Kevin Kim, 2012, Operations Research and Financial Engineering
Wind shows tremendous promise as a clean, economical sources of energy. However, increasing wind penetration in the power grid introduces several challenges. Unlike conventional sources of energy, wind fluctuates greatly from hour to hour and can be difficult to predict. A grid operator may overcome these challenges by reasonably predicting wind and efficiently scheduling their more reliable generation assets, like coal plants and natural gas plants, around wind’s variability. This summer at PENSA (Princeton Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis), we simulated this problem for a grid operator called PJM Interconnections, and built a model that would allocate power generation optimally in the presence of increased wind.