ERCOT tools used to handle wind generation

As of November 2011, ERCOT has approximately 9400 MW of installed wind generation capacity with about 87% concentrated in west Texas. Wind generation due to its intermittent nature and different mode of power generation than conventional generation introduces additional complexities to real-time operations. With a significant amount of wind generation already interconnected and more to come, ERCOT is facing unique operational challenges. This paper discusses the challenges to grid frequency stability, wind generation forecasting and managing wind-ramp events, voltage stability, transmission constraints management and capacity planning due to high penetration of wind generation.