Solar and Wind Participation in Automatic Generation Control Systems

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a report titled, "Solar and Wind Participation in Automatic Generation Control Systems." This report focuses on emerging technological and regulatory considerations for using solar and wind generators to provide essential reliability services through participation in area-wide automatic generation control (AGC) systems.

This report highlights the ability of variable renewable energy (VRE), specifically solar and wind energy, to improve power system flexibility through participation in automatic generation control (AGC) for the provision of reliability services. AGC systems enable grid operators to centrally and automatically manage the output of interconnected generators, storage systems and controllable loads to maintain system frequency and transmission flow schedules. Specifically, this report focuses on the technological and regulatory considerations of using VRE generators to provide secondary frequency control, also known as frequency regulation. 

The full report can be read here.

Visit the Ancillary Services Page on the Grid Integration Toolkit for more resources on this topic.

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