TITLE:
Hydro and Wind Power Integration: A Case Study of Dargai Station in Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Shahbaz Awan, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Asif, Amjad Ullah
KEYWORDS:
Wind Power Generation; Hydro Power Generation; Integration; Transmission Bottleneck
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.4 No.4,
July
10,
2012
ABSTRACT: Pakistan is facing acute energy crises since last few years. Due to shortage of fuel oil and its sky touching prices, it seems very uneconomical to generate electricity from fuel oil. In order to generate cheap electricity we have to rely on renewable energy resources. To address these challenges, wind power generation is among the popular options in the world which is now being considered in Pakistan as well. However unremitting change in wind speed from calm to stormy introduces real challenges. Storing wind energy in batteries during the periods of low demand seems an expensive option, especially when dealing with large scale power generation. Due to incessantly varying nature of wind speed, it is not feasible to rely only on wind power for cheap power production. Also, it is not thriftily possible to construct separate transmission line. However if we integrate wind power with hydro power, we can utilize the maximum possible transmission capacity. Existing hydro power station operating in that area or pumped storage scheme can be used. This paper is an attempt to analyze coordination of wind generation with hydro power in those areas of Pakistan where both wind and hydro power sources exist. In this paper, different issues have been analyzed taking case study of Dargai. This paper is first attempt in Pakistan about integration of wind and hydro power to draw some general conclusions and to point out some areas in which further research can be done.