Impact of high level penetration of wind turbines on power system transient stability

One of the most important aspects in power systems concerns their capability of maintaining their stability under large disturbances. System stability is a crucial aspect to consider when expanding a network, e.g. increasing the wind power penetration. Wind turbine generators differ from the Coal, Hydroelectric or any Conventional Power Plants in their amount of inertial contribution to the grid. As a result, the ability of the system to maintain a stable operation is declined with a large penetration of wind energy. In order to assess the levels of wind power penetration which endanger the capability of a system to overcome a disturbance, two standard models are designed in Power Factory software. The first model is used to characterize system components, the response of the wind turbines and thereupon to validate them, whereas the second is used to estimate the maximum levels of wind power penetration. Those levels mainly depend on the spinning reserve, the inertia of the system and the severity of the event. Rate of change of frequency will behave according to the status of those parameters.