Wind farms in the Irish Grid: Experience and analysis

The number of wind turbines connected to the Irish electrical power systems has been increasing rapidly over the last number of years. There are two main reasons for such a growth. Firstly, Ireland has signed the Kyoto protocol and aims to meet its obligation to reduce greenhouse gases (one of the biggest emitter of such gases are conventional power stations), and secondly, commercially viable wind power turbines have become available on the market. These turbines are being erected in wind farms and connected to the transmission and distribution networks. The new challenge for the power system operator is to accommodate the variable power output from wind generation. An analysis of wind farm operations on the Irish power system, grid code implications and wind power control criteria for the power system operator are presented in the paper.