Optimal Control of Wind Farms for Coordinated TSO-DSO Reactive Power Management

authored by: David Sebastian Stock, Francesco Sala, Alberto Berizzi, Lutz Hofmann
Abstract: The growing importance of renewable generation connected to distribution grids requires an increased coordination between transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs) for reactive power management. This work proposes a practical and effective interaction method based on sequential optimizations to evaluate the reactive flexibility potential of distribution networks and to dispatch them along with traditional synchronous generators, keeping to a minimum the information exchange. A modular optimal power flow (OPF) tool featuring multi-objective optimization is developed for this purpose. The proposed method is evaluated for a model of a real German 110 kV grid with 1.6 GW of installed wind power capacity and a reduced order model of the surrounding transmission system. Simulations show the benefit of involving wind farms in reactive power support reducing losses both at distribution and transmission level. Different types of setpoints are investigated, showing the feasibility for the DSO to fulfill also individual voltage and reactive power targets over multiple connection points. Finally, some suggestions are presented to achieve a fair coordination, combining both TSO and DSO requirements.
Organisation(s): Institute of Electric Power Systems
External Organisation(s): Politecnico di Milano
Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES)
Type: Article
Journal: ENERGIES
Volume: 11
ISSN: 1996-1073
Publication date: 01.2018
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Energy Engineering and Power Technology, Energy (miscellaneous), Control and Optimization, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.3390/en11010173 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.15488/3371 (Access: Open)