A novel method for feasibility study of wind farm installation based on reliability indices

In this paper a novel method of feasibility studies for wind farm installation in a region based on reliability indices is presented. For a case study, the actual wind speed data of an Iranian Northern-eastern city, Ardebil, is employed in the modeling. At first, the impact of wind generation in power system reliability is evaluated, and then, in order to improve the calculation accuracy, diurnal pattern is used. LOLE (Loss of Load Expectation) and LOEE (Loss of Energy Expectation) as two important generation reliability indices are computed in this study. In the second stage, the study uses ECGC (Equivalent Conventional Generator Capacity) as a reliability index, for the purpose of feasibility studies. Then, this index will be calculated based on mentioned reliability indices, obtained from both Annual and Hourly patterns and finally, comparison will be performed. The results clarify the importance of reliability assessment considering diurnal pattern. Also, for the case study, these results confirm Ardebil is a suitable region for the wind farm installation from a reliability point of view. It is not only because of a good condition of wind speed, but also for the coincidence of daily load profile of network and daily wind regime in the site.