Abstract
During the last few decades, the world has focused on harnessing renewable energy, owing to the increased fossil fuel consumption and the depletion rate of conventional energy reserves. When compared with other renewable energy sources, wind energy is relatively cheap due to its availability and free accessibility. In Sri Lanka, the island consists of abundant wind power potential in some clusters, though they are not being used in a prospective manner in electricity generation. The wind plants are lacking the characteristics of synchronous machines owing to wind intermittency, and less or even no inertia. As such, wind intermittency has become a governing factor in power system control and frequency stability. Therefore, it is necessary to find the maximum wind penetration level that can be absorbed by a power system, not only for smooth operation but also for future planning and issuance of licenses for the potential investors in this field. In this research paper, a novel method is presented to determine maximum wind penetration level using wind ramp to assure a reliable power supply. In here, modeling of the wind ramp representing its intermittency is the key factor. To determine the appropriate wind penetration level, frequency stability along with related transient stability studies are carried out to ascertain stable operation of the Sri Lanka power system. Prior to the determination of wind penetration levels, the system model of the central power system is validated to ensure the reliability of results. All the required power system simulations are carried out using the PSS®Esoftware assuming 5% spinning reserve and 9 MW per minute wind ramp. The study revealed that the wind power penetration levels for Sri Lanka power system are 300 MW and 540 MW at base load level, 540 MW and 660 MW at night peakload level in 2021 and 2025, respectively.