Optimal power flow of a wind-thermal generation system

Many expect wind energy to continue increasing due to falling capital costs, market scalability, and its low environmental impact. As more wind turbine generators are connected to utility systems, it is becoming more important to study the impact of wind turbine generators (WTGs) on power system operations. Wind generation system will affect not only the economic operation of a power system but also the bus voltage and transmission losses due to different locations of wind generation system. Optimal power flow (OPF) program is a useful tool for power system operation and planning. This study proposes an Evolutionary Particle Swarm Optimization (EPSO) approach for the optimal power flow problem. The proposed model considers up-spinning reserves, down-spinning reserves and the operational constraints of the generation unit. The effects of wind generation on power system operation and planning are investigated. This study uses the load and unit data of a modified IEEE 30 bus power system to test the corrective of the new method. The OPF results in this study satisfy the operational requirements of a wind-thermal power system. This study also applies the developed OPF program to estimate the effects of wind generation on power system operation and the planning. Experiment results show that the developed OPF program is a useful tool for wind-thermal power system operation and the planning. The results of this study can serve as a reference for wind-thermal power system operation and the planning. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.