Analysis of the Stability of the Electricity Network Integrating Renewable Energy Sources: Case Study of the Senelec Network, Senegal

The constant increase in energy demand and environmental constraints make the integration of renewable energies essential. Among these, some are stable, while others, such as wind and solar photovoltaic, are intermittent. In recent years, the integration of intermittent energy sources has intensified due to the availability of the primary resource: the sun for photovoltaic and wind for wind. Although these energy sources are abundant, their integration into the electricity grid influences grid stability. Thus, managing the stability of the electricity grid becomes a major issue. This paper offers an indepth analysis of the parameters influencing the grid stability of SENELEC. A database covering a one-month period was used to identify the most influential variables. To this end, we performed statistical tests, including correlation and causality analyses between different variables (available power, demand, load shedding, frequency, etc.). We also used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to refine our study. The results show that production outages and photovoltaic production have a direct impact on frequency, followed by available power and demand, which will directly impact the stability of the Senelec electricity network.