title: System-wide emissions implications of increased wind power penetration.
abstract: This paper discusses the environmental effects of incorporating wind energy into the electric power system. We present a detailed emissions analysis based on comprehensive modeling of power system operations with unit commitment and economic dispatch for different wind penetration levels. First, by minimizing cost, the unit commitment model decides which thermal power plants will be utilized based on a wind power forecast, and then, the economic dispatch model dictates the level of production for each unit as a function of the realized wind power generation. Finally, knowing the power production from each power plant, the emissions are calculated. The emissions model incorporates the effects of both cycling and start-ups of thermal power plants in analyzing emissions from an electric power system with increasing levels of wind power. Our results for the power system in the state of Illinois show significant emissions effects from increased cycling and particularly start-ups of thermal power plants. However, we conclude that as the wind power penetration increases, pollutant emissions decrease overall due to the replacement of fossil fuels.
authors.affiliation: Decision and Information Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valentino
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
authors.forename: Audun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Botterud
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Guenter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Conzelmann
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D003031:Coal; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D011210:Power Plants; D013696:Temperature; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D003031:Coal; D005579:Fossil Fuels