Ontario Power Grid Modelling for Incorporation of Renewable Energy Sources

The research project is to model the Ontario power grid and its constituent zones in order to determine the best locations for wind turbine farms and distributed power sources. A basic model of the Niagara Zone has been constructed, involving the location of the power generation stations, major demand centres, and transmission systems. The model is to be advanced to simulate the hourly time history of power generation and demand throughout the zone. Once the past operation is accurately simulated, the model may be used to simulate the effects of incorporating distributed and intermittent renewable power sources within the grid. The past data is provided by the Independent Electrical System Operator for Ontario.

The model is to be developed in Matlab and requires the ability to interface with the necessary data files for both the operational history and wind distribution files. The wind distribution files provide the necessary data to simulate wind speeds at various altitudes and locations throughout Ontario.

The minimum final deliverable of the project is expected to be an operational Matlab simulation of the Niagara zone. The inclusion of other zones is desirable but optional.

Faculty Supervisor:

Craig Merrett

Student:

Pricila Cerezolli

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

University:

Carleton University

Program:

Globalink