Handling wind variability using gas turbines

A significant amount of energy is expected to come from wind in the upcoming years. The variability and uncertainty of this power source needs to be managed by the grid operator. Electricity networks with wind energy need extra reserves to deal with the extra uncertainty associated with the presence of wind. This paper evaluates the possibility to couple a 1000 MW wind farm with gas turbines (GTs) to provide firm capacity to the grid with a reasonable investment. Taking into account two different days of wind production with one minute data, the study analyzes the possibility of integrating the wind power output with two different types of GTs (heavy duty and aeroderivative). GTs operational constrains are included in the model in order to correctly demonstrate how the wind variability stresses turbine performance, as it probably would in extreme cases. Limitations on GTs ramps rates and start-up time are considered for both, heavy duty and aeroderivatives. GTs power output profiles, ramp rates and fuel consumption for the selected days of analysis are shown. The results show that the integration between wind and gas turbines could be a viable solution to compensate wind variability and to accommodate the increasing wind penetration into the electrical grid.