Title:	Observed Fluctuations in Output From a Regional Fleet of PV Power Plants Used To Compute Hourly Schedules of Spinning Reserve Requirements
Author(s):	D. Cormode, W. Richardson, T. Lorenzo, W. Holmgren, A. Cronin
Keywords:	Large Grid-Connected PV Systems, Utility, Grid Management, Grid Stability
Topic:	OPERATIONS, PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY OF PHOTOVOLTAICS (from Cells to Systems)
Subtopic:	Operation of PV Systems and Plants
Event:	29th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
Session:	5CO.15.5
Pages:	2387 - 2392
ISBN:	3-936338-34-5
Paper DOI:	10.4229/EUPVSEC20142014-5CO.15.5
Price:	0,00 EUR
Document(s):	paper

Abstract/Summary:

---

We examine fluctuations in power from an 80 MW fleet of utility scale power plants deployed around Tucson, Arizona, and a 500MW fleet deployed throughout Arizona and New Mexico. We observe that individual plants exhibit frequent rapid changes in power, greater than 50% of nameplate capacity in less than one minute. The aggregate fleet generally has slower ramps. Local utilities face the challenge of addressing this variability in a cost effective manner. We present a method to use historical data to estimate appropriate spinning reserves for variability mitigation for each hour of the day for different seasons. We contrast the results for recommended reserves when calculated on a fleet wide basis or when summed from a plant by plant basis.