A stochastic security constrained unit commitment model for reconfigurable networks with high wind power penetration

Wind power generation continues to grow at a high rate around the world. Variability and uncertainty are inherent characteristics of wind power generation resulting in technical and economical challenges for power system operators. In order to maintain security of the system, significant amount of wind generation resources may be curtailed. Also large amount of reserve is required to compensate for the uncertainty associated wind generation in real-time operation. To ensure the security of the system, these reserves must be distributed with a careful consideration of existing transmission constraints. In this paper, a stochastic security constrained unit commitment (SCUC) model for reconfigurable transmission networks is introduced and utilized to facilitate wind power integration. The proposed model benefits from network reconfiguration to minimize energy, spinning reserve, wind curtailment and load shedding costs while accommodating transmission constraints. The corresponding optimization problem is formulated and solved based on Benders decomposition method. The performance of the proposed model is investigated in details using a 6-bus and IEEE 118-bus test systems. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.