Fair wind for wind power in Sweden
Today, wind power production in our country is the equivalent of 2 TWh per year. New research at KTH shows that an increase of 15 times as much wind power is quite feasible.
A new study carried out by researcher Mikael Amelin at KTH shows that it is technically possible to integrate large amounts of wind power into the Swedish electricity system and balance the variations with hydroelectric power. Up to 30 TWh of wind power per year has been studied.
“The conclusions drawn from the study are that the existing hydroelectric power resources in northern Sweden have an excellent regulatory capacity, i.e. the ability to change electricity production if so required. The existing power stations have a sufficiently large power output and are quick enough to balance large volumes of wind power,” says Professor Lennart Söder, superintendent of Electric Power Systems at KTH where the study has been carried out.
The report forms the basis of several recently started research projects to meet a new situation with more wind power.
The purpose of these projects is to develop planning tools for a robust plan for the use of available water over a coming 24-hour period/week whereby the amount of wind power increases significantly in the Nordic electricity system.
The purpose is also to develop models to see how transmission limitations and necessary regulatory margins can be handled in a system with large volumes of wind power.
“The study shows improved planning methods are required for power companies that must plan their production based on increasingly unreliable forecasts. In addition, better regulations are required on the electricity market so that when all of the power companies plan their individual needs , it leads to optimal utilisation of the entire system,” says Lennart Söder.
The study includes 154 hydroelectric plants with a total output of 13.2 GW, which is the equivalent of approximately 80% of the power output produced by Swedish hydroelectric power.
The model shows that it is possible to follow the interaction between hydroelectric power, wind power, other power stations and load on an hourly basis. It is based on today’s regulatory framework which governs how hydroelectric power is operated and today’s possibilities of exporting this power from the area studied.
For more information, contact Lennart Söder at lennart.soder@ee.kth.se or ring 08 - 790 89 06.
Peter Larsson