Mitigation of Short-Term Wind Power Ramps through Forecast-Based Curtailment

Featured Application The proposed innovation allows for a significant reduction of large drops in wind power by using only the self-regulating capabilities of a wind turbine or wind power plant, as well as upstream wind measurement instrumentation, which may already be present at the wind farm. As the penetration of renewable energy generation in electric grids becomes more substantial, its contribution to the variability of the net load becomes more noticeable. Particularly in small or weak grids, the rate at which the output power of a wind farm decreases may become a concern to grid operators. In the present work, a novel approach, called forecast-based curtailment (FBC), is shown to be able to self-mitigate downward ramps on short time scales at a very small energy penalty, compared to conventional mitigation schemes, such as flat curtailment or up-ramp limitations. FBC allows to achieve compliance with ramp limits imposed by system operators at a very small energy cost and modest additional upfront investments.

Automated summary

The proposed innovation reduces large drops in wind power by utilizing the self-regulating capabilities of wind turbines and wind measurement instrumentation, aiding in meeting system operators' requirements for power decrease rates.