This report is a part of an investigation of the ability of the U.S. power system to accommodate large scale additions of wind generation. The objectives of this report are to describe principles by which large multi-area power systems are controlled and to anticipate how the introduction of large amounts of wind power production might require control protocols to be changed. The operation of a power system is described in terms of primary and secondary control actions. Primary control is fast, autonomous, and provides the first-line corrective action in disturbances; secondary control takes place on a follow-up time scale and manages the deployment of resources to ensure reliable and economic operation.
This report anticipates that the present fundamental primary and secondary control protocols will be satisfactory as wind power provides an increasing fraction of the total production, provided that appropriate attention is paid to the timing of primary control response, to short term wind forecasting, and to management of reserves for control action.