What is a wind storage system?

A storage system, such as a Li-ion battery, can help maintain balance of variable wind power output within system constraints, delivering firm power that is easy to integrate with other generators or the grid. The size and use of storage depend on the intended application and the configuration of the wind devices.

What is co-locating energy storage with a wind power plant?

Co-locating energy storage with a wind power plant allows the uncertain, time-varying electric power output from wind turbines to be smoothed out, enabling reliable, dispatchable energy for local loads to the local microgrid or the larger grid.

What is a wind-storage hybrid system?

The model may include objective functions, such as optimizing revenue from co-optimized markets, not just from energy, which is a departure from how energy storage and distributed wind turbines have been traditionally modeled and dispatched. A wind-storage hybrid system mitigates variability by injecting more firm generation into the grid.

What is integrated storage in a wind turbine?

This type of storage is known as an integrated storage in the DC link of the wind turbine. A recent master’s degree thesis at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology evaluated he modular multilevel converter for medium-voltage integration of a battery in the DC link (Rekdal 2018).

Are distributed wind assets a good investment?

Distributed wind assets are often installed to offset retail power costs or secure long term power cost certainty, support grid operations and local loads, and electrify remote locations not connected to a centralized grid. However, there are technical barriers to fully realizing these benefits with wind alone.

How can a hybridization of distributed wind assets overcome technical barriers?

Many of these technical barriers can be overcome by the hybridization of distributed wind assets, particularly with storage technologies. Electricity storage can shift wind energy from periods of low demand to peak times, to smooth fluctuations in output, and to provide resilience services during periods of low resource adequacy.