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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Concerns regarding global warming, the finite nature of conventional energy reserves, energy security and rising costs are driving the need to find more efficient and renewable energy sources and systems. Unfortunately, renewable power sources, such as solar cells or wind farms, differ significantly from conventional power plants and integrating them into the power grid poses a number of challenges. This talk examines strategies for mitigating these challenges through case studies using wind power. The first presents a simple framework to study the use of storage combined with fast-ramping spinning reserves (back-up generation) to mitigate the inherent variability of renewable sources. This idea is then extended to address the question of how to place storage resources in order to simultaneously mitigate risks and minimize costs given different network topologies. Finally, an examination of the complementary problem of wind farm placement and its effect on system damping is carried out. Achieving the full potential of “smart” and clean power systems will require a combination of different generation schemes, storage, ancillary services and other energy assets as well as an understanding of how to best coordinate and distribute these resources.
Host: Misha Chertkov, chertkov@lanl.gov, 665-8119