Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Specifics of integration of wind power plants into the Croatian

transmission network
Tomislav Capuder ⇑, Hrvoje Pandžić, Igor Kuzle, Davor Škrlec
Department of Power Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

h i g h l i g h t s

" Modelling Croatian transmission system and determining relevant scenarios for large-scale wind power integration.
" Investigating the potential for reversible hydro power plants as storage in large wind power integration.
" Analyzing current and proposing less discriminatory connection cost policy.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Increasing number and capacity of wind turbines have overgrown connection to the distribution net-
Received 16 December 2011 work. Considerable wind power plant installed capacity makes their connection to the transmission net-
Received in revised form 30 April 2012 work a common practice today. However, large scale wind power integration requires increase in
Accepted 5 May 2012
transmission network capacity. The problem with transmission network capacity investments is that
Available online 29 May 2012
they will be fully utilized only on rare occasions. This makes the investments in power lines reinforce-
ment economically questionable. The transmission network capacity problems get even worse when sev-
Keywords:
eral large wind power plants with simultaneous peaks in production are connected to the transmission
Wind power
Large scale wind integration
network in the same node.
Connection cost policy The objective of this paper is to provide an insight in the issues of large-scale wind power plant inte-
Transmission system planning gration into the transmission grid in Croatia. An accurate and detailed model for assessing power flows
Croatian energy strategy and voltage levels has been developed as a result of multiple projects involving wind power plant con-
nections to the Croatian transmission network. Problems of large-scale wind power plant integration into
the Croatian transmission network are addressed and solutions acceptable for both the investors and the
Transmission System Operator are proposed.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The installed capacity of wind power plants operating in Croatia

in 2010 was 88 MW, half of which is connected to the distribution
In the last two decades wind power growth rate has been exten- grid. This makes around 2% of overall installed capacity in Croatia,
sive and wind power has become the most prominent renewable which according to the report of Croatian Transmission System
energy source. In 2010 the worldwide wind power capacity Operator is 3745 MW [4]. Therefore, the wind penetration in
reached 196 GW with annual growth rate of 23.6% [1], decreasing Croatia is significantly lower than in most of the developed Euro-
the growth rate for the first time since 2004 and being lower than pean countries. For instance, Denmark had 3124 MW of installed
the previous 2 years; in 2009 and 2008 growth rates were 31.7% capacity in wind power plants already in 2007 which makes more
and 28.7% [1]. China and USA have established themselves as world than 24% of its overall installed capacity [5]. Several papers re-
leaders in wind power technology, with installed capacity of 44.7 searched the impact of the large scale integration of scattered
and 40.2 GW. European leader is Germany with over 29 GW of renewable energy sources into Denmark electricity systems [6,7]
wind power capacity installed [2]. According to the report [3], taking into account large integration of combined heat and power
the 1.5% of consumed world energy in 2008 was transformed from (CHP) units. Other countries have also defined their strategies for
the wind, while in 2010 this number has grown to 2.5%. wind integration, e.g. in [8] the authors claim UK system could
be optimally producing 80 TW h of their power from the wind by
the year 2020.
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Unska 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Tel.: +385
16129509; fax: +385 16129890.
Extensive wind power utilization causes problems in power
E-mail address: tomislav.capuder@fer.hr (T. Capuder). systems which have not been thoroughly prepared for large scale

0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.002
 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150 143

wind power plants integration [9]. The value of wind power de- of Croatia, electricity is still used for household heating, but current
pends on its degree of penetration, concentration and location in trends suggest that the majority of households will use gas for
the network [10]. Since the permits for wind power plants loca- heating in the future. This will additionally increase the gap be-
tions are not issued centrally and unanimously, the transmission tween the winter and summer electricity consumption.
system planning is facing new uncertainties. Private investors are
generally not interested in the transmission system stability and 2.2. Wind power plant connection problems
other problems in the Transmission System Operator (TSO) domain
[11]. The locations suitable for wind energy exploitations in Croatia
This paper recognizes several problems and proposes solutions are located exclusively in the southern part of Croatia, as indicated
for higher wind power plant penetration into Croatian electric in Fig. 1, enhancing the already existing seasonal problem of evac-
power system. The contributions of the paper are following: uating large amounts of electricity from southern to the northern
part of Croatia. If large river inflows in southern Croatia coincide
 assessment of the connection cost for wind power plant with favorable wind speeds the problem of power evacuation is
projects; even more emphasized [14].
 detailed and accurate analysis of technical requirements for WPP investors have recognized incentives of approximately
wind power integration, definition of worst-case scenarios 0.088 €/kWh guaranteed over a 12 years period [15]. Several stud-
and recognizing specifics for wind power plant (WPP) integra- ies have shown this will guarantee a return rate for the WPP pro-
tion in Croatia; jects in the period of 5–7 years. According to [16] there are 145
 analysis of energy buffer utilization as a potential wind energy WPP projects from 71 different investors submitted to the Croatian
storage. Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreurship bringing the total
requested installed power to 6900 MW. Croatian National Energy
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, a reg- Strategy therefore relies on wind energy to be the driving force
ulative policy considering connection cost for wind power plants in in achieving EU set goals for renewable energy targets with pro-
Croatia is presented along with the specifics of the Croatian trans- jected 1200 MW of installed WPP capacity by the year 2020 [17].
mission network. This section detects the most important prob- In general there are multiple ways to decide an optimal energy
lems with WPP projects realizations and proposes solutions. mix taking into account available technologies, fuel costs and cost
Section 3 provides a detailed model description. The results of cur- of energy produced. An innovative and simple approach is demon-
rent situation and future states are presented in Section 4. strated in [18] where optimal energy mix is gained by linear pro-
gramming algorithm. However, the Strategy does not specify
how or where those wind power plants should be connected to
2. Wind power plant connection the transmission grid. This requires a great deal of high-end orga-
nization and planning, especially since the conditions of non-dis-
2.1. Current electricity production and consumption facts criminatory access to the transmission network to all potential
investors have to be met.
Croatian transmission system has a unique and distinctive An important element in the 2001/77/EC Directive [19] is the
topology which makes the power flow control demanding. Thermal requirement of transparent, non-discriminating connection tariffs.
power units make almost half of the installed capacity and the At the moment, mainly two types of connection costs are used,
majority of them are located in the central north part of the coun- shallow and deep connection costs. In case of shallow connection
try [4]. In contrast, almost all hydro power plants are situated in costs the investor only finances the physical connection to the grid
the southern part of the country, near the Adriatic Sea. while the required grid reinforcements financing is attributed to
Besides modelling electricity generation, it is important to dis- the TSO. The TSO then includes these investments in the transmis-
tinguish electricity consumption specifics. The electricity intensive sion network tariffs. The lack of such a system is the necessity to
industry is located mainly in the northern part of Croatia, near the establish some sort of use-of-system tariff by which the system
large thermal power plants. In contrary, the coastal part of Croatia operator would charge the usage of the grid to power producers.
is less industrialized, but the tourism in this area has a strong po- This can be categorized as flat rate or flow based [20]. A suggestion
tential for further development. This has an unfavorable impact on for the implementation of such connection cost policy is explored
the Croatian power system since tourism is a seasonal activity in [21]. The authors bring a conclusion that this type of connection
which results in extremely high electricity demand during the cost policy would make integration of wind power plans according
summer and extremely low electricity consumption during winter to the Croatian Energy Strategy impossible, because it would re-
months. The outcome of the extreme electricity consumption dur- flect significantly on the electricity prices for the end consumers.
ing tourist season is 5 to 6 times lower peak demand in winter On the other hand in case of deep connection cost, the investor
periods than during the summer. Such seasonal load curves affect is obliged to finance connection costs plus all the grid investments
power flows, which are substantially different during tourist sea- determined by an independent preliminary analysis. All distribu-
son in respect to the winter period. Hence, during the winter tion and transmission grid users in Croatia are subject to deep con-
power flows are directed from the south to the north, as opposed nection policy and are obligated to finance the entire required grid
to the summer power flows which are directed from the north to reinforcement [15]. In case of WPPs this would mean: if the con-
the south of Croatia. Because of relatively small loads, long over- nected WPP does not cause any disturbances to the grid operation
head lines and lack of thermal power plants, voltage levels in and reinforcements are not needed, the first next investor whose
southern Croatia vary a lot. Without any rigor definition this type plant is causing congestion or voltage problems is forced to pay
of network is referred to as the ‘‘weak grid’’ [12]. In [13] the the full investment despite the fact its load flow share through a
authors address the problems of connecting WPPs to a weak grid congested line might be modest.
very generally. Ideas for increased WPP integration are suggested Despite the fact that deep connection cost policy is generally
but no analyses were conducted which would support those considered as more discriminator, only four EU member states
proposals. have implemented the shallow connection cost policy (Belgium,
In the future, it is expected that the difference in winter and the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) [22–25]. A detailed
summer loads will be even greater. In the coastal (southern) part overview on connection cost policies for renewable energy sources
144 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150

Fig. 1. Potential locations for future WPP.

reinforced, as shown in Fig. 2. Correspondingly Table 1 provides

grid reinforcement cost for each WPP.
The first WPP to be connected to the transmission network is
ZD-6 and its investors have to finance the line ZD-6 – Gračac
(red line). Other WPP owners, ZD-6 2, Otrić 1 and Otrić 2 have to
finance only their connection cost to the existing network, which
now includes the ZD-6 bus. These costs can be neglected because
of the vicinity of these four WPPs. The last WPP to be connected
to the transmission network is WPP Vučipolje. Its transmission
network connection point is at the middle of overhead line ZD-6
– Gračac. Because of its significant capacity, the overhead line Vu-
čipolje – Gračac is congested if all WPPs operate near its installed
capacity. Therefore, the line Vučipolje – Gračac needs to be rein-
forced with a parallel power line. Additionally, after connection
of WPP Vučipolje, the line Gračac – Obrovac is also congested.
The entire investment is financed by the investor in WPP Vučipolje
(green line).
In case of mixed connection cost policy all the necessary trans-
mission network reinforcements are proportionally financed by all
WPPs. For the presented case study, the overall transmission net-
work reinforcement cost is 4911,000 €. The total cost is divided
among investors according to their installed capacity, as shown
in Table 2 and Fig. 3.
Fig. 2. Reinforced part of the 110 kV transmission network (deep connection cost It is important to note that the cost of 110/X kV transformer sta-
policy). tion is not taken into consideration in both tables. Fig. 4 provides a
comparison of connection costs in both cases. It shows that imple-
mentation of the new mixed connection cost would be less dis-
in Europe is presented in [26]. An alternative which preserves criminatory for investors. Mixed connection policy stimulates the
transparency and is non-discriminatory access to the grid users is investors to merge and make joint investments. The authors be-
the use of mixed charges [27]. With the proposed mixed connec- lieve this would stimulate wind projects and speed up the grid
tion cost policy each connected user pays only the reinforcement integration process.
costs proportional to its own power rating. WPP investors are required to make an analysis of the optimal
connection point. In literature this connection point is referred to
as a collector system of a WPP [28]. This is defined as ‘‘everything
2.3. Wind power plant connection case study in the power plant that is not a wind turbine generator’’. This study
defines the separation point between the investor and the system
The case study presents the connection costs of five WPPs for operator. In Croatia, the separation of property is usually made at
the case of deep connection cost policy and the case of proposed the 110 kV busses excluding the transformer to medium voltage
mixed connection cost policy. In order to connect all five WPPs – the wind generators, the internal medium voltage cable network
to the existing transmission network, new transmission lines have and the medium to transmission level transformer is the property
to be constructed and existing transmission lines need to be of the investor. Everything beyond that point is the property of the
 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150 145

Table 1
Connection costs for each investor under current connection cost policy in Croatia.

WPP Capacity (MW) Action Cost (€)

ZD-6 9 110 kV overhead line Velika Popina – Gračac (17.8 km  90,000 €/km) 1600,000
Overall 1600,000
ZD-6 2 39 Overall 0
Otrić 1 40 Overall 0
Otrić 2 20.7 Overall 0
Vučipolje 82 2  110 kV overhead line Vučipolje – Gračac (reinforcement of existing 110 kV line 8.8 km  110 €/km) 968,000
2  110 kV overhead line Gračac – Obrovac (reinforcement of existing 110 kV line 21.3 km  110 €/km) 2343,000
Overall 3311,000

Table 2
Connection costs for each investor if mixed connection cost policy is applied.

WPP Capacity (MW) Action Cost (€)

ZD-6 9 Allocated transmission network reinforcement cost 231,770
Overall 231,770
ZD-6-2 39 Allocated transmission network reinforcement cost 1004,350
Overall 1004,350
Otrić 1 40 Allocated transmission network reinforcement cost 1030,100
Overall 1030,100
Otrić 2 20.7 Allocated transmission network reinforcement cost 533,080
Overall 533,080
Vučipolje 82 Allocated transmission network reinforcement cost 2111,700
Overall 2111,700

Fig. 4. Comparison of connection costs for deep and mixed connection cost policy.

where FIS is the First Investors Share; FIIC is the First Investors In-
stalled Capacity; TIC is the Total Installed Capacity; and OIS is the
Operators Investment Share.
When the second investor at the same connection point re-
quires the connection to the transmission grid his share would
Fig. 3. Reinforced part of the 110 kV transmission network (mixed connection be as follows:
cost).
SIS ¼ SIIC=TIC  100%
where SIS is the Second Investors Share and SIIC is the Second
TSO. The entire investment is defined as the investors’ obligation
Investor Installed Capacity.
since deep connection policy dictates that investor is the one pay-
This amount would be paid to the TSO reducing its original
ing for any reinforcement or reconstruction of the grid caused by
share in the investment to:
his connection. On the other hand, TSO is the only entity with
the permit to build or reinforce the power system. OIS ¼ 100%  FIS  SIS
The proposed mixed connection policy suggests that, instead of
For the proposed case study the investment shares are:
making the ‘‘first investor’’ finance the entire reinforcement or
reconstruction needed, total investment is divided depending on FISZD6 ¼ FIICZD6 =TIC  100%
its share in total thermal loading of the required transmission lines. OIS ¼ 100%  FISZD6
Mathematically put, this is done as follows.
Share of the first investor is: After WPP Otric 1 connects, the shares in the investment are:
SISOTRIC1 ¼ SIICOTRIC1 =TIC  100%
FIS ¼ FIIC=TIC  100%
OIS ¼ TIC  FISZD6  SISOTRIC1
OIS ¼ 100%  FIS
146 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150

Same scheme is applied to all other investors. and 4634 km of 110 kV lines. To model the transmission grid ade-
Mixed connection policy could make TSO subject to the risk of quately the latest data from Croatian TSO annual report is used.
over financing. Namely; if no one besides the first investor con- Several static states of the grid are selected to check the accuracy
nects to the grid, TSO pays the difference in total investment. This of the created model, ranging from maximum winter load peak
means that all other investors at the location give up on already in 2009, maximal winter load peak in 2010 and high hydrology
started projects. The authors believe that, despite this, mixed con- case based on a real scenario in spring of 2010. Data of all power
nection policy cost would be recognized by the investors as less plants, thermal and hydro, and all concurrent load data at 110 kV
discriminatory and would reduce such cases to the minimum. level are exported from Croatian TSOs Energy Management Sys-
tem. The load flows calculation results obtained from the calcula-
tion are compared to the real ones. The model is proven to be
2.4. WPP connection analysis procedure
extremely accurate. Short circuit calculations are also conducted
and the results are compared to the measured short circuit cur-
In Croatia, common practice was to analyze the impact of the
rents and to an independent study [30]. High accuracy of the model
future power plant on the transmission grid, not taking into con-
was confirmed again. This is demonstrated in Fig. 5. For easier pre-
sideration the impact of other power plants which might be built
sentation of the results a statistical approach is chosen; for each
in the vicinity. The required analyses are obligatory for wind power
voltage level discrete percentage value shows overlapping of sim-
investors but they have no direct interest to include other wind
ulated and real time results. It should be noted that 73% of 110 kV
power plants in the assessments besides their own. On the other
lines, 88% of 220 kV lines and almost 100% of 400 kV lines loadings
hand, by not including other influential power plants in the assess-
are within ±1% of the actual loading.
ments, preliminary studies do not show problems connecting new
Predicting and evaluating connection points for wind power
WPPs to the grid. This often caused the ones connecting later face
plants has been a research topic in [10,31]. These two papers pres-
unpredicted expenses caused by the congestion or short circuit
ent a multi-objective approach to assessing the value and influence
problems in the grid.
of connecting WPPs to specific nodes in the grid. In [10] a potential
The Croatian National Energy Strategy proposes several differ-
influence and benefits of connecting WPPs to a specific node is cal-
ent scenarios for future generation mix and in each of the scenarios
culated, resulting in optimal connection node assessment. On the
the goal of 1200 MW of installed wind power in Croatia is empha-
other hand [31], focuses on nodes where connecting WPPs does
sized [17].
not cause congestion.
The most relevant document for wind power plant integration
Investors interested in building WPPs usually make requests for
into the Croatian electric system is [29]. A detailed research pre-
permits regardless on the connection point characteristics (possi-
sented in that project sets several targets for future analyses, but
bilities for power evacuation). Integrating large amount of WPPs
has several lacks:
is a lasting process and both the transmission system and the gen-
eration profile will change before any larger penetration of wind
 The presented study makes analyses for each connection node
occurs.
separately, not taking into account other power plants in
As mentioned in Section 1, certain specifics in Croatian power
vicinity.
system need to be taken into consideration when analyzing the
 The study does not make any future transmission grid planning.
transmission grid. For this reason, several scenarios accurately pre-
It examines the current state of the transmission grid and inves-
senting the system state have been pre-determined, in collabora-
tigates how much electric power can be injected into the cur-
tion with the Croatian TSO:
rent Croatian transmission grid in each node.
 The study concludes that the total wind power which can be
 default scenario, set as winter maximum in 2009;
integrated into the existing Croatian transmission system is
 maximum generation and maximum consumption scenario –
923 MW. On the other hand, it raises the question of variable
congestion scenario;
wind production makes a conclusion that, due to limited possi-
 maximum hydrology and low consumption scenario – conges-
bilities or secondary regulation, maximal power from wind in
tion and voltage scenario.
the year 2006 is between 300 and 400 MW. Croatian TSO, refer-
encing itself on the mentioned project, does not issue permits
These scenarios are named A, B and C. Each of these scenarios is
for new wind power plants after this limit has been reached.
analyzed over 5 different states and they are named accordingly.
The proposed model for connecting new WPPs takes into ac-
count all the potential WPPs in the surrounding transmission grid.
With all the potential capacities included, both TSO and the inves-
tors gain accurate perspective of the potential grid problems. As
stated in [3]: ‘‘In order to properly assess the scope on integration
of wind power, a system-wide approach should be adopted. Wind
cannot be analyzed in isolation from other parts of the power sys-
tem – and all systems differ. The size and inherent flexibility of the
power system are crucial aspects in determining the system’s abil-
ity to accommodate a high share of wind power’’. The proposed
model and conclusions from analyses are presented in Section 3.

3. Large scale wind integration in the Croatian transmission

grid

Croatian system consists of six 400/X kV substations, thirteen

220/X kV substations and 106 110/X kV substations. Transmission
grid consists of 1159 km of 400 kV lines, 1144 km of 220 kV line Fig. 5. Accuracy of the model compared to the actual loading.
 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150 147

State 1 of each scenario describes the Croatian transmission system pressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), and Thermal Energy Storage
state at the moment, with 88 MW of WPPs installed. State 2 in- (TES). Reversible hydro power plants are not highly dependent
cludes all the future WPPs to which location permits have been is- on water inflow and are already stipulated in literature as a prac-
sued for connection to the transmission grid. These account for a tical and feasible way of storing wind energy. In [36] the authors
total of 360 MW. Predictions are those should be online and oper- address the issue of stochastic nature of wind production as well
ational by 2015. States 3–5 include additional WPPs, those with ac- the unpredictability of spot market prices. The paper brings a short
cepted preliminary connection analyses where their impact on term stochastic optimization algorithm demonstrating the advan-
transmission grid has been analyzed. In state 3 these WPPs pro- tages wind power can achieve on the electricity market when com-
duce at their installed capacity. State 4 sets them operating at bined with pumped hydro storage. Similar approach has been
50%. The final state demonstrates the potential of storage in revers- addressed in [37] with the inclusion of ancillary services from
ible hydro power plant. The total installed capacity of WPPs in sce- pumped-storage and wind power plant system. The combination
narios 3–5 is around 900 MW, as can be seen in Table 5. All of hydro pumped storage and wind power gains on its importance
scenarios and states are named accordingly (A1–A5, B1–B5, C1– in isolated islanded systems as demonstrated in [38]. If the pre-
C5). For better understanding Tables 3 and 4 present summariza- sented case is to be extrapolated into connected power system hy-
tion of the most important input data. Table 3 presents the output dro pumped storage role remains the same, supporting large scale
of each power plant in Croatia for scenarios A–C and their respec- integration of wind into the system as presented in [39]. A techno-
tive states. It should be noted that installed capacity in Table 3 is economical assessment on how large scale Pumped Hydro Energy
different than one referenced in Section 1 [4] since it does not take Storage can assist integration of WPPs into the Ireland power sys-
into consideration power plants connected to the distribution grid. tem is presented in [40], and in [41] Greece case is analyzed. The
Table 4 summarizes differences between different states of each authors emphasise the importance of taking all energy sectors
scenario. when making such analyses. State 5 examines the potential bene-
The largest wind capacity used in the presented model (states fits that existing energy storage in the system could have on high
3–5 of each scenario) is 890.4 MW, still less than the wind capacity wind power integration and production.
projected in [17] for the year 2020. The authors consider that esti- Reversible hydro power plant (RHPP) Velebit was originally
mate is very optimistic and the one stated in [17] very question- constructed as a storage for harvesting extra energy from the fu-
able, especially considering current trends and time frame set for ture nuclear power plant which was suppose to be built on the is-
achieving the goal. The line loading results are presented in Tables land Vir. Since this plan was never realized, RHPP Velebit has been
6–8. If not stated differently, the results are for 110 kV lines. working very rarely in its pump regime. With high integration of
In [32] the authors elaborate the obstacles to large wind power WPPS into the Croatian transmission system the advantages of
integration and bring a methodology for its integration. They take two generators, capable of working with 120 MW in motor regime
into account the location of the wind power plant (WPP), correla- each, gain on its importance again. More on RHPP Velebit can be
tion factor of multiple WPP, cross-border transmission for balanc- found in [42]. According to [43] Croatia has a significant potential
ing and storage as potential ways to smoothen the variability of for installation of RHPP in the future, although authors recognize
WPP production. insufficient policy regulative and a small number of projects for
Several papers research the potential of increasing the value of this technology to achieve its full potential in Croatia.
energy produced from WPPs utilizing storage. In [33,34] an eco- For the presented cases, Tables 6–8, in state 5 of each scenario
nomic feasibility assessment of integrating compressed air energy the reversible hydro power plant Velebit is working in the pump-
storage for increasing WPP integration is presented. Similar assess- ing regime. Its upper basing capacity allows it to pump the water
ment is addressed in [35], comparing feasibility of different energy for 6 h at its maximal capacity before the upper tank reaches its
storage types: Pumped Seawater Hydro Storage (PSHS), Com- limit. In those 6 h it can store almost 1500 MWh of wind energy.

Table 3
Generation production for each simulated scenario.

Power Plant Scenario A (MW) Scenario B (MW) Scenario C (MW) Installed power (MW)
HPP Dubrava 37 38.3 54 78
HPP Busko Blato 0 0 10 10
HPP Rijeka 0 0 36.8 36.8
HPP Gojak 0 0 48 55.5
HPP Cakovec 38.4 76 76 76
HPP Djale 30.9 40.8 40.8 40.8
HPP Dubrovnik 105 108 115 115
HPP Kraljevac 12.9 0 46.4 46.4
HPP Orlovac 0 225 237 237
HPP Peruca 24.22 41.6 48 60
HPP Senj 204.5 72 216 216
HPP Sklope 21.8 22.5 22.5 22.5
HPP Varazdin 47.12 52.5 53 94
HPP Vinodol 0 0 84 90
HPP Zakucac 464.4 108 460 486
HPP Velebit 229 276 276 274
TPP Osijek 26 89 0 89
TPP TE-TO 156 339 73 440
TPP Plomin 1 101 110 0 120
TPP Plomin 2 191 210 210 210
TPP Rijeka 198 320 0 320
TPP Sisak 116 210 210 396
TPP EL-TO 50.54 52 35 88.8
Overall 2053.78 2390.7 2351.5 3601.8
148 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150

Table 4
Summarization of modeled scenarios.

Scenario Conventional plant generation (MW) WPP generation (MW) Consumption (MW)
A1 2054 88 2840
A2 2054 360 2840
A3 2054 890 2840
A4 2054 890 2840
A5 2054 890 2840
B1 2390 88 3460
B2 2390 360 3460
B3 2390 890 3460
B4 2390 890 3460
B5 2390 890 3460
C1 2351 88 1260
C2 2351 360 1260
C3 2351 890 1260
C4 2351 890 1260
C5 2351 890 1260

Table 5
Wind power plants considered in the calculations.

Wind power plant Number of turbines Single turbine capacity (MW) Installed capacity (MW)
Bruvno 18 2.5 45
Bubrig 10 1.5 15
Crni Vrh 5 2 10
Crno Brdo 7 2.3 16,1
Glunča 10 2.3 22
Jelinak 20 1.5 30
-
Krš Padene 40 2.5 100
Mazin 2 7 2.3 16,1
Mazin Bruvno 2A 21 3 63
Obrovac – Zelengrad 14 3 42
Ogorje 25 3 75
Orlice 12 0.8 9,6
Otrić 1 16 2.5 40
Otrić 2 9 2.3 20.7
Pometeno brdo 20 1 20
Ponikve 17 2 34
Rudine 12 3 35
ST1-1 Voštane 7 2.3 15
ST1-2 Kamensko 7 2.3 15
Trtar Krtolin 14 0.8 11.2
Velika Glava 10 1.8 18
Voštane 9 2.3 20.7
Vrataruša 14 3 42
Vučipolje 41 2 82
ZD2 6 3 18
ZD3 6 3 18
ZD4 3 3 9
ZD6 4 2.3 9
ZD6-2 13 3 39
Overall 890.4

Table 6 Table 7
Power lines loading in Scenario A – referent scenario (%). Power lines loading in Scenario B – maximal production, maximal consumption (%).

Line A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 Line B1 B2 B3 B4 B5
Bruška – Benkovac 17.73 24.54 12.64 5.97 10.09 Bruška – Benkovac 13.42 7.40 31.76 32.43 31.54
Gračac – Obrovac (new) – – 65.45 35.09 72.83 Gračac – Obrovac (new) – – 65.1 35.03 70.13
Gracac – Obrovac (exisitng) 11.51 10.38 85.45 45.81 95.08 Gracac – Obrovac (exisitng) 4.10 45.35 85.00 45.74 91.57
Licki osik – Karlobag 12.06 12.38 19.19 16.28 20.67 Licki osik – Karlobag 9.67 10.26 17.24 14.05 17.87
Gracac – Licki Osik 12.08 32.14 85.79 43.77 67.06 Gracac – Licki Osik 10.87 28.15 73.53 40.19 57.85
Velebit – Melina (400 kV) 32.14 44.17 66.69 44.04 37.74 Velebit – Melina (400 kV) 10.91 23.95 47.06 23.61 13.96
Bruška – Obrovac 17.68 64.78 45.48 19.44 43.79 Bruška – Obrovac 13.82 33.86 22.23 19.70 22.88
Obrovac – Nin 28.86 36.45 57.72 41.76 46.54 Obrovac – Nin 32.92 39.09 56.50 45.07 47.04
Obrovac – Zadar 21.10 23.98 36.19 28.90 30.72 Obrovac – Zadar 27.79 30.42 40.44 35.50 35.83
Licki osik – Otocac 8.02 35.96 98.85 47.53 72.87 Licki osik – Otocac 11.38 32.87 86.09 44.74 64.36
Otocac – Senj 4.64 32.32 95.13 44.07 69.19 Otocac – Senj 8.93 28.90 82.92 41.02 61.20
Lički osik – Sklope 26.51 26.72 27.51 25.97 27.04 Lički osik – Sklope 26.95 26.01 26.77 26.21 26.77
Obrovac – Velebit 18.06 10.13 70.83 27.30 86.09 Obrovac – Velebit 7.80 12.24 60.37 19.80 72.27
Velebit – Konjsko (400 kV) 17.61 22.71 29.65 19.43 35.51 Velebit – Konjsko (400 kV) 18.13 6.73 11.53 6.38 16.12
 T. Capuder et al. / Applied Energy 101 (2013) 142–150 149

Table 8 Table 9
Power lines loading in Scenario C – maximal hydro, minimum consumption (%). Power lines loading for 220 kV transmission network (%).

Line C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 Line D1 D2 D3 D4
Bruška – Benkovac 40.82 61.14 31.00 27.81 31.33 Brinje – Konjsko 1.71 2.25 11.05 18.01
Gračac – Obrovac (new) – – 70.54 34.35 69.49 Konjsko – Bilice 8.24 13.45 2.64 5.69
Gracac – Obrovac (exisitng) 13.46 32.73 92.09 44.85 90.72 Konjsko – Bilce 2 8.24 13.45 2.64 5.69
Licki osik – Karlobag 4.96 6.53 17.84 10.16 16.42 Zakučac – Konjsko 54.29 16.56 9.87 3.33
Gracac – Licki Osik 13.92 29.49 74.88 43.32 59.14 Orlovac – Konjsko 15.68 39.86 40.68 37.45
Velebit – Melina (400 kV) 46.24 63.48 87.13 60.79 46.35 Orlovac – Konjsko 2 15.68 39.86 40.68 37.45
Bruška – Obrovac 40.84 85.48 60.79 42.08 58.52 Senj – Melina 35.8 85.48 24.39 92.18
Obrovac – Nin 14.48 19.00 39.26 25.73 29.17 Melina – Plomin 2.91 8.18 8.33 8.1
Obrovac – Zadar 4.80 5.13 18.08 11.64 12.96 Brinje – Senj 14.36 36.89 32.95 63.38
Licki osik – Otocac 28.33 49.46 95.42 63.31 75.49 Zakučac – Bilice 23.89 4.22 1.67 3.32
Otocac – Senj 26.98 48.04 93.90 61.93 73.99
Lički osik – Sklope 26.16 26.29 28.87 25.68 27.28
Obrovac – Velebit 12.45 33.14 98.55 52.36 97.81
Velebit – Konjsko (400 kV) 23.79 34.24 40.51 26.43 42.72 Because of the large number of busses and lines it is impossible
to present the results of the power flow and voltage levels calcula-
tions for the whole Croatian transmission system in this paper. The
These numbers stipulate future usage of reversible hydro power calculations and models have been analyzed in power system tool
plants as a way of storing wind energy in the Croatian power sys- NEPLAN version 5.4.3, research licence [44].
tem. In the presented scenarios (state 1 of each scenario) it can be
noted that currently wind power plants do not cause congestion or
4. Conclusion
require investments into the transmission lines for the sole pur-
pose of evacuating energy from WPP. Even if all the wind power
Wind power is often stipulated as the future base technology in
plants with valid licenses are to be connected to the grid, there
power systems. Presented as a substitute for conventional power
would be no need for new power lines. State A3 shows that in
plants, including fossil fuel and nuclear fuel powered ones, it cre-
the case of higher wind penetration there is a necessity for new
ates negativity and brings resistance with most system operators.
power lines. The basic idea is to evacuate the produced energy to
Variability of the wind, and consequently WPP stochastic output,
the nearest 400 kV node. To achieve that a new power line be-
presents a challenge for, up until now, stable and reasonably se-
tween nodes Gračac and Obrovac is suggested, evacuating the en-
cure power systems. System operators face the ongoing pressure
ergy from Gračac to Obrovac and Velebit and then into the 400 kV
to integrate higher amount of wind power into the transmission
grid.
system. On the other hand, they have to be able to plan operation
Due to the specifics of Croatian electric system, high hydrology
and development of the system under new and very unpredictable
scenario should be taken as a reference scenario for all the subse-
circumstances.
quent analyses. Wind and hydro power plants are highly concen-
Several specific scenarios have been presented to establish
trated in the same geographical area, i.e. the southern part of
transmission system state after large scale wind power plants inte-
Croatia. Both technologies have a specific stochastic power gener-
gration in Croatia. These scenarios have been chosen in agreement
ation dependant on several environmental factors. In this case,
with the Croatian system operator. It can be concluded that, due to
those factors could coincide and result in simultaneous high pro-
its specifics, relevant scenario for future wind power integration is
duction from both wind power plants and hydro power plants. This
the high hydrology scenario. It presents the most relevant view on
can be expected in spring and autumn seasons. In case those high
potential congestion states in the transmission grid. The presented
generations overlap during early mornings, low consumption peri-
model emphasizes the importance of reversible hydro power
ods, the problem with evacuation becomes even more pronounced.
plants as potential energy storage for wind energy. For a more de-
Recently a certain number of requests for connection of WPPs to
tailed conclusion a dynamic analysis should be conducted includ-
220 kV level was submitted. Even though an unwritten rule of Cro-
ing specifics of each generator and wind turbines to be installed
atian TSO, stated also in the Croatian National Energy Strategy, is
in the future. The model also demonstrates inadequacy of the
not to connect WPPs to the 220 kV level (poor regulation capabil-
220 kV network for evacuation of future wind power.
ities) several analyses were conducted to determine the capacity of
Despite the open access policy to all investors, authors find the
220 kV grid to evacuate power from potential future WWPs. Pres-
deep connection policy currently applied in Croatia to be some-
ently the 220 kV network is under loaded, operating most of the
what discriminatory depending on the location of future power
year under 10% of its rated level. With the connection of WPP
plant. Based on European experiences a mixed connection cost pol-
the situation changes, especially in the scenario of high hydrology.
icy has been suggested. This policy clearly shows less discrimina-
Table 7 shows 220 kV line loadings for 4 scenarios.
tory approach to future investors and increases feasibility of
Scenario D1 is a reference scenario without connected WPPs.
certain future wind projects.
Scenarios D2, D3 and D4 correspond to scenarios A3, B3 and C3
having one new wind power plant with the rated power of
250 MW added to total wind power production and connected to References
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