Dampening Variations in Wind Power Generation Through Geographical Diversification

Abstract

Wind power is currently one of the most promising energy sources, both in Europe and across-the world. In Poland, a large annual increase in the installed wind turbine capacity has been observed for many years. Power generation from wind turbines is related to wind parameters, which, in turn, result from changes in atmospheric conditions. This is why the observed wind speed has different values depending on time and place (location and altitude). This affects the amount of generated power and the continuity of its production. The authors of this article carried out an analysis of the potential of the diversification of wind energy sources in Poland. The research was conducted with the aim of assessing the variability of the potential production of electrical energy. The analysis concerned the volatility of the wind speed and the variability of available turbine power, as well as its distribution over appropriate points in the location grid - a set of combinations for every point in the location grid, aiming to present the effect of the diversification. For this purpose, the standard deviation in relation to the average power of wind turbines was selected as a comparative measure. The analyses were conducted based on historical wind measurements and data retrieved from the MERRA database. The results indicate that it is more advantageous for both the Polish power system and power plant owners (energy companies) to build smaller wind farms that are distant from each other and to group them in pairs in order to create a virtual power plant. Despite a wind-farm downtime of less than 15% for most of Poland in the analysed period, the existing power differences do not provide the possibility of ensuring continuity of energy supplies.