Risk based equivalent wind capacity in power generating systems

Wind power is considered to be a promising and encouraging alternative for power generation because of its tremendous environmental and social benefits, together with public support and government incentives. The wind, however, is variable, site specific and an intermittent source of energy. The rated capacity of a wind turbine can be misleading if it is interpreted in the same way as that of a conventional generating unit. The actual wind turbine capacity is limited by the random variation of the wind speed and the turbine characteristics. As a result, it is difficult to assign a capacity credit to a wind turbine generator and most analyses simply look at the energy produced. This paper presents a technique used to determine the capacity contribution from a wind turbine generator using a risk based analysis of the overall system adequacy.