Rolling unit commitment for systems with significant installed wind capacity

As wind power penetration grows, the amount of reserve needed on the system also grows, due to the increases in the uncertainty of wind power, which grows larger as forecast horizon increases. By scheduling the system more often the amount of extra reserve to be carried to cater for wind uncertaintydecreases, depending on the flexibility of plant on the system. This reduces the costs of operating the system. There is a tradeoff between reduced costs due to more frequent commitment, the ability of wind forecasts to be made more accurately, andthe increased costs of more flexible plant. This paper examines the benefits of committing the system more frequently, and how different factors such as reliability of the system, accuracy of the forecasts and plant mix impact on this.