Large‐scale wind power integration in Norway and impact on damping in the Nordic grid

The Nordic energy market is in need of new power generation capacity. Norway is today in shortage of electrical energy, and the hydropower‐based system must rely on importing electrical power from its neighbours in a normal year of hydro inflow. One solution to this problem is to invest in new generation capacity, e.g. by integrating more wind power into the Norwegian grid. The Norwegian government has announced that 1000 MW of wind power will be installed in Norway by 2010, corresponding to an eventual energy production of approximately 3 TWh year −1 . This article investigates the impact of wind power integration in Norway on the damping of interarea mode oscillations in the Nordic grid. The impact on the interarea mode oscillations is tested for various types of generators. Results from computer analyses of a simplified yet realistic equivalent of the Nordic power system are used to compute the interarea mode oscillations.