An Analysis of the Effects and Dependency of Wind Power Penetration on System Frequency Regulation

The integration of renewable energy sources into power systems has gathered significant momentum globally because of its unlimited supply and environmental benefits. Within the portfolio of renewable energy, wind power is expected to have a soaring growth rate in the coming years. Despite its well known benefits, wind power poses several challenges in grid integration. The inherent intermittent and non-dispatchable features of wind power not only inject additional fluctuations to the already variable nature of frequency deviation, they also decrease frequency stability by reducing the inertia and the regulation capability. This paper closely examines these effects as well as the effect on tie-line flows and area control error, which causes a larger and longer frequency deviation in the integrated system. Further, the effect of wind power on frequency regulation capability at different penetration levels is also examined. The analytical and simulation results presented here provide some guidance on determining maximum wind power penetration level given a frequency deviation limit.