Maximizing firm wind connection to security constrained transmission networks

Prudent use of existing transmission capacity could be achieved by an optimal allocation of wind capacity to distinct transmission nodes. The statistical interdependency of geographically separate wind sites and the partially-dispatchable nature of wind power require a collective analysis of all potential wind farms over an extended time-frame in any optimized transmission planning study. The methodology presented in this paper separates this large optimization problem into smaller subtasks, including a year-long sequential time series hourly integer unit commitment, a linear dc load-flow network model with hourly security constraints, and a linear programming optimization model to estimate the maximum firm wind energy penetration for a given network. A novel maximal vector based constraint redundancy analysis is employed to significantly reduce the linear programming optimization dimensionality. Firm wind capacity connections are facilitated in this paper—i.e., those to which wind curtailment to manage congestion is not applicable within a typical system "planning" timeframe analysis. Each bus is allocated firm capacity on the basis of maximizing the possible firm wind energy penetration in the transmission system as a whole, while preserving traditional network security standards.