Impact of new wind farms on power distribution networks (Derna Wind project case study)

Recently, Distributed Generation (DG) has become one of the solutions to many problems regarding distribution and transmission power networks. However, integration of the DG (wind farm) on a large scale may affect negatively the system performance. Therefore; a lot of studies are carried out to determine the impact of a new wind farm in the existing distribution power networks. A proposal of a new wind farm project in city of Derna in the north east of Libya is taken as a case study in this paper using power system analysis software called Neplan. The study shows weaknesses in the existing network configuration of Derna and brings to light the need for new wind energy investments in this area, which will improve in general system performance of the network though some difficulties associated to unpredictability nature of the wind.