A methodology to enable wind farm participation in automatic generation control using energy storage devices

Over the last decade, wind penetration has increased to the point where its variable nature is adding considerable stress and threatening the stability of the power systems in which it is included. In order to continue growth, wind farms will need to have the ability to participate in the same grid frequency regulation as normal generating sources. The goal of this research is to explore the use of energy storage devices to provide wind farms with a methodology to regulate their power output and grid frequency. With energy storage, this research aims to allow wind farms to participate in automatic generation control (AGC). Software simulations were performed to design an advanced energy storage controller that will allow the maximum dispatchability. A comprehensive in-lab grid was constructed to produce experimental results for this work and the equipment was used to evaluate the performance of the advanced energy storage controller. The first stage of this research aims to use super-capacitors to balance rapid excursions in frequency and wind power output while the second stage of this research will preliminarily explore the use of a zinc-bromine flow cell battery for medium-scale, sustained excursions in frequency and wind power output as well as reducing area control error (ACE). Results show that wind farms are capable of participation in AGC with the addition of an energy storage device, but the amount of participation is heavily reliant on the amount of energy storage available.