Abstract: Along with the rapid development of wind power in China in recent years, wind discarding problem is becoming increasingly serious. Further improving the regulating capacity of existing power systems is therefore needed. Combined operation of hydropower and wind power is one of the effective measures in the near future. In this paper, the intraday and inter-day output characteristics of wind power were introduced. On the basis of an analysis of the basis for combined operation of hydropower and wind power in terms of seasonal features and regulation speed, the combined operation principles of wind power and hydropower, and the benefits for promoting wind power accommodation and enhancing the efficiency of thermal power were studied. In order to compare the differences, two cases were designed. In one case the hydropower and wind power operated jointly, and in another case they operated separately. The differences of the two cases were analyzed in terms of wind power accommodation, coal consumption per kWh, thermal power start & stop cost, and the total fuel consumption. The results verified the benefits of the combined operation.

Key words: hydropower, wind power, combined operation