System and method of selecting wind turbine generators in a wind park for curtailment of output power to provide a wind reserve

1. A method of selecting wind turbine generators in a wind park for curtailment of output power to provide a wind reserve, said method comprising:

providing a wind park comprised of a plurality n of wind turbines, wherein the n wind turbines each have an individual possible power output and the wind park has a combined possible power output of X wherein X comprises a summation of the individual possible power outputs of the n wind turbines;

setting a power setpoint Y for the wind park, wherein Y≦X and X−Y comprises a wind reserve;

assigning a curtailment priority to each of the n wind turbines based on one or more non-spatial factors;

selecting n−1 or fewer wind turbines from the wind park for power output curtailment based on the curtailment priority assigned to each of the n wind turbines; and

curtailing power output of one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines until a summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines equals X−Y, such that a total power output of the wind park comprises Y.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more non-spatial factors include at least one of noise produced by a specific wind turbine, distance from a specific wind turbine to a sound sensitive location, expected lifetime of a specific wind turbine's pitch system, contractual requirements, electrical limitations of the wind park, operational characteristics of a specific wind turbine, need to perform maintenance on a specific wind turbine pitch movements of a specific wind turbine, cumulative curtailment time of a specific wind turbine or operating conditions of the wind turbine.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the operating conditions comprise at least one of converter temperature, gearbox temperature or generator temperature.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting n−1 or fewer wind turbines from the wind park for power output curtailment comprises selecting the n−1 or fewer wind turbines dynamically based on the assigned curtailment priority.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting n−1 or fewer wind turbines from the wind park for power output curtailment comprises selecting the n−1 or fewer wind turbines from a static list based on the assigned curtailment priority.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the wind turbines having the highest assigned priority are first selected to form the static list.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wind turbine with the highest curtailment priority is first selected for curtailing power output.

8. A system for selecting wind turbine generators in a wind park for curtailment of output power to provide a wind reserve, said system comprising:

a wind park comprised of a plurality n of wind turbines, wherein the n wind turbines each have an individual possible power output and the wind park has a combined possible power output of X wherein X comprises a summation of the individual possible power outputs of the n wind turbines; and

a controller, wherein the controller is operably connected to each of the n wind turbines and configured to send control signals to each of the n wind turbines and to receive signals from each of the n wind turbines, said controller having a user interface and said controller further configured to:

receive a power setpoint Y for the wind park, wherein Y≦X and X−Y comprises a wind reserve;

select n−1 or fewer wind turbines from the wind park for power output curtailment based on a curtailment priority assigned to each of the n based on one or more non-spatial factors; and

send one or more signals to curtail power output of one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines until a summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines equals X−Y, such that a total power output of the wind park comprises Y.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to dynamically select said n−1 or fewer wind turbines for power output curtailment based on the assigned curtailment priority or select said n−1 or fewer wind turbines from a static list for power output curtailment based on the assigned curtailment priority.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein said one or more non-spatial factors include at least one of noise produced by a specific wind turbine, distance from a specific wind turbine to a sound sensitive location, expected lifetime of a specific wind turbine's pitch system, contractual requirements, electrical limitations of the wind park, operational characteristics of a specific wind turbine, need to perform maintenance on a specific wind turbine, pitch movement of a specific wind turbine, cumulative curtailment time of a specific wind turbine or operating conditions of a specific wind turbine.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the wind turbines having the highest assigned priority are first selected to form the static list.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operating conditions comprise at least one of converter temperature, gearbox temperature or generator temperature.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein curtailing power output of one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines until the summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines equals X−Y, such that a total power output of the wind park comprises Y comprises curtailing power output of another wind turbine in addition to the one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines if the summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines is less than X−Y.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein curtailing power output of one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines until the summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines equals X−Y, such that a total power output of the wind park comprises Y comprises curtailing power output of one fewer wind turbine of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines if the summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines is greater than X−Y.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to assign the curtailment priority to each of the n wind turbines based on the one or more non-spatial factors.

16. The system of claim 8 , wherein the wind turbine with the highest curtailment priority is first selected for curtailing power output.

17. A method of selecting wind turbine generators in a wind park for curtailment of output power to provide a wind reserve, said method comprising:

providing a wind park comprised of a plurality n of wind turbines, wherein the n wind turbines each have an individual possible power output and the wind park has a combined possible power output of X wherein X comprises a summation of the individual possible power outputs of the n wind turbines;

setting a power setpoint Y for the wind park, wherein Y≦X and X−Y comprises a wind reserve;

assigning a curtailment priority to each of the n wind turbines based on cumulative curtailment time of each of the n wind turbines, wherein the wind turbine with a lowest cumulative curtailment time gets assigned a highest curtailment priority and the wind turbine with a highest cumulative curtailment time gets assigned a lowest curtailment priority;

selecting, on a non-spatial basis, n−1 or fewer wind turbines from the wind park for power output curtailment based on the curtailment priority assigned to each of the n wind turbines; and

curtailing power output of one or more of the selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines until a summation of the curtailed power output of the one or more selected n−1 or fewer wind turbines equals X−Y, such that a total power output of the wind park comprises Y.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the wind turbine with the highest curtailment priority is first selected for curtailing power output.