Feasible Selection of Candidate Wind Farms’ Capacity for Generation Expansion Planning

The urgency of accelerating progress toward universal energy access can’t be overstated as it influences every social, economic, and environmental goal. After exploring the environmental benefits of wind power, its role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigating climate change, system operators are planning to increase generation by installing new capacities of wind power projects. This study focuses on the comprehensive analysis of a wind farm’s expansion, covering various aspects such as technical considerations, financial analysis, and feasibility assessment. The stochastic wind speed data of 24 hours is modeled by Profiles in Matpower Optimal Scheduling Tool for real-world wind scenarios across a year. The wind speed data used for assessing wind capacity utilization belongs to Jhimpir Sindh Pakistan. This wind speed data is incorporated in the standard IEEE 30 bus network with a 20% increased load demand. The analysis of case studies by considering candidate capacities through multiperiod stochastic Optimal power flow in Matpower Optimal Scheduling Tool reveals the most feasible capacity of wind generation to be installed in the future. The wind farm’s feasibility depends on wind resource availability, resource utilization, grid connections, and load demand. Furthermore, the project’s financial viability is analyzed by assessing the initial investment, the time required to recover the investment, and, the profit. The feasible generation expansion approach offers an alternative planning strategy. As it provides a comprehensive understanding of the technical, financial, and environmental aspects of generation expansion planning, offering valuable insights to support informed decision-making and contribute to a sustainable and clean energy future.