Integration of wind energy resources in the utility control and information technology infrastructures

Around the world, a rapidly increasing growth of distributed energy resources (DER) based on renewable energy sources (RES) can be observed. This is due to the increase in energy demand combined with restriction in building new large scale power plants and a search for carbon-free technologies for energy production. Among the existing renewable distributed generation technologies, wind turbines (WT) shows a quick development, leading to large installations worldwide. This paper discusses the integration of distributed generators (especially wind turbines) in the utility control and information technology infrastructures of power system operators. The communication standard IEC 61850 and its extensions is first described, followed by an example of mapping wind turbine components in communication infrastructure. A distribution network comprising several distributed generation sources is then described from the control and communication point of view. At the end, simulation results of an application of production cost minimization and network constraint management are presented. These to illustrate the new possibilities that a system-wide approach to the control of DERs can provide.