Maritimes Area Wind Integration Study

Integration of large quantities of wind generation into existing power systems is a topic of concern and much study throughout the world. The New Brunswick System Operator completed a preliminary study of integration issues in the summer of 2005 for large scale wind development in the Maritimes Area of northeast North America. The study simulates wind projects using a one year history of wind speed data collected at eight different sites. The simulated wind energy production is then modeled as negative load on the system, resulting in lower hourly load levels but higher hour-to-hour load variability. Lower hourly load levels are equated to an effective capacity for wind generation using a loss of load expectation (LOLE) methodology, and this effective capacity is then compared to the more easily calculated capacity factor measurement. Work on capacity credit by capacity factor by capability period and time of day is ongoing. Increased load variability from wind generation is shown to result in additional load following costs for the Maritimes Area, but it is also observed that these additional costs can be mitigated by spreading out the wind capacity into several geographically dispersed sites. The final part of the study considers the benefits of having flexible hydroelectric generation resources to compensate for the intermittency of wind generation, and it identifies concerns related to the spring run-off in the region when hydroelectric generation is essentially base loaded and less flexible for load following