Grid codes requirements for the connection of wind power plants to the Turkish electricity network

In this study the grid codes requirements for the connection of the wind power plants to Turkey's electric network are mentioned. Recently it is given importance to generate electrical energy from the renewable energy resources in Turkey in order to prevent the foreign-source dependency in the energy resources and to ensure the variety of resources through a sustainable environmental management. The electrical energy generation from wind that is clean and renewable is the most rapidly growing renewable resource. The installed capacity of wind is expected to reach to 1000 MW by the end of 2010 and to 20.000MW in 2023. Since the wind power plants having a different characteristic than the conventional power plants are disseminated more and more on each passing day the existing grid codes remain inadequate for the connection of the wind turbines to the electric network. The determination of the network connection criteria for the wind power plants is essential in terms of the dissemination of the energy generation from Wind in Turkey's energy market that has been liberalized after restructuring. The new regulations are required in order to restrict the negative effects of the wind power plants on the transmission and distribution system and to protect the system reliability. In this study the current regulations on the connection of the wind power plants to the network are evaluated the defects are determined and the recommendations on the new requirements are made.