Improving power grid performance using parallel connected Compressed Air Energy Storage and wind turbine system

Wind energy is boundless renewable energy which can be tapped continuously. It is clean and free energy in comparison with conventional fossil fuels. However, the high stochastic nature of the wind could affect the power quality of a grid system fed from a wind turbine system. Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) is a mature energy storage technology for handling wind fluctuation problems such that the generated energy could be supplied to the grid without affecting grid performance. This paper proposes a parallel connection of the CAES with a wind turbine to provide a continuous supply to the grid system with reduced wind power input fluctuations. Analysis was carried out using MATLAB Simulink to study the effectiveness of the parallel CAES system with changes in wind speed. The results were focussed on the grid's voltage and active power. The results showed that the proposed parallel CAES system was able to smooth out wind power fluctuations and able to provide continuous power supply to the grid system with lower power consumption during the CAES compression process when compared to the series CAES system.