A Novel Wind Turbine Concept Based on an Electromagnetic Coupler and the Study of Its Fault Ride-through Capability

This paper presents a novel type of variable speed wind turbine with a new drive train different from the variable speed wind turbine commonly used nowadays. In this concept, a synchronous generator is directly coupled with the grid, therefore, the wind turbine transient overload capability and grid voltage support capability can be significantly improved. An electromagnetic coupling speed regulating device (EMCD) is used to connect the gearbox high speed shaft and synchronous generator rotor shaft, transmitting torque to the synchronous generator, while decoupling the gearbox side and the synchronous generator, so the synchronous generator torque oscillations during a grid fault are not transmitted to the gearbox. The EMCD is composed of an electromagnetic coupler and a one quadrant operation converter with reduced capability and low cost. A control strategy for the new wind turbine is proposed and a 2 MW wind turbine model is built to study the wind turbine fault ride-through capability. An integrated simulation environment based on the aeroelastic code HAWC2 and software Matlab/Simulink is used to study its fault ride-through capability and the impact on the structural loads during grid three phase and two phase short circuit faults

The contribution of double-fed wind farms to transient voltage and damping of power grids

Kako bi se povećala mogućnost održavanja prolaznog napona i oscilacija sustava prigušenja, u radu se predstavlja dodatna prolazna upravljačka shema vjetroelektrane. Analiza pokazuje da u uvjetima jakih mreža, oslanjanje na vlastitu reaktivnu snagu turbina na vjetar u svrhu podrške pada prolaznog napona, dovodi do značajnog povećanja struje rotora; u uvjetima slabih mreža, prolazna reaktivna snaga vjetroelektrana ne samo da služi za prigušivanje pada prolaznog napona nego i čini prihvatljivom povećanje uzbudne struje rotora. Uz to, kad se dvostruko napajani indukcioni generatori pomiješaju s konvencionalnim energanama za prijenos snage, moguće je upravljati povećanjem prigušenja sustava dodajući prigušenje preko vjetroelektrana u nastojanju poboljšanja stabilnosti cjelokupnog sustava. U svrhu implementacije ove sheme, proizvodimo eksperimentalni prototip sastavljen od IPC, glavne sabirnice i optičke opreme i provodimo ispitivanje zatvorene petlje na digitalnom simulatoru u realnom vremenu (RTDS). Simulacije pokazuju da u uvjetima slabih mreža implementacija regulacije reaktivne snage vjetreoelektrana može donekle prigušiti pad napona.To improve the ability of transient voltage support and that of damping system oscillation, this paper presents the additional transient control scheme of wind farm. The analysis indicates that under the condition of strong grids, relying on wind turbines’ own reactive power to support the transient voltage drop leads to the significant increase of rotor current; under the condition of weak grids, transient reactive power released by wind farms not only serves to suppress transient voltage drop but also makes acceptable the increase of rotor excitation current. In addition, when double-fed induction generators are mixed with conventional power plants for power transmission, we can control the increase of system damping by adding damping through wind turbines in a bid to improve the stability of the overall system. In order to implement this scheme, we produce the experimental prototype composed of IPC, fieldbus and optical equipment and conduct the closed-loop test on the real-time digital simulator (RTDS). Simulations show that under the condition of weak grids, implementing the reactive power regulation of wind farms can suppress their voltage drop to a certain extent

Relative Voltage Control of the Wind Farms Based on the Local Reactive Power Regulation

The fast and coordinated voltage control of distributed nodes inside a large scale wind farm is a stringent issue. To achieve the reactive power compensation without a dedicated upper communication system, this paper proposes a relative control strategy based on the local reactive power regulation. This method can realize the voltage coordination of the key equipment and feeder line nodes, on the basis of the relative voltage observations. Firstly, the stability analysis of a certain wind farm with pre-known parameters and structure is studied under the wind power fluctuations. Secondly, the optimal capacity configurations of the reactive power compensators are discussed, with multiple nodes inside the wind farms. Simulation results of a specific wind farm in North Hebei, China, validate the effectiveness of the proposed control, which is equipped with fast and stable voltage dynamic responses, as well as local reactive power compensations without remote communication