Incorporating Wind Energy in the Grid: Impact and Optimizing Storage Sizing

David Newman

Physics Dept./GI UAF

With increased utilization of local, often high variability renewable, power sources, coupled with a drive for decentralization (reduction of fossile fuel plants), the fraction of electric power generation which is “distributed” is growing and set to grow even faster. It is often believed that moving toward more distributed generation should have a generally positive impact on the robustness of the transmission grid. This intuitive improvement comes simply from the realization that less power would need to be moved long distances, and the local mismatch between power supply and demand would be reduced. However, much of the distributed generation is less reliable which can impact the grid dynamics. We approached the issues of system dynamics and robustness with this intuitive understanding in mind and with the underlying questions to be answere: What is the impact of increased wind power penetration? Can local storage be optimized to improve system risk? Does wind farm location matter? While we use wind for this study, the results are extendable to solar also.