Analytic Mechanism for the Cumulative Effect of Wind Power Fluctuations from Single Wind Farm to Wind Farm Cluster

The use of wind power is rapidly growing worldwide as a means of reducing carbon emissions for the energy sector. China has the world's largest wind power installation and multiple large-scale wind farm clusters, each comprising dozens of wind farms. For the planning and operation of the power system, it is important to understand the power fluctuation characteristics of wind farm clusters. Several studies demonstrate that the relative power fluctuation of a wind farm cluster is less than that of a single wind farm. Is this decreasing trend a random occurrence or does it have a regular pattern? This scientific question is addressed by investigating the mechanism of the cumulative effect of a wind farm cluster. In this study, a cumulative model is proposed by examining the spatiotemporal relationships of wind power variations and wind farm dispersion. Structural gain function and critical cumulative frequency are defined as the foundations to analytically describing the cumulative effect. By investigating the cumulative effect mechanism, the relationship between power fluctuation and spatiotemporal parameters of the wind farm cluster are revealed. The power fluctuation of a cluster can be predicted using the cumulative model even before it is completely built. The mechanism of the cumulative effect is validated on the basis of the data of two actual wind farm clusters.