Assessing adequate voltage stability analysis tools for networks with high wind power penetration

In this paper, control of inter-area oscillation in power systems with high wind power penetration is achieved via doubly fed induction generator (DFIG). The DFIG is modeled in Matlab <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">reg</sup> /Simulink. A two-area system is investigated with a wind farm connected in the area that exports power. Control schemes for active power and reactive power regulation are designed firstly. The paper finds that without active power and reactive power regulation, it is impossible to design an effective inter-area oscillation damping controller through DFIG machine side inverter. An auxiliary control loop for oscillation damping that adjusts the active power command can help damp the inter-area oscillation. Time domain simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the control.

The impact of the wind generation on the power systems is no longer negligible if high penetration levels are going to be achieved. It is very important to boost the transfer capability of the transmission system while improving the utilisation of transmission assets to accommodate high penetration of wind power on the network. Hence, more sophisticated control schemes using advanced power electronic-based flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers are required which will enhance voltage security and voltage stability control. This paper presents the impact of FACTS controllers on the dynamic stability of power systems connected with wind energy conversion systems. The wind farm model considered is a variable speed doubly-fed induction generator model. The dynamic simulation results yield information on 1 the impact of faults and wind speed changes on the performance of DFIG-based induction generators 2 the change in controllable parameters of the FACTS controllers following the faults and wind speed changes 3 transient rating of the FACTS controllers for enhancement of rotor speed stability of induction generators and angle stability of synchronous generators.

Nowadays, wind power is one of the most used renewable energy sources due to its economic possibilities. Consequently, penetration of wind turbines in electrical power systems has increased and they may influence overall power system behavior. It is therefore important to study the performance of wind turbines in electrical power systems and their interaction with other generation equipment and loads. In this paper, the behavior of a transmission system with high level of wind energy penetration using doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind farms is analyzed. The technical factors analyzed are steady-state voltage profile, the dynamics during voltage sags and voltage stability.

This paper presents an investigation on wind turbine (WT) contribution to the frequency control of noninterconnected island systems. The capability of WTs to participate in the primary frequency control and offer primary reserve is discussed. The investigation includes both transient frequency support (inertial response) and permanent frequency response (droop characteristic), as well as the combined application of these concepts. A quantitative analysis is presented for the expected benefits and drawbacks of each method, including the appropriate selection of their parameters. The power system of Rhodes Island has been selected as a study case, which includes different types of conventional generation and the three basic WT types, based on Active-Stall Induction Generator (ASIG), Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), and Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG).

This paper investigates virtual inertia control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbines to provide dynamic frequency support in the event of abrupt power change. The model and control scheme of the DFIG is analysed. The relationships among the virtual inertia, the rotor speed and the network frequency variation are then investigated. The hidden kinetic energy that can be released to contribute to the grid inertia by means of shifting the operating point from the maximum power tracking curve to a virtual inertia control curve is investigated. The virtual inertia control strategy based on shifting power tracking curves of the DFIG is proposed and the calculation method for determining these virtual inertia control curves is presented. A three-machine system with 20 percent of wind penetration is used to validate the proposed control strategy. Simulation results show that by the proposed control strategy, DFIG based wind farms have the capability of providing dynamic frequency support to frequency deviation, and thus improving the dynamic frequency performance of the grid with high wind power penetration. (6 pages)

High penetration of wind power requires reliable wind energy generation. A successful low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) scheme is a key requirement to achieve reliable and uninterrupted electrical power generation for wind turbines equipped with doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs). This paper proposes a feed-forward transient current control (FFTCC) scheme for the rotor side converter (RSC) of a DFIG to enhance its LVRT capability. This new control scheme introduces additional feed-forward transient compensations to a conventional current regulator. When three phase faults occur, these compensation terms correctly align the RSC ac-side output voltage with the transient-induced voltage, resulting in minimum transient rotor current and minimum occurrence of crowbar interruptions. With little additional computational effort, the proposed control scheme helps relieve the transient current stress on the RSC and helps maintain an uninterrupted active and reactive power supply from the wind turbines to the power grid. Simulation results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FFTCC scheme in suppressing transient rotor currents.

Optimal node selection of damping controller for power systems with high wind power penetration

In this paper, a short-term active power curtailment (ST-APC) strategy for doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farms is proposed to enhance first-swing rotor angle stability under fault disturbances. While wind power is a clean renewable resource that is widely deployed, its large-scale integration heightens concerns about transient stability. After analyzing DFIG operating principles, this study advocates for using short-horizon active power control to mitigate the adverse stability impacts of wind farms. Using the Western System Coordinating Council (WSCC) three-machine nine-bus test system, the effectiveness of the ST-APC strategy across diverse operating conditions was verified. This study is based on the fundamental principle that reducing the output of wind turbines is required for first-swing stability after faults to increase the kinetic energy of synchronous machines. A closed-loop control strategy combining voltage drop, frequency change, and a timer is designed. The correlation laws between various control parameters such as control activation timing, duration, and modulation depth and first-swing stability are analyzed, providing references for parameter selection in engineering applications. The findings indicate that the proposed strategy is practical and adaptable, making it suitable for power systems with high wind power penetration.

With large wind energy integration into power systems, wind farms begin to influence power systems in a much more significant manner. As wind energy systems utilize different generator technologies from the one utilized in the conventional power plants, the steady-state, transient and small-signal dynamics, as well as, power system stability will thus be significantly affected. The impact of wind energy systems on the power system dynamics and stability is thus of practical importance. As there is a significant increase in installation of wind turbines equipped with doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) in recent years, a dynamic model of the DFIG wind turbine is firstly developed in this thesis. The model is validated against field measurement data, and the validation gives confidence about the accuracy and applicability of the developed model. DFIG wind farms consist of tens to hundreds of identical DFIG wind turbines increasing the complexity of the wind farm model and simulation time. A novel aggregation technique is developed in this thesis that incorporates a multiplication factor, namely mechanical torque compensation factor (MTCF), to the mechanical torque of the full aggregated wind farm model. The MTCF is initially constructed to approximate a Gaussian function by using fuzzy logic method. By optimizing the MTCF on a trial and error basis, less than 10 percent discrepancy is then achieved between the proposed aggregated model and the complete model. The proposed aggregation technique is then applied to a 120 MVA offshore wind farm comprising of 72 DFIG wind turbines and shows higher accuracy in approximating the wind farm dynamics as it appears at the point of common coupling (PCC) as compared to the full aggregated model. The proposed aggregated model computes faster than the complete wind farm model by 90.3 percent during normal operations and 87 percent during grid disturbances. To overcome the adverse effects due to the fluctuating nature of wind, two wind power smoothing methods are proposed using a fuzzy logic pitch angle controller for a smooth performance with a minimum drop in output power. One method performs partial smoothing with only 4.74 percent drop in the output power while the other method offers complete smoothing with a 8.28 percent drop in output power. The impact of wind energy integration on power system transient stability (PSTS) is studied quantitatively with the transient energy margin (TEM), which is calculated through the evaluation of the transient energy function (TEF). This study is carried out in two ways in the thesis. One is to analyse the impact of transient fault on the DFIG wind turbine as compared to SGs for different factors, like the fault clearing time, the grid coupling, the inertia constant and the voltage sag. The study reveals that transient stability of the DFIG wind turbine is hardly affected by the grid coupling, the inertia constant and the generator terminal voltage sag variations indicating its consistent transient performance within a wide range of these factors. The fault clearing time should be almost 11 percent faster for the system with the DFIG than the synchronous generator (SG). The other is to investigate the impact of the DFIG wind farm on the PSTS with the variation of different factors, which are the voltage sag, the fault clearing time, the load and the wind power penetration level. The study reveals that power systems integrated with DFIG wind farms are sensitive to transient events with high voltage sag, high fault clearing time, low load operation and high wind power penetration level. Machines at different locations individually possess distinct fault response and suffer from a large-scale power imbalance. As a result, reliable operation of DFIG wind farm integrated power systems demands upgraded equipment, such as advanced switchgear, fast breakers/isolators, efficient power reserve systems and advanced reactive power compensating device, etc.

Penghu Island is a small isolated power system with 70MW peak load and 30MW off-peak load. According to the operation records of the installed wind farms, Penghu has bettter wind conditions than any other site in Taiwan. The total capacity of wind farms in Penghu reaches up to 10.2MW, which means 35% penetration on wind power is possible during minimum load. The high level of wind power generation in the Penghu power system makes the decision of diesel unit commitment and control of the power system more difficult due to the high variability of wind power output in a time frame ranging from seconds to hours. This work investigates the significant factors that affect the system transient stability as high penetration of wind power is integrated. Additionally, the possible impact and coping strategies for the high wind power penetration are studied, and several specific suggestions are proposed to Taiwan Power Company. These strategies include revising the load shedding methods, unit commitment scheduling, wind turbine operation, the suitable energy storage system planning, and wind turbine protection.

Squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG) has been widely utilized in large wind farms in China. However, the large wind farm composed of induction generators will cause obvious power system stability problems due to the dependency on reactive power. Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) has excellent dynamic characteristics of wind farm operations. With the increasing of wind power penetration in power systems, more and more wind farms use both SCIG and DFIG. This paper firstly analyzes the the dynamic characteristic of wind farm on power systems, especially in terms of the voltage stability. Then the interaction between the SCIGs and DFIGs is also investigated. A detailed simulation model of wind farms is presented by means of MATLAB. The simulation results demonstrate that the DFIG applications will improve the voltage stability of the wind farm largely and the low voltage ride through characteristics of SCIG to some extend.

The variable and uncertain nature of the leading renewable energy resources, such as wind power generation, imposes the development of a sophisticated balance mechanism between supply and demand to maintain the consistency of a power system. In this study, a two stage stochastic programming model is proposed to procure the required load-following reserves from both generation and demand side resources under high wind power penetration. Besides, a novel load model is introduced to procure flexible reserves from industrial clients. Load following reserves from Load Serving Entities (LSE) are also taken into account as well as network constraints, load shedding and wind spillage. The proposed methodology is applied to an illustrative test system, as well as to a 24-node system.

Frequency response is a key concern for power system security. Usually, it is estimated in a deterministic approach. But in most cases, power systems behave stochastically. Moreover, presence of wind power imposes further variability on generation profile of a power system. Hence, it appears more pragmatic to address these uncertainties during an evaluation of frequency response. This paper develops an index to assess frequency response of a power system with high wind power penetration. A probabilistic method is used for this purpose. K-means algorithm, a well-known data mining technique is employed. The developed index is called a ‘probabilistic frequency response index’. A realistic interconnected power system is investigated for a case study. Impact of increased wind power penetration on probabilistic frequency response index is analysed.

Minimum energy storage (ES) and spinning reserve (SR) for day-ahead power system scheduling with high wind power penetration is significant for system operations. A chance-constrained energy storage optimization model based on unit commitment and considering the stochastic nature of both the wind power and load demand is proposed. To solve this proposed chance-constrained model, it is first converted into a deterministic-constrained model using p-efficient point theory. A single stochastic net load variable is developed to represent the stochastic characteristics of both the wind power and load demand for convenient use with the p-efficient point theory. A probability distribution function for netload forecast error is obtained via the Kernel estimation method. The proposed model is applied to a wind-thermal-storage combined power system. A set of extreme scenarios is chosen to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model and method. The results indicate that the scheduled energy storage can effectively compensate for the net load forecast error, and the increasing wind power penetration does not necessarily require a linear increase in energy storage.

With blossoming of wind power generation in the grid, many system operators recognize the requirement for additional flexibility to accommodate the variability and uncertainty from wind generation. Because of the high penetration of wind power, power systems are facing great operational challenges in maintaining generation balance. This study reviews the system flexibility requirement in a high wind power penetration system, and summarizes the indices to identify capabilities of new generators to satisfy the flexibility requirements. According to the review results, it presents that a system with more flexible units would accommodate much higher penetration of renewable energy and reduce the operational cost.