power into Power Systems as
well as on Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Power Plants for the
corresponding year.
DENA Grid Study I: Energy Management Planning for the Integration of Wind
Energy into the Grid in Germany, Onshore and Offshore by 2020, February 2005,
Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (DEWI, E-ON Netz, EWI, RWE, Vatenfall)
http://www.uwig.org/Dena-2005_English.pdf
The Project Steering Group includes:
Germany
Bundesverband Windenergie e.V.

ENOVA GmbH
E.ON Netz GmbH
EWE AG, Offshore-Brger-Windpark
Butendiek GmbH & Co. KG
Offshore Forum Windenergie
Plambeck Neue Energien AG
Projekt GmbH
RWE Transportnetz Strom GmbH
Vattenfall Europe Transmission GmbH
VDMA Fachverband Power
Systems e.V.
Verband der Elektrizittswirtschaft e.V.

Verband der Netzbetreiber e.V.
VGB PowerTech e.V.
WINKRA-ENERGIE GmbH
Wirtschaftsverband Windkraftwerke e.V.
Zentralverband Elektrotechnik und
Elektronikindustrie e.V.
Federal Ministry of Economy and Labor
Federal Ministry of Environment
Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety
(guest)
The German Energy Agency (DENA) commissioned this study to:

Identify grid augmentations required to accommodate the projected amount of
on- and off-shore wind power development
Identify critical grid conditions on the short-term
Assess long-term generation adequacy
Assess adequacy of balancing scheme
The study was supported by associations and firms in the sectors of wind energy, grid
and conventional power plants.
This study was a milestone in the public and political awareness of the challenges
of grid integration of wind power in Germany. The results of the study were
accepted by the wind industry as well as the grid operators. Some of the conclusions of the Dena grid study were integrated into the new German Renewable
Energy Act, which came into effect 1. January 2009 (2).
APPENDICES
97
Study area
Wind Generation Investigation Project (WGIP), March 2007 June 2008, New
Zealand Electricity Commission (Transpower System Operator).
The Electricity Commission initiated the Wind Generation Investigation Project (WGIP)
to determine what changes to the Electricity Governance Rules and Regulations (EGRs)
and industry arrangements will be necessary to accommodate the connection of large
scale wind generation (11).
http://www.systemoperator.co.nz/wind-generation
Nine areas where the variability of wind generation output or the technical capability
of wind generation may adversely impact on the operation of the New Zealand power
system and electricity market were investigated, for a specified set of wind generation
development scenarios.
Investigation 1: Effect of unpredictability of wind generation output on predispatch processes
Investigation 2: Effect of variability of wind generation output on dispatch of
generation
Investigation 3: Effect of variability of wind generation output on asset loading
Investigation 4: Effect of wind generation capability on steady-state voltage
management
Investigation 5: Effect of wind generation capability on management of frequency
excursions
Investigation 6: Effect of wind generation capability on voltage stability
Investigation 7: Effect of wind generation capability on power system transient
stability
Investigation 8: Effect of wind generation capability on oscillatory stability
Investigation 9: Effect of wind generation capability on dynamic voltage stability
Transpower
(New
Zealand)
Based on the findings of these studies, a number of options for addressing each of the
identified issues was developed. These were then reviewed and recommendations
were made to the Commission Board regarding allocation of each of the identified
tasks to Commission work streams. The recommendations include both additions to
existing tasks and new tasks, and include a priority level for each task.67
98
APPENDICES
67Source: http://www.ea.govt.nz/our-work/programmes/pso-cq/wgip/
Study area
1. The Effect of Integrating Wind Power on Transmission System Planning,

Reliability and Operations, March 2005, The New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New York Independent System
Operator (GE Energy).
1. Integration of 3,300 MW of wind generation (10% of NY State peak load),

considering impacts on:
http://www.nyserda.org/publications/wind_integration_report.pdf
Reliability and generation capacity

Forecast accuracy
Operation of day-ahead and hour-ahead markets
Economic dispatch and load following
Regulation
Stability performance following major disturbances to the grid.
Following the completion of this study, a number of the recommendations was

adopted. They include the adoption of a low voltage ride-through standard, a voltage
performance standard and the implementation of a centralised forecasting service for
wind plants.
NYISO
(New York,
USA)
2. Growing Wind: Final Report of the NYISO 2010 Wind Generation Study,
September 2010, New York Independent System Operator (NYISO).
http://www.uwig.org/GROWING_WIND_-_Final_Report_of_the_NYISO_2010_
Wind_Generation_Study.pdf
2. Integration of 8,000 MW of wind-generation:
Study the potential impact on regulation requirements and the overall impact on
ramping.
Evaluate the impact on system planning by identifying specific transmission
constraints.
Evaluate the impact on the overall system energy production by fuel types,
locational-based marginal prices (LBMP), congestion cost, operating reserves,
regulation requirements, and load following requirements.
Identify the impact of transmission constraints on wind energy that is not
deliverable (i.e. bottled) and identify possible upgrades for the limiting
elements/transmission facilities.
Loss-of-load-expectation (LOLE) analysis to determine the impact of installed
wind on system load carrying capability or reserve margin requirements.
APPENDICES
99
Study area
Minnesota
(USA)
Minnesota Dispersed Renewable Generation Transmission Study Vol. I, II and III,

June 2008, Minnesota Department of Commerce Office of Energy Security (The
Minnesota Transmission Owners)
To assess the possibility to accommodate 600 MW of dispersed renewable

generation in the state. The maximum admissible wind power in each of 42 sites
in five zones of the state was determined, so that it would not cause any network
violations.
http://www.uwig.org/DRG_Transmission_Study_Vol_I_061608045236_
DRGTransmissionStudyVolI.pdf
Various studies by the Renewable Energy Generation Working Group, AugustNovember 2010, Independent Market Operator (ROAM Consulting, McLennan
Magasanik Associates, Sinclair Knight Merz)
http://www.imowa.com.au/n3086.html
The Renewable Energy Generation Working Group (REGWG) was established in

2008 by the Market Advisory Committee of the Independent Market Operator
(IMO) of Western Australia. The scope of the group was to consider and assess
system and market issues arising from the increase in the national Mandatory
Renewable Energy Target (MRET) to 45,000 GWh by 2020. In particular, the
Working Group focuses on issues related to:
IMO
(Western
Australia)
Four Work Packages were established to address these issues.

WP 1: Scenarios for Modelling Renewable Generation in the SWIS, ROAM Consulting
WP 2: Reserve Capacity and Reliability Impacts, McLennan Magasanik Associates
WP 3: Assessment of FCS and Technical Rules, ROAM Consulting
WP 4: Intermittent Generation Penetration within the Wholesale Electricity Market,
Sinclair Knight Merz
APPENDICES
http://www.energynautics.com 100
intermittent renewable energy generation;

capacity credits allocated to intermittent generators through the reserve capacity
mechanism; and
the impact on demand for ancillary services and system security at times of low
load.
Study area
Western
Power
(Western
Australia)
Effects of increased penetration of intermittent generation in the SWIS, January

2010, Western Power (ROAM Consulting)
Analysis by System Management of Western Power is reported to inform participants as well as to endorse further work packages of the IMOs Reenwable Energy
Working Group to examine in more detail impacts of higher penetrations of wind
power in the SWIS.
http://www.imowa.com.au/f3086,1258360/SM_report_Effects_of_increased_
penetration_of_IG_in_the_SWIS.pdf
In this study the amount of wind power and other must-run generation curtailment
that may result between 2009 and 2020 was determined. The main issues studied
were the changing requirement for load following and degree of curtailment during
low levels of demand expected from the increasing penetration of intermittent
generation.
REGIONAL STUDIES
1. All Island Grid Study: Transmission Network Assessment for All Island Grid
Study (WS3), January 2008, Governments of Ireland and North Ireland (TNEI
Services Limited).
http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Energy/North-South+Cooperation+in+the+Energy+Sector/All+Island+Electricity+Grid+Study.htm
2. All Island TSO Facilitation of Renewables Studies, June 2010, EirGrid

(DIgSILENT).
http://www.uwig.org/Faciltiation_of_Renwables_WP3_Final_Report.pdf
WS1: Resource assessment study

WS2: Assess the extent to which RES-E can be accommodated on the grid system
with regards to variability and predictability
WS3: Engineering implications for the grid, reinforcements to accommodate the
specified RES-E
WS4: Relative economic impact and benefits of various RES-E levels for society as a
whole, as well as various stakeholder groups.
To investigate in more detail than the All Island Grid study the technical and operational implications associated with high shares of wind power. Consequently,
building blocks for an operational strategy of the 2020 All Island Power System had
to be developed allowing secure, safe and reliable power system operation. The
study is very thorough assessing all manners of power system security issues for 63
dispatch cases.
APPENDICES
All Island
(Ireland
and North
Ireland)
The All Island Grid study is the first comprehensive assessment of the ability of the
grid on the island of Ireland to absorb large amounts of electricity from renewable
energy sources (RES-E). A working group was established to specify and oversee
the undertaking of studies that would provide more detailed information on wind
integration issues, and four work streams were defined.
Study area
Iberian
Peninsula
(Spain and
Portugal)
Study of Wind Energy Stability in the Iberian Peninsula (Confidential68), May

2005, Red Elctrica Espaa, Spain and Rede Elctrica Nacional, Portugal.
Spanish and Portuguese TSOs (REE and REN) collaborated with the Wind Business
Association and ABB performed stability analysis of the grids to determine the maximum wind capacity that the Iberian grid could withstand and to revise regulatory
issues regarding the performance requirements of WPPs. Specifically the following
have been assessed:
Identify grid augmentations required to accommodate wind
Assess long-term generation adequacy
Assess adequacy of WPP performance requirements
Develop monitoring and control schemes for RES-E
Summaries available on:

http://www.ewec2006proceedings.info/allfiles2/743_Ewec2006fullpaper.pdf
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/we.253/pdf
Wind Power Integration in a Liberalised Electricity Market (WILMAR): System

Stability Analysis (WP5), November 2005, Risoe National Laboratory (SINTEF)
Northern
Europe
http://www.wilmar.risoe.dk/
Europe
http://www.wind-integration.eu/downloads/
The EWIS was initiated by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in Europe with the
objective of ensuring the most effective integration of large-scale wind generation
into Europes transmission networks and electricity system. It builds on preceding
work such as the TradeWind study69 which highlighted the benefits of a pan-European
transmission network of sufficient capacity such that diversity between wind output
in different geographic areas can be exploited and the facilities needed to provide
backup and other balancing services can be shared. EWIS has sought to identify what
needs to happen in the short-term for such benefits to be achieved in practice.
68 Some European studies are not published in the public domain due to confidentiality issues. Information regarding the methodology and results has been obtained as best as possible by
energynautics based on summary reports and through dialog with relevant European TSOs.
69 F. Van Hulle, et al., Integrating Wind: Developing Europes power market for the large-scale integration of wind power, EWEA, May 2009 Belgium.
APPENDICES
European Wind Integration Study (EWIS): Towards a Successful Integration of

Large Scale Wind Power into European Electricity Grids, March 2010, ENTSO-E
and European Commission (ENTSO-E).
Identify any system barriers to integration of wind power that will oppose initiatives
by the overall EU policy. The project objectives were to develop strategic planning
tools and to give recommendations to the European Commission regarding the
possibilities of handling the problems in a policy context. This is done through the
following:
To analyse the technical impacts (system stability under 10 minutes, hourly
balancing) of introducing win power in northern Europe covering Nordic
countries and Germany.
To analyse the performance of different integration measures
To quantify the costs associated with integration of large amounts of wind power.
Study area
South West Power Pool Wind Integration Study, January 2010, Southwest Power
Pool (Charles River Associates).
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is a regional entity of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) which ensures reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission
infrastructure and competitive wholesale prices of electricity in the nine member
states covering the southwest part of the Eastern Interconnected System in the USA.
http://www.uwig.org/CRA_SPP_WITF_Wind_Integration_Study_Final_Report.pdf
Although wind power only made up 2% of the total installed generation capacity in
the SPP in 2008, significant growth is expected, with approximately 48 GW of wind
generation in the SPP Generator Interconnector (GI) queue as of December 2009.
Even in the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study, 60-95 GW of wind
development is projected for the SPP.
In early 2009, SPP designated Charles River Associates (CRA) to conduct a study to
determine the operational and reliability impacts of integrating wind generation into
the SPP transmission system and energy markets.
SPP 70
(USA)
The study investigates wind power penetration levels at 10%, 20% and 40% by
annual energy, assuming that SPP operates as a single balancing authority with a cooptimised energy and ancillary service market. The following issues are considered:
70 The Southwest Power Pool covers the states Kansas, Oklahoma, most of Nebraska, and parts of New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas.
APPENDICES
Grid augmentations required to accommodate the studied levels of wind power

generation
Impacts on ancillary services and reserve requirements
Wind power generation impact on congestion patterns, unit commitment and
dispatch
Methods to address forecast errors
Market impacts and policy recommendations
Study area
ACADEMIC STUDIES
IEA Wind Task 25: Final Report for Phase One 2006-2008, 2009, International
Energy Agency (VTT).
http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/tiedotteet/2009/T2493.pdf
The IEA Implementing Agreement on the Co-operation in the Research, Development and Deployment of Wind Turbine Systems formed Task 25: Design and
Operation of Power Systems with Large Amounts of Wind Power in 2006. This R&D
task collects and shares information on the experience gained and the studies made
on power system impacts of wind power, and reviews methodologies, tools and data
used. The results of the first 3-year period was reported in this report.
The work is planned to continue with a second 3-year period.
The following countries and institutes have been involved in the collaboration (TSO
is Transmission System Operator):

IEA25
(Global)
Denmark: Ris-DTU; TSO Energinet.dk

EWEA (European Wind Energy Association)
Finland: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Operating Agent)
Germany: ISET; TSOs RWE and E.ON Netz
Ireland: SEI; UCD; ECAR; TSO Eirgrid
Norway: SINTEF; Statkraft
Netherlands: ECN; TUDelft
Portugal: INETI; TSO REN; INESC-Porto; IST
Spain: University Castilla La Mancha
Sweden: KTH
UK: Centre for Distributed Generation & Sustainable Electrical Energy
USA: NREL; UWIG.
The Task has also started the work of developing guidelines on the recommended
methodologies when estimating the system impacts and the costs of wind power
integration.
APPENDICES
Study area
Reserves
(Global)
SC current
(General)
Operating Reserves and Wind Power Integration: An International Comparison,

October 2010, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
This paper provides a high-level international comparison of methods and key

results from both operating practice and integration analysis, based on the work in
International Energy Agency IEA WIND Task 25 on Large-scale Wind Integration.
The paper concludes with an assessment of the common themes and important
differences, along with recent emerging trends.
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/49019.pdf
Wind Power Plant Short-Circuit Current Contribution for Different Fault

and Wind Turbine Topologies, October 2010, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL).
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy11osti/49113.pdf
This is an academic paper published by NREL in the USA on evaluating short-circuit

current contribution of wind power plants. Simulations are carried out for different
configurations and it is shown that the response of the WPP to faults vary with the
type of installed WTGs.
Table 10: Summary of selected wind integration studies. Source: Energynautics
APPENDICES
8.2. APPENDIX 2: SUMMARY OF SELECTED WIND INTEGRATION STUDIES IN THE NEM

Study area
Organisation (and consultant)
Purpose of study
Capacity of the Victorian Electricity Transmission Network to Integrate Wind

Power, December 2007, VENCORP [now AEMO].
The objectives of the report are to:
Transmission Congestion and Renewable Generation, November 2010, Clean

Energy Council (ROAM Consulting).
The report seeks to answer the following questions with relation to the Renewable
Energy Target (RET):
Victoria
Review international and national experiences of integrating wind power generation

with the electricity network
Investigate the technical impact of wind power generation developments on the
Victorian shared transmission network
Determine the amount of wind power generation that the Victorian shared
transmission network can accommodate
NEM
APPENDICES
Existing congestion - Where in the grid are there transmission congestion problems
already? What are they caused by, and at what times do they typically occur?
Congestion in 2020 - Where will there be significant transmission congestion
problems in 2020, with the full RET implemented? What will it be caused by?
Location decisions of renewables - How may the build decisions of renewable
generators be changed or impacted by transmission congestion? Is transmission
congestion likely to be a significant driver of location decisions for renewable
generators?
Operational impacts - How could the operation of renewable generators be
changed or impacted by transmission congestion?
Transmission augmentation - What significant transmission augmentations may be
justified to facilitate the entry of renewable generation on a least cost basis? How
often and in what manner would these augmentations be utilised?
Study area
Purpose of study
Future Wind Generation in Tasmania Study, May 2009, Transend.
One aim of the study was to investigate the effects of wind generation on the
operation of the Tasmanian power system that are not affected by the location of the
developments (so called system wide issues). Another study was done on local issues
using as an example the potential Robins Island and Jims Plain developments.
System wide issues studied in this report were: generation scheduling and reserve
requirements, system inertia, Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS), Basslink
constraints, wind generator fault ride-through and system fault levels.
The other aim of the report was to study local issues caused by increased wind
generation. Local issues are the focus of connection studies performed once a
development reaches the connection application stage and as such are not normally
of concern from a strategic point of view. The local issues studied were:
Tasmania
Transmission network thermal limitations, including the relationship between wind

generation and transmission line thermal ratings
Reactive support requirements
Transient stability for faults on the Sheffield to Palmerston circuit
Power quality
South
Australia
The work was aimed at determining:

What are the critical stability mechanisms that could significantly impact operation
of the South Australian power system with increasing levels of wind generation;
Whether the existing stability mechanisms change fundamentally or new stability
mechanisms emerge with increased levels of wind generation;
What is the trend for system stability for increased levels of wind generation, in
order to understand what level of wind generation may cause changes to network
limits or other operational impacts, and whether there is a limit to installed wind
capacity in South Australia, beyond which stable operation of the network is not
possible.
APPENDICES
Assessment of Potential Security Risks due to High Levels of Wind Generation in

South Australia, June 2005, NEMMCO [now AEMO] (DIgSILENT).
Study area
Purpose of study
South Australian Wind Power Study, March 2003, Electricity Supply Industry
Planning Council.
The project begins the assessment of the market implications of the emerging wind
power sector in South Australia and indicates directions for future, more detailed
analysis.
Specifically, the Planning Council has investigated the impact of WPPs on the following
aspects of the operation of the South Australian electricity market and the NEM:
The contribution of wind to firm generating capacity;
the predictability of WPP output and any correlation between wind and
temperature.
the States load shape and load factor;
the operation of existing generators;
the viability of other forms of new generation in the State and the technology mix
of new conventional generation;
the operation of the Heywood interconnector and the requirement for additional
interconnector capacity;
the operation of the fuel supplies in the State; and
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the NEM.
South
Australia
ElectraNet.
Internal report.
Table 11: Summary of selected wind integration studies in the NEM. Source: AEMO
APPENDICES
South
Australia

Lessons Learned From Wind Integration Studies

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM INTERNATIONAL

WIND INTEGRATION STUDIES

Energynautics GmbH, Germany

Australian Energy Market Operator

Fundamental issues that need further analysis

Development of comprehensive renewable energy scenarios

Modelling wind power plant support capabilities

Balancing and frequency regulation

Australian Energy Market Operator

See CAPACITY VALUE

Fast secondary reserve made available by first down regulating

Continuous voltage control by different generation resources.

Firm generation is the percentage of a generators maximum

Reserves to mitigate a contingency, which is defined as the

Harmonic distortion is found in both the voltage and the current

The instantaneous maximum penetration rate of wind power is

Interconnectors are transmission links (e.g. tie-line or transformer)

Largest possible single loss of generating capacity resulting from

The minimum system inertial constraint is analogous to imposing

Power flow simulations involve numerical analysis applied to a

Primary reserve is to mitigate a contingency, which is defined as

Reactive power is an imaginary component of the apparent

See SECONDARY RESERVE.

A sinusoidal voltage waveform is one where the voltage as a

Using power flow simulations to investigate the risk of system

Stability is the ability of an electric system to maintain a state of

Shaft mechanical systems for large synchronous or induction

Synchronous generators are capable of converting mechanical

Transient overvoltages are brief, high-frequency increases in

The power factor of an AC electric power system is defined as

Based on planning studies conducted by AEMO, wind power production is predicted to

Max. Demand: 14,580 MW

theoretical max. interconnector transfer capacity

Max. Demand: 3,402 MW

Max. Demand: 9,570 MW

Max. Demand: 1,694 MW

Figure 3: Map of interconnected regions of the NEM, with highlighted regions

theoretical max. interconnector transfer capacity

Max. Demand: 1,694 M

Total Generation: 2,883 M

areas with high wind potential

Total Generation: 4,817 MW

max. interconnector transfer capacity

500 (+900)/1,300 (+600) 23

Information not available

Survey 113 wind integration studies in international arena

Conduct workshop to discuss consolidation process, gain feedback

Develop set of recommendations for future wind integration studies in

Figure 4: Outline of approach for WP4(A). Source: energynautics

NATIONAL/SINGLE AREA STUDIES

Electricity Reliability Council of

Analysis of Wind Generation Impact on ERCOT

A New Simulation Approach for the Assessment of

Wind Generation Investigation Project (WGIP),

Effects of increased penetration of intermittent

Deutsche EnergieAgentur GmbH

The New York

DENA Grid Study I: Energy Management

Minnesota Dispersed Renewable Generation