The Impact of Wind Curtailment on the Profitability of selected Wind Sites

With increasing wind energy penetration, instances of wind curtailment become more frequent. Wind curtailment primarily occurs for two reasons: First due to the lack of sufficient transmission capacity and second due to high wind generation at times of low load. As a result the utilization rates of wind decrease in affected regions and the expected value depreciate. This paper analyses the effect of wind curtailment as a response to excess wind output on the profitability of selected wind sites. Moreover, average cost curves for wind power as a function of installed wind capacity are estimated.