The wind energy industry in the U.S. has seen robust growth within the last two decades. The amount of renewable resources available throughout the U.S. is substantial, and as renewable energy penetration approaches a significant proportion of total electricity generation, grid operators and utilities will be presented with a myriad of challenges. Such is the case in wind’ rich Texas, where the rate of wind installations surpasses every other state and rivals that of China. By the end of 2009, the ERCOT region of Texas had approximately 9000 MW installed, serving 6.5% of the annual electricity load . The intermittent nature of wind energy can place a burden on existing generators as they are increasingly relied on to provide regulation of power, frequency control and back-up energy services when wind production is low. Exacerbating the difficulty of integrating wind energy is the mismatch of wind generation and electricity demand. Although Texas is blessed with plentiful wind resources, the majority of energy produced typically occurs at night when electricity demands are low. The result is transmission congestion that prevents cost effective generators from serving load. Despite these integration difficulties, ERCOT is paving the way forward with transformative infrastructure plans and proactive rulemaking. This report provides a background on the state of the wind energy industry in the U.S., with a review of power system operation strategies and wind integration best practices. With that context, this study concludes that ERCOT’s electricity market operations, transmission plans, and Texas’ renewable energy policies will act to reasonably and reliably accommodate wind generation capacity that serves over 15% of annual load by 2030. / text

Over the last decade, wind penetration in the Pacific Northwest has increased rapidly. The variable nature of this massive new resource has increased stress on the hydropower resource to the point where system limits are currently being reached. In order to cultivate continued growth of the wind energy industry both in the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the world, something must be added to help mitigate the effects of the variability of wind power. This research aims to show what can be done by adding energy storage to a wind farm. A novel model predictive control structure has been created with the focus of increasing the dispatchability and reliability of wind farm power output along with allowing participation in frequency regulation. First, the effectiveness of the addition of energy storage with simple control is explored. This is followed by a study on the performance of the system when predictive control is added. Finally, a cost analysis is performed to assess the level of savings and potential profitability of the simulated system. Conclusions support the use of an energy storage resource for more reliable wind farm performance. However, storage technologies are still approaching the price point needed to ensure profitability. / Graduation date: 2012

abstract: A principal goal of this dissertation is to study stochastic optimization and real-time scheduling in cyber-physical systems (CPSs) ranging from real-time wireless systems to energy systems to distributed control systems. Under this common theme, this dissertation can be broadly organized into three parts based on the system environments. The first part investigates stochastic optimization in real-time wireless systems, with the focus on the deadline-aware scheduling for real-time traffic. The optimal solution to such scheduling problems requires to explicitly taking into account the coupling in the deadline-aware transmissions and stochastic characteristics of the traffic, which involves a dynamic program that is traditionally known to be intractable or computationally expensive to implement. First, real-time scheduling with adaptive network coding over memoryless channels is studied, and a polynomial-time complexity algorithm is developed to characterize the optimal real-time scheduling. Then, real-time scheduling over Markovian channels is investigated, where channel conditions are time-varying and online channel learning is necessary, and the optimal scheduling policies in different traffic regimes are studied. The second part focuses on the stochastic optimization and real-time scheduling involved in energy systems. First, risk-aware scheduling and dispatch for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) are studied, aiming to jointly optimize the EV charging cost and the risk of the load mismatch between the forecasted and the actual EV loads, due to the random driving activities of EVs. Then, the integration of wind generation at high penetration levels into bulk power grids is considered. Joint optimization of economic dispatch and interruptible load management is investigated using short-term wind farm generation forecast. The third part studies stochastic optimization in distributed control systems under different network environments. First, distributed spectrum access in cognitive radio networks is investigated by using pricing approach, where primary users (PUs) sell the temporarily unused spectrum and secondary users compete via random access for such spectrum opportunities. The optimal pricing strategy for PUs and the corresponding distributed implementation of spectrum access control are developed to maximize the PU's revenue. Then, a systematic study of the nonconvex utility-based power control problem is presented under the physical interference model in ad-hoc networks. Distributed power control schemes are devised to maximize the system utility, by leveraging the extended duality theory and simulated annealing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2012

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:11:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO VANESSAVIQUETTI LOWENBERG.pdf: 2250957 bytes, checksum: 81895e5a2a510f6aea4627b4b6c0d230 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work considers the connection of wind power units to the distribution system, aiming at verifying the maximum power limits that can be connected complying with given connection requirements. The maximum power limits have been characterized in terms of maximum integration levels, to the equivalent capacity in the connection node, and in terms of maximum penetration levels, to the full load power feeder. The steady-state voltage in the distribution system nodes has to comply with a priori given maximum variation limits for all possible wind farm working conditions, supplying from 20 to 100% of its nominal power. The research has been developed in two different distribution feeders: a 5-nodes distribution feeder, connecting the wind farm at four different points and considering three different load levels; a 32-nodes distribution feeder, connecting the wind farm to ten different nodes of the system and also considering three different load levels. The maximum integration and penetration levels of wind power have been evaluated in terms of (i) the connection node characteristics (equivalent X/R ratio impedance and voltage); (ii) the feeder load; (iii) the connection node. The connection of either one or two wind farms has been considered for both feeders, assuming wind farms with equal characteristics. The analysis showed strong influence of the impedance X/R ratio on the maximum wind energy integration and penetration levels. The feeder load influences these levels in a non-linear manner and in some cases also an in inverse way, i.e. the load increasing can either increase or decrease the maximum integration level. The equivalent voltage influence on the maximum wind power integration and penetration was not evident in the performed tests. The feeder structure did influence the levels since, in many cases, the maximum integration and penetration levels of wind power have not been determined by the voltage in the connection node but by the voltage in other feeder s node. In general, the connection of two wind farms showed higher wind energy penetration levels compared to only one wind farm, being more or less expressive according to the connecting node characteristics. / Este trabalho se insere no contexto do estudo da conexão de unidades de geração eólica em sistemas de distribuição no sentido de verificar quais os limites máximos de potência que po- dem ser interligados atendendo a determinados requisitos de conexão. Os limites máximos de potência são caracterizados em termos dos níveis máximos de inserção de geração eólica, relativos à capacidade equivalente vista pelo nó de conexão, e da máxima penetração de geração eólica, relativos à carga instalada no alimentador. Exige-se que a tensão de regime permanente nos nós do alimentador de distribuição atenda a limites máximos pré-estabelecidos de variação para todas as condições operativas possíveis do parque eólico produzindo desde 20% até 100% de sua potência nominal. O estudo foi realizado através de simulação computacional sobre dois alimentadores de distribuição diferentes: um alimentador com 5 nós, conectando o parque eólico em quatro diferentes pontos deste sistema e considerando três níveis diferentes de carregamento; e um alimentador com 32 nós, conectando o parque eólico em dez diferentes pontos deste sistema e considerando também três níveis diferentes de carregamento. Os níveis máximos de inserção e penetração de geração eólica foram analisados em função: (i) das características do nó de conexão (relação X/R da impedância e tensão equivalentes); (ii) do carregamento do alimentador; (iii) do nó de conexão. Para os dois alimentadores foram considerados os casos da conexão de um e de dois parques eólicos, sendo que em todos os casos foram adotados parques eólicos idênticos. As análises realizadas mostraram grande influência da relação X/R da impedância equivalente tanto sobre a inserção quanto a penetração de geração eólica. O carregamento do alimentador influenciou de maneira não linear e também em alguns casos de maneira inversa, significando que o aumento do carregamento pode tanto aumentar quanto reduzir a máxima inserção de geração eólica. A influência da tensão equivalente sobre a inserção e penetração de geração eólica não mostrou-se muito evidente nos testes realizados. A topologia do alimentador teve influência, pois em diversos casos os limites má- ximos de inserção e penetração de geração eólica foram determinados pela tensão em nós do alimentador distintos do nó de conexão do parque. De maneira geral, a conexão de dois parques eólicos mostrou atingir níveis superiores de penetração de geração eólica em comparação a um só parque, podendo ser mais ou menos expressiva conforme a característica dos nós de conexão envolvidos.

Dynamic Rating (DR) is usually associated with unlocking the capacity of power lines and transformers using available information on weather conditions. Our studies show that Dynamic Rating is a broad concept that requires further study and development. The capacity of the majority of power devices is highly dependent on the heat transfer properties of the materials which the devices are made of. To ensure correct power limits of the equipment, one must take into consideration not only the power load, but also ambient conditions, such as: temperature, wind speed, wind direction, solar irradiation, humidity, pressure, radiation into the atmosphere and magnetic losses. Dynamic rating is created as an alternative to standard constant rating that is designed with reference to extreme weather and load conditions. Some areas are more likely than others to experience extreme weather conditions, which have a chance of occurring only a few days per year for short periods of time. Such a distribution of weather parameters gives an opportunity to embed existing material properties of the power equipment and achieve a better utilization of the grid. The following thesis is divided into two simultaneous topics: Dynamic line rating and Dynamic transformer rating. The division is motivated by the importance of analysing the operation of the above-mentioned parts of the power network in greater detail. Power lines and transformers play a significant part in grid planning and have a potential to result in economic benefits when used with DR. The main focus of the doctoral project "Dynamic rating of power lines and transformers for wind energy integration" is on exploring potential ways to connect power generated from wind to the grid with the help of dynamic rating technologies. Therefore, great focus of the work lies on the analysis of DR connection of variable energy sources such as wind farms. The thesis presents the comparison of different line rating methods and proposes a new way of their classification. Evaluation of dynamic line rating application has shown the possibility to expand the power grid with additional capacity from wind power generation. Literature analysis and detailed evaluation of the conductor heat balance models have led to experimental evaluation of the convective cooling effect. The dynamic transformer rating application has shown a possibility to decrease the size of the power transformer without shortcoming in component availability. / <p>QC 20180423</p> / Dynamic Rating for Wind Power