Long-Term Planning of Wind Farm Siting in the Electricity Grid

Wind power is the fastest growing electricity generation source in the United States and is expected to play an increasing role in the electricity system. The variable and uncertain nature of wind power will require changes in the operation of the grid under higher penetration rates. In order to understand the changes necessary at both the planning and operational levels we propose a stochastic optimization approach that enables the consideration of the variable output of wind power as well as the costs of wind farm construction. Results from a small example system are used to illustrate the advantages of the approach.