Analyzing sensitivity of power system wind penetration to thermal generation flexibility

One promising way to improve renewable energy utilization in power grids is to operate thermal generators flexibly, so that their output levels can better catch up with the fluctuating and intermittent renewable power. In this paper, we analyze the sensitivity of allowable system wind penetration level to thermal generation ramp rates and output bounds in an economic dispatch framework. By using the “100% rule” in linear programming, it is theoretically shown that the allowable wind power levels in the system are subject to an analytical joint constraint coupling all decision periods. Numerical tests on the IEEE 30-bus system are performed to demonstrate the theoretical results.