Wind Power Integration: Smoothing Short-Term Power Fluctuations

Technical Report

Wind Power Integration: Smoothing Short-Term Power Fluctuations

1008852

Final Report, April 2005

EPRI Project Managers C. McGowin W. Steeley

Electric Power Research Institute 3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304 PO Box 10412, Palo Alto, California 94303 USA 800.313.3774 650.855.2121 askepri@epri.com www.epri.com

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CITATIONS
This report was prepared by EPRI Solutions, Inc. 942 Corridor Park Boulevard Knoxville, Tennessee 37932 Principal Investigators T. Key K. Gomatom H. Kamath This report describes research sponsored by EPRI. The report is a corporate document that should be cited in the literature in the following manner: Wind Power Integration: Smoothing Short-Term Power Fluctuations, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA: 2005. 1008852.

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

With the rapid growth of wind power generation, utility systems are beginning to feel the intermittent and variable nature of these wind resources in electricity transmission and distribution system operations. Both short-term power fluctuations resulting from gusty winds and longer term variations resulting from diurnal wind speed variations and shifting weather patterns can affect utility power delivery as well as grid operations. This report addresses the characteristics of short-term power fluctuations that occur when wind power systems are integrated into a utility grid and the smoothing techniques available to mitigate these fluctuations. A companion report, Wind Power Integration: Energy Storage for Firming and Shaping, March 2005 (EPRI report 1008388), addresses longer-term variations of wind power. Results & Findings Power electronics applications that incorporate a small amount of energy storage can ease wind integration issues and add value to wind energy. However, while the appropriate technologies are generally available, the added costs for compensation technologies and electronic controls are not likely to be off set by integration benefits alone. Fortunately there are a number of other benefits that may be gained when these technologies are incorporated in a wind turbine design or added as a separate substation-level device. These benefits include increased energy output, reduced mechanical stresses, and better fault ride-through performance. Also, reactive power control devices such as static VAR compensator can smooth power fluctuations and improve local voltage profiles. Selection of the most appropriate technology for a wind plant is very casedependent. Wind plant characteristics, power system integration needs, and the specific system application conjointly determine if smoothing technologies can be cost justified. Electronic smoothing is most likely to be cost effective when the grid and the wind plant are otherwise incompatible and energy production suffers or production costs increase when wind fluctuations cause inefficiencies, curtailments, or instabilities. Challenges & Objectives The objective of this report is to identify applications for smoothing fluctuations in wind power systems and to assess the benefits of these technologies. These technologies include various wind turbine configurations as well as separately applied power compensation and/or storage technologies. A significant challenge for comparing cost and benefit in these applications is that the value of smoothing is highly dependant on local conditions and the relative strength of the electric grid at the point of common coupling. The engineering and economic analysis depends on both the effect of wind power fluctuations on the grid and the associated impact of grid transients on wind system operations. For these reasons, results can only be compared on a case-specific and technology-specific basis.

Applications, Values & Use In many ways the issues created by fluctuating wind power are similar to those caused by fluctuating end-user loads that ramp up and down over seconds to minutes outside the control of system operators. Sudden wind gusts and calms can also make wind plant behave like some load applications where occasional load starting or tripping transients occur. It is not accidental, therefore, that many of the currently available power electronic stabilizers and compensators in use in wind plant applications were created for other applications where grid reinforcement is needed. Knowledge of the application and use of these already available technologies will assist utility engineers in assessing the need for smoothing of wind plant outputs and in choosing the most cost-effective solution. EPRI Perspective Effective grid integration is a key success factor for wind power. Power variations and intermittencies in the output of large wind plants can create grid-operating problems, but the short-term wind power variations addressed in this report are not unique to wind and a number of technologies and solutions are available to address them. Prior EPRI work in the area of custom power devices and flexible ac transmission is already finding application for wind plants; and research and development to improve grid power quality has led to flicker reduction and ride through devices that can be applied for wind systems. Static voltage compensators can be controlled to reduce wind related voltage fluctuations; and high power, short-term ride through technologies such as the dynamic voltage restorers developed for power quality applications can offer stabilization and prevent tripping of turbines during system faults. Power electronics built into wind machines for variable speed also offer rapid response and reactive power control that can ease wind power integration in certain utility grid scenarios. Approach This report builds on several related research efforts including EPRI Report 1004806, Wind Power Integration Technology Assessment and Case Studies, March 2004. Dealing with the issues of fluctuating power and energy flows separately, the project team evaluated wind power and energy storage practices. The team applied results from research in power quality and power electronics, custom power devices, energy storage for T&D, and energy storage for distributed energy applications to issues of smoothing wind power fluctuations and grid integration. The team stressed the critical importance of wind plant location and other power system factors in determining key integration issues. Keywords Wind Power Fluctuations Smoothing Static VAR Power Compensation Energy Storage

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ABSTRACT
With rapid growth of wind power generation, utility systems are beginning to feel the intermittent and variable nature of these wind resources in electricity transmission and distribution system operations. Both short-term power fluctuations resulting from gusty winds and longer term variations resulting from diurnal wind speed variations and shifting weather patterns can affect utility power delivery as well as grid operations. This report addresses the short-term power fluctuation characteristics and available smoothing technologies for wind power systems that are to be integrated into the utility grid. A companion EPRI report, Wind Power Integration: Energy Storage for Firming and Shaping, 1008388, March 2005, addresses the longer-term variations of wind power. The application of power electronics with a small amount of energy storage can ease wind integration issues and add value to wind energy. The needed technologies are generally available. However, added costs for compensation technologies and electronic controls are not likely to be off set by integration benefits alone. Fortunately there are a number of other benefits that may be gained when these technologies are incorporated in a wind turbine design, or as a separate substation-level device. These benefits include increased energy output, reduced mechanical stresses, and better fault ride-through performance. Also, reactive power control such as a static VAR compensator, can smooth power fluctuations and improve local voltage profiles. Selection of the most appropriate technology for a wind plant is very case-dependent. Altogether the wind plant characteristics, the power system integration needs, and the specific system application will determine if smoothing technologies can be cost justified. The most likely case for electronic smoothing is when the grid and the wind plant are otherwise incompatible, and energy production suffers or production costs increase when wind fluctuations cause inefficiencies, curtailments, or instabilities.

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CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 1-1
Background ...........................................................................................................................1-2 Approach ...............................................................................................................................1-4 Power Output vs. Energy Output...........................................................................................1-5 Contents of this Report..........................................................................................................1-6

2 VARIABILITY OF WIND POWER OUTPUT ............................................................. 2-1

Prior Studies on Wind Power in the Grid...............................................................................2-1 Need for High-Resolution Monitoring ...............................................................................2-2 Output Power Fluctuations ....................................................................................................2-5 Output Power Ramp Rates ...................................................................................................2-7 Wind Plant Tripping Concerns..........................................................................................2-9 Turbine Trips Due to Grid Faults..................................................................................2-9 Turbine Protective Shutdowns .....................................................................................2-9 Output Power Diversity........................................................................................................2-10

3 ROLE OF POWER COMPENSATION...................................................................... 3-1

Compensation Requirements are Site-Specific.....................................................................3-1 Output Power and Voltage ...............................................................................................3-2 Reactive Power Output.....................................................................................................3-4 System Frequency and Ramping .....................................................................................3-4 Distributed Collection Method...........................................................................................3-4 Nature of Compensation Benefits .........................................................................................3-9 Grid Stability ...................................................................................................................3-10 Rotor Angle Stability ..................................................................................................3-11 Frequency Excursion Suppression ............................................................................3-12 Voltage Stability .........................................................................................................3-14 Voltage Control (Fast and Slow).....................................................................................3-16 Switching Transients ......................................................................................................3-17

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Fault Ride-Through.........................................................................................................3-18 Wind Plant and Grid Interactions.........................................................................................3-19 Value Proposition for Built-in Power Compensation............................................................3-21 Increased Asset Utilization .............................................................................................3-23 Increased Reliability, Availability and Grid Stability ........................................................3-24

4 AVAILABLE COMPENSATION TECHNOLOGIES .................................................. 4-1

Power Compensation Built Into Wind Turbines.....................................................................4-1 On-Board Power Factor Correction Capacitors................................................................4-2 Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) ..........................................................................4-3 Vector Control of Rotor Current ...................................................................................4-4 Scalar Control of Rotor Current ...................................................................................4-6 Dynamic Slip Induction Generator....................................................................................4-6 Static Inverter-Based Converter .......................................................................................4-7 Comparison of Built-in Compensation Technologies ............................................................4-9 Auxiliary and Custom Power Compensation Devices .........................................................4-10 Fixed and Switched Capacitors ......................................................................................4-11 Distribution Static VAR Compensator (SVC) or (DSVC) ................................................4-12 Distribution Static Shunt Compensator (STATCOM) or (DSTATCOM) ..........................4-14 Static Voltage Regulator (SVR) or Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) ............................4-15 Static Series Compensator (SSC) ..................................................................................4-18 Distributed SMES or D-SMES with Dynamic Capability .................................................4-18 Comparison of Auxiliary and Custom Power Compensation Devices.................................4-19 Energy Storage Used to Support Power Compensation .....................................................4-22

5 SUMMARY................................................................................................................ 5-1 A SAMPLE APPLICATION CASE.............................................................................. A-1

Characteristics of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System............................................. A-3 Short-Term Variations .......................................................................................................... A-4 Solutions Options ................................................................................................................. A-8 Chosen Solution Custom Power STATCOM ................................................................ A-8 Alternative Solutions On-Board Mechanical and WindVAr ........................................ A-9

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2-1 Example 24 Hr Output From NREL Monitoring at Buffalo Ridge Sub, Lake Benton, MN ........................................................................................................................2-5 Figure 2-2 Power Fluctuations in 10 Minute Average Data for 250 MW Wind Plant, 11/18/03 to 12/10/03 ..........................................................................................................2-6 Figure 2-3 Distributions of Five-Minute and Ten-Minute Ramp Rates (Vertical is Frequency in %, Horizontal is kW) .....................................................................................2-8 Figure 2-4 Average Coherence for 16 Sites in Japan in NEDO...............................................2-11 Figure 2-5 Sample Daily Power Output Profile from Four Wind Sites in the Same Vicinity .....2-12 Figure 2-6 Details of Local Peak Power Output Using 1-Second Data....................................2-12 Figure 2-7 Measured Minute-to-Minute Wind Plant Production Fluctuations as a Function of the Number of Installed Turbines, 1-Second Resolution Data .....................................2-13 Figure 3-1 Typical Wind Plant Layout ........................................................................................3-6 Figure 3-2 Off-Shore Wind Plant Layout....................................................................................3-6 Figure 3-3 Offshore Wind Plant Layout with DC Collection and DC Link...................................3-7 Figure 3-4 Large Wind Plant with Series DC Collection and DC Transmission .........................3-7 Figure 3-5 Single Line Diagram of a Distributed Collection System, from Hopewell ...............3-8 Figure 3-6 PCC Voltage and Reactive Power Challenges for Large Wind Farms .....................3-9 Figure 3-7 Classifications of Modes of Grid Stability ...............................................................3-10 Figure 3-8 Sample of Marginal Damping and Effects of 10MW Load Increment, Southern California Intertie .............................................................................................................3-12 Figure 3-9 Disturbance on GVEA System Following Loss of 25MW Generator April 19, 1997 at 23:45 ..................................................................................................................3-14 Figure 3-10 WPS Northern Loop Stability Analysis Showing Introduction of Energy Storage.............................................................................................................................3-15 Figure 3-11 Fast Voltage Fluctuations (Flicker) From a 720 kW Grid-Connected Wind Park in Southern Sweden ................................................................................................3-17 Figure 3-12 Start up Transients From a 180 kW, Fixed Speed, Stall Controlled Turbine Connected at Low Wind Speed Conditions in a Wind Park on the Island of Gotland, Sweden ............................................................................................................................3-18 Figure 3-13 Study Results from a 250MW Wind Plant Connected to Weak Transmission......3-20 Figure 3-14 Time-Domain Simulation of Lake Benton Wind Plants Showing Collector Line Voltages (at Interconnection Point or Original Regulator Location) With Variations in Plant Generation .........................................................................................3-21 Figure 4-1 Switched Capacitors (10-25 kVAr units) are Used to Correct the Power Factor for a 660 kW Induction Wind Generator .............................................................................4-2
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Figure 4-2 Typical Configuration of the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland ................................................................................................4-3 Figure 4-3 Control Schematic of the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator ......................................4-4 Figure 4-4 Low-Voltage Fault Ride-through Capability of the 1.5 MW GE Wind Turbines in Operation at Taiban Mesa Wind Plant, New Mexico ......................................................4-5 Figure 4-5 Configuration of Dynamic Slip Control of Induction Generator (from Vestas) ..........4-6 Figure 4-6 Full Conversion of a Turbine Generator Output for Grid Connection .......................4-7 Figure 4-7 Switching Modules for Static Inverters, Top Left IGBT Module, Top Right IGCT Module, Bottom Water-Cooled Thyristor Stack. Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland ...................................................................................................................4-8 Figure 4-8 Static Inverter Based Control for Variable-Speed Wind Turbines Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland ................................................................................................4-8 Figure 4-9 Switched Capacitor Banks and Series Reactors at a Wind Plant in McCamey, Texas ...............................................................................................................................4-12 Figure 4-10 DSVC Configurations with TCR and IGBT, Courtesy of ABB...............................4-13 Figure 4-11 Typical Dynamic Static Voltage Compensator, Courtesy of Schneider Electric, Also Available From ABB, American Superconductor Corporation, and Inverpower .......................................................................................................................4-13 Figure 4-12 STATCOM Connection for Wind Farms ...............................................................4-14 Figure 4-13 18 MVA STATCOM Installation, Typical of the System Used in Several Battery Plant Installations for Conversion and Control. GTO Thyristor Stack on the Right.................................................................................................................................4-15 Figure 4-14 Single Line Diagram of an Static Voltage Regulator (SVR)..................................4-16 Figure 4-15 4.5 MVA and 15 MVA Capacity Static Voltage Restorers from Inverpower .........4-17 Figure 4-16 Static Voltage Regulator or Dynamic Voltage Restorer, From S&C Electric ........4-17 Figure 4-17 Static Series Compensator (SSC) Connection Methods ......................................4-18 Figure 4-18 A Mobile Distributed-Superconducting Magnetic Storage System (D-SMES)......4-19 Figure 4-19 Range of Equipment and Total Capital Costs for STATCOM and SVC Devices ............................................................................................................................4-22 Figure A-1 Overview of Installed Wind Capacity in Canada .................................................... A-1 Figure A-2 Proposed and Existing Generation, Transmission and Wind Energy Facilities in the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES) as of May 2004 ............................. A-2 Figure A-3 Frequency of Step Changes in Wind Power Over a 1-Minute Period in Alberta............................................................................................................................... A-4 Figure A-4 D-VAR Voltage Regulating System for Fixed Speed, Conventional Wind Turbines at Summerview 1 and Kettles Hill (future) Wind Farms...................................... A-8 Figure A-5 WindVar Control a Centralized Voltage Regulation System Capable of Providing Both Voltage Regulation at the PCC and Fault Ride-Through for DoublyFed Induction Machines .................................................................................................. A-10

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1-1 Wind Power Issues That May be Solved with Short-Term or Long-Term Energy Storage ..................................................................................................................1-3 Table 1-2 Wind Power Issues and the Application Scenarios Most Likely to Justify Addition of Energy Storage ................................................................................................1-5 Table 1-3 Short-term Applications of Power Correction Technologies for Wind Plants .............1-5 Table 2-1 Parameters Collected at Each Site in the NREL Study .............................................2-3 Table 2-2 Average Power Changes for Different Time Periods at Buffalo Ridge Sites for Different Plants...................................................................................................................2-7 Table 3-1 Wind Plant Variables versus Power Compensation Requirement .............................3-2 Table 3-2 Induction Machine Drive Configurations and Reactive Power Controls.....................3-3 Table 3-3 Synchronous Machine Drive Configurations and Reactive Power Control Capabilities, Adapted from Hansen et al ............................................................................3-5 Table 3-4 Summary Table of Power Compensation ................................................................3-22 Table 4-1 Performance of Various Wind Power Converter Technologies................................4-10 Table 4-2 Voltage and Phase Control Parameters for a Typical STATCOM Operation. .........4-14 Table 4-3 Mapping Technologies with Compensation Benefits for Wind Power......................4-20 Table 4-4 Cost Comparison of Energy Storage Technology based on a 30-Second Discharge Applications.....................................................................................................4-24 Table A-1 Generation in Alberta Interconnected Electric System ............................................ A-6

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1
INTRODUCTION
Wind power is the fastest growing significant source of electricity in the world. Worldwide installed wind capacity reached 46,000 MW at the end of 2004 and is expected to reach 80,000 MW by 2007 and 175,000 MW by 2012. Development in the United States has accelerated in the past decade, and is expected to continue to grow into the future. With rapid growth of wind power generation, utility systems are beginning to sense steady state and dynamic interaction of the wind power plants with utility grid. Most in the utility industry believe that growth in wind power generation will be limited because of its intermittent and variable nature. Both short-term power fluctuations resulting from gusty winds and longer term fluctuations resulting from diurnal wind speed variations and shifting weather patterns can affect utility grid operations. Wind power variations range from seasonal and day-to-day power changes over minutes and even seconds. In terms of power output, these short-term variations are better characterized as a power rate of change measured in kWs per unit time. In terms of energy output long-term variations are characterized in terms of kilowatthours. Over a long period of time, they may be best described as wind plant availability.
1 In 2004, EPRI completed an assessment of wind integration technologies and case studies. This report builds on that work by taking a more detailed look at technologies for smoothing wind power. It addresses the short-term power fluctuations and smoothing options for wind power systems integrated into the utility grid. These short-term issues are related to grid stability, regulation and reactive power control in the presence of large and/or remote wind farms.

While some level of short and long-term output variation can be absorbed in most power systems, higher wind power levels will eventually cause problems at the point of common coupling (PCC) with the utility grid. Large variations in wind plant output can create gridoperating problems particularly when they are located remotely and away from load centers. Impacts to the power system depend on the duration and magnitude of change in the wind plants real and reactive power output. The appropriate power compensation equipment required will also depend on the time domain of interest. Short-term energy storage technology can play a role when power variations are severe. This report will evaluate innovative wind storage, wind turbine, and power electronics technologies required to smooth the short-term fluctuations from wind power generation. One important question to be answered is if the additional cost for this compensation equipment can be justified by the need.

Wind Power Integration Technology Assessment and Case Studies, 1004806, EPRI Palo Alto, CA, March 2004.

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Introduction

Background
As a generation resource, wind plants have several unique characteristics that make them substantially different from other forms of generation. The most obvious difference lies in the prime mover, the wind, which provides energy on an as available basis. Wind can also be relatively erratic, and is given over to occasional gusts and stills as well as ebbing and flowing in diurnal patterns. In addition, the installation of wind generation has naturally occurred in areas where the resource is most available. This has resulted in the concentration of large blocks of wind generation in inland, coastal, and offshore areas. Such blocks are large enough to substantially affect grid operations in their vicinity. Recognizing both the positive aspects of wind generation and its potential to adversely affect grid operations, system operators are actively evaluating a number of techniques to mitigate the resulting impacts on the grid. EPRIs assessment of wind integration technologies and case studies report (1004806) provides details on the nature of typical problems and an overview of typical solutions. . One finding of this assessment was that energy storage technology has perhaps the greatest potential to solve wind integration issues. For longer term intermittency issues, the energy storage can fill in the gaps. In the case of short term fluctuations addressed in this report, power electronics combined with a small amount of fast acting storage can smooth the wind output for effective integration into the grid. In 2003, EPRI and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) co-sponsored the development of a new reference examining the use of energy storage technologies in utility applications, particularly transmission and distribution applications. The resulting work was released in December 2003 as the EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission and 2 Distribution Applications. In 2004, EPRI developed a supplement for the handbook to describe the value of applying energy storage to grid-connected wind generation. The handbook supplement and this 3 document, Wind Generation Integration with Energy Storage , were developed in parallel as descriptions to this expanding area, and are designed to be complementary documents. The handbook supplement describes cost and benefit analyses for the use of particular types of energy storage with wind generation, while this document explores the best practices for selecting energy storage and actually integrating it with wind generation. Energy storage technology has perhaps the greatest potential to solve wind integration issues. The addition of storage can put wind energy more on par with the value of energy from traditional generation. As shown in Table 1-1, properly-sized energy storage can address wind energy intermittency and ramping concerns. Energy storage with fast output power control can also meet the power systems reactive power needs and reduce concern about fluctuating wind output. Remote wind locations with constrained transmission lines can be better utilized when energy storage allows scheduling of power flows when transmission capacity is available.

EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission and Distribution Applications, EPRI Palo Alto, California, 1001834, December 2003. 3 Energy Storage for Grid-Connected Wind Generation Applications, EPRI Palo Alto, California, 1008713, Technical Update December 2004.

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Introduction Table 1-1 Wind Power Issues That May be Solved with Short-Term or Long-Term Energy Storage Wind Power Issues (time frame) Intermittency (minutes-hours) Ramping Burdens (minutes) Fluctuating Output (seconds) Limited Reactive Power (cont.) Distributed Collection (n/a) Remote Locations (n/a)
1 2

Long-Duration Energy Storage Can solve Can solve1 Can solve2 Can solve3 Some help4 Some help4

Short-Duration Energy Storage Not Practical Some help1 Can solve Can solve3 Minimal help No help

Energy storage must operate on a time-scale of minutes to solve ramping Requires response time on the order of seconds 3 Assumes energy storage system includes a 4-quadrant inverter or synchronous machine 4 Enables rescheduling of power delivery to minimize distribution and transmission constraints

From these reports, it is clear that several new energy storage technologies may be effective partners to smooth wind power fluctuations. For example flywheels and ultracapacitors, combined with power electronics and developed primarily for power quality applications, offer short-term stabilization that will also mitigate wind power fluctuations. Also, power electronics without energy storage offers rapid response and reactive power control that can ease wind power integration in certain utility grid scenarios. In fact the power electronics may be built into the wind generator for other reasons such as speed control making reactive power control a small incremental cost. Despite its potential, energy storage can also incur a high cost. There are also application challenges for optimizing the power and energy requirements for each specific situation. Of the various viable storage technology options, each has its advantages and disadvantages in a wind application. For example, large-scale solutions such as pumped hydro storage and compressed air energy storage are economically preferred to smaller solutions, but can be very difficult to site. Smaller scale solutions such as batteries may be easier to site, but can be more expensive. The objective of this report is to identify the applications and benefits of technologies for smoothing fluctuations in wind power systems. This includes various wind turbine configurations as well as separately applied power compensation and/or storage technologies. Power compensation can be broadly classified into two categories based on technology, location, and use: 1. Power compensation built into wind turbines or on-board power compensation, where wind turbines driving either induction or synchronous generators must provide some level of real power, reactive power or voltage control. These include blade pitch control, field control and rotor resistance, and switched capacitors, power electronics for converters, inverters and doubly-fed devices.

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Introduction

2. Auxiliary and custom power equipment or off-board compensation devices or substation compensation equipment, where wind plant connection points require reactive compensation, stabilization, or voltage control. These include switched capacitors, power electronic compensation or custom power devices. We will find that the benefits of short-term smoothing of wind power are both case and technology-specific. Also we will find that most of these technologies rely more on power electronics to provide power compensation than on energy storage. The related topic of applying energy storage for longer term variations of wind plant output is 4 addressed in a companion EPRI report. The two reports distinguish, and separately address, output intermittency (energy variations) and stabilization (power fluctuations) issues in wind power applications.

Approach
The approach taken in this project is to evaluate wind power and energy storage practices by separating the distinct issues of fluctuating power and energy flow. Power electronics and energy storage technologies may complement wind integration by addressing these fluctuations. However the available devices, the cost-benefit analyses, and the relevant applications depend very much on whether the main issue is power or energy. Consequently two complementary reports have been prepared. This report address technology to compensate short-term fluctuations of power output from wind generators over a few seconds, while the companion report addresses firming and shaping longer-term fluctuations of wind energy generation over 4 minutes and hours. Both reports are intended to evaluate available technologies and provide guidance for solving wind integration issues. Depending on the wind plant location and other factors, a power system may have very limited capacity for integrating the energy from the wind. Energy storage is usually an effective solution for such limited capacity situations. Several typical wind scenarios that are likely to need some form of power compensation and energy storage are: Wind power on islands or remote in the grid, Wind power in regions of congested transmission, Wind power in specific energy markets (adverse to variations or low on reserve capacity margin), Wind power load-matching is valuable or available energy storage is low cost.

Table 1-2 shows wind power issues and the application scenarios most likely to justify addition of energy storage.

Wind Power Integration: Energy Storage for Firming and Shaping, 1008388, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, March 2005.

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Introduction

Power Output vs. Energy Output

Smoothing short-term fluctuations of wind plants requires more power than energy. Conversely, the longer-term leveling of wind plant output will require more energy than power. Both applications require power electronics to convert and control the flow of energy. Consequently, the technologies covered in this report emphasize power electronic technologies more than energy storage technologies. Power electronics, with a small amount of energy storage, can provide for just in time ride through protection or for wind power stabilization and smoothing.
Table 1-2 Wind Power Issues and the Application Scenarios Most Likely to Justify Addition of Energy Storage Wind Power Issues Intermittency Ramping Burdens Fluctuating Output Limited Reactive Power Remote Locations
1 2

Island or Weak Networks X X X X

Constrained Transmission X X

Specific Market Structures X1 X1 X1 X1

Locations with Low-Cost ES2 X X

X1

Actual payback for storage likely limited to 1 or 2 areas in a particular Market Examples are existing hydro plants or good locations for pumped storage or CAES

Table 1-3 below describes three short-term applications of power correction technologies for wind plants. These applications are distinguished by different charge and discharge times, which lead to different choices of energy storage technology.
Table 1-3 Short-term Applications of Power Correction Technologies for Wind Plants Power Correction Application Voltage Stabilization and Flicker Control Supplemental Power for Faults and Overloads Reactive Power and Voltage Support Power Correction Benefits for Wind Plants Provides local smoothing, may improve stability in a remote connection. Enables ride through for otherwise vulnerable wind turbine generators Provides continuous voltage regulation and reactive power support to the grid. Duty Cycle or Discharge Time Cycles to seconds, may be reoccurring <.25 seconds for sags & 1-2s for recloser devices Continuous and reoccurring at a low level Energy Storage Element Capacitors, SMES, Flywheels, or Ultracapacitors Capacitors, SMES, Flywheels, or Ultracapacitors Capacitors, SMES Flywheels, or Ultracapacitors

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Introduction

Energy storage technologies suitable for short-term applications are usually inappropriate for long term and visa versa. So we find flywheels, ultra capacitors, superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), and even conventional electro-chemical capacitors more appropriate for short duration applications. These energy storage technologies can be effective. Even so the key to applying these technologies in wind plants is in the power electronics. Several advantages are gained by the application of power electronic devices: Wind power voltage or frequency can be matched to the desired output for grid connection. The turbine and generator can operate at a speed that is optimized to the wind resource. The power electronics can provide for a soft handshake with other wind turbines and the electric grid, potentially easing grid interconnection. In contrast a synchronous or induction machine interface can lead to concerns for undesirable dynamic interactions with the grid.

The power electronic systems considered in this report are both built into individual wind turbine generators and separate systems, installed at the collection point for several turbines. Also substation-level devices that may be installed on the utility side of the interconnection are considered.

Contents of this Report

The report is intended to provide an overview on how to smooth short-term fluctuations of wind power output. It identifies the issues associated with grid integration are described and technologies used to mitigate short-term power fluctuations. Section 1 covers the background, approach and the importance difference between power and energy output. Section 2 addresses the short-term variability at a wind plant, and how these variations may impact the power system. The significance of the wind turbine design and power system characteristics is also discussed. Three site variables are considered which consist of the shortterm (electrical) fluctuations, wind turbine/farm related parameters and grid-related parameters along with sample data. In section 3, we describe the role of power compensation as it applies in any power system. The report addresses questions such as: Under what circumstances is compensation needed? What types of compensation are being applied? What are typical value propositions for power compensation projects?

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Introduction

Section 4 provides details of various compensation technologies. These include electromechanical and power electronic devices built into wind turbines, and separate systems that compensate for a group of turbines. Technologies covered include switched capacitors, static and dynamic VAr compensators, blade pitch controls, power electronic converters/inverters as well as electronics integrated into traditional synchronous and induction machines. Also shortterm electric energy storage technologies, such as magnetic, capacitive and flywheels, are discussed to the extent that they may be used to enhance power compensation. In section 5, we summarize our conclusions and identify some opportunities for future applications of power compensation that help to ease wind power integration into the electric grid.

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2
VARIABILITY OF WIND POWER OUTPUT
Wind power output is naturally varying and requires different treatment than conventional thermal and hydroelectric generation when planning for grid integration, operation, and control. The variable nature of the wind resource, the equipment employed to produce electricity from wind, the electric grid characteristics, and the distributed collection system all play a role in wind power integration. Wind intermittency and uncertainty related to day-ahead and hour-ahead generation forecast is probably the number one integration issue. However, depending on the strength of the local grid and the relative size of the wind plant, constantly fluctuating or ramping wind power outputs can also create operating problems. As discussed in the previous section, these short-term changes in wind plant output are best characterized as fluctuating power. Even so, fluctuations in output power can affect the PCC voltage, plant and power system operating efficiency, and in extreme cases, power system stability. Since the real power output of a wind plant is fluctuating, it affects the reactive power output as well. Specifically, the fluctuating real power leads to reactive power being both generated and absorbed by the wind plant. Unlike conventional generators that are required to supply a known level of reactive power at their output terminals, wind turbines generate varying levels of reactive power that may require additional compensation for stable operation. This section examines some of the prior work that analyzed wind power plant output. It provides some sample wind plant data showing power output in different time domains ranging from hours to minutes and seconds. Characterization of typical wind power output demonstrates the need for and the quantity of power compensation to be used. Section 3 provides more details on specific compensation technologies.

Prior Studies on Wind Power in the Grid

Wind power output fluctuations can be severe, particularly for a single wind turbine. In the case of larger wind farms, these short-term variations are significantly mitigated due to the averaging effects of combining the outputs of many turbines. In the past, this effect was not well documented because very little high-resolution wind plant data have been publicly available. More recent studies are documenting this effect for various types and locations of wind plant installations. With this new data we can begin to draw conclusions about how short-term wind power output affects grid operation.

2-1

Variability of Wind Power Output

Before large wind farms were installed, early analytical studies examined the effects of wind output variability on system operation. For example, Javid, et al.5 found no problems at wind 6 penetration rates in the range of 10%15%. Chan, et al. found that there is very low risk of a significant decrease in wind output within a 10-minute interval. More recent studies carried out 7 8 in Europe and in the USA have also looked at wind power output fluctuation characteristics. Both of these papers suggest that output variations among different turbines in an area can help 9 reduce the aggregate short-term fluctuations. An EPRI study in 1997 looked at the 1-second output from 15 turbines in Hawaii, and found smoothing to a level of 5% of the plant rating. Overall three key measures of the wind plant power output have been identified as most pertinent to electric grid operations. The measures include: 1. Wind power fluctuations, both real and reactive, measured in kW and kVar, and characterized in different time frames from seconds to minutes and hours, 2. Wind power ramp rates, measured in kW or MW per unit time, including significant transitions such as forced or planned wind plant outages, 3. Wind output diversity, measured by comparing and/or summing the outputs from different turbines and plants, to show the degree of smoothing. Note that several different mathematical methods have been used to describe this effect including coincident factors, correlation coefficients, and average coherence. These prior studies are helpful; however, pertinent data from large wind plants installed in the last five years are sparse. One reason for the lack of data is the need for high resolution monitoring to fully characterize typical wind variations in short, medium and long timeframes.

Need for High-Resolution Monitoring

Fortunately, two important efforts, underway since 2000, are providing more details on wind plant output power variability. One of these studies was launched in Japan by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to investigate the output fluctuation characteristics of wind turbines.10 This study provides results in time frames of less than 10 minutes, 10-100 minutes and greater than 100 minutes and focuses on power output diversity or smoothing effects. These results will be discussed in this section, under the heading named output power diversity.

Javid, S.H.; Hauth, R.L.; Younkins, T.D.; Reddoch, T.W.; Barnes, P.R. "A Method for Determining How to Operate and Control Wind Turbine Arrays in Utility Systems." IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-104, No. 6, June 1985, pp. 1335 - 1341. 6 Chan, S; etal, "Operations Requirements of Utilities With Wind Power Generation." IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-102, No. 9, September 1983, pp. 2850 - 2860. 7 Hans Georg Beyer, et al. Power Fluctuations From Geographically Diverse, Grid Coupled Wind Energy Conversion Systems, Proceedings of European Wind Energy Conference; July 1989, 306-310 8 Gary C. Thomann, Michael J. Barfield. The time variation of wind Speeds and wind farm output in Kansas, IEEE Trans. On Energy Conversion, March 1988; Vol.3, No.1, 44-49 9 An Analysis of One-Second Wind Power Plant Power Fluctuations, EPRI TR-104257, EPRI Palo Alto, California 9/27/1994 10 System Impact Taskforce in the New Energy Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Energy. Interim Report issued in May, 2000 (in Japanese).

2-2

Variability of Wind Power Output

The other is a US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) project that collected high resolution data for two large wind plants, one at Storm Lake in Iowa and the other in the Buffalo 11 Ridge area near Lake Benton, Minnesota. The objectives of the project were to collect highquality, long-term, high-frequency data from wind power plants at several sites with different geographic characteristics and several different types of wind turbines. This study was intended to better understand the frequency distribution of wind power, the relationship of wind power plants to ancillary services in the emerging electricity markets, spatial and temporal diversity and 12 correlation issues, and wind capacity credit. Most of the short-term wind output samples given in this report are from the NREL data. The NREL monitoring project was the first large scale plants that incorporated systematic collection of very high resolution data.13 Data includes real power, reactive power, 3-phase lineto-ground voltages, and wind speed data. These data were collected and downloaded to NREL's National Wind Technology Center each day via modem and written to a local removable disk that was replaced and sent to NREL every two weeks. From the data it is possible to calculate various patterns of electricity production, ranging from second-to-second scales up to monthly scales. Researchers can then compare power and energy output of individual turbines with total wind farm output and can calculate various coincidence factors and examine hourly production profiles. Table 2-1 shows a listing of the data collected in the NREL study.
Table 2-1 Parameters Collected at Each Site in the NREL Study14

Yih-Huei Wan, Wind Power Plant Monitoring Project Annual Report, NREL/TP-500-30032, July 2001 J. Cadogan, et al., Short-Term Output Variations in Wind FarmsImplications for Ancillary Services in the United States, NREL/CP-500-29155, September 2000 13 DOE/NREL Wind Farm Monitoring Annual Report July 2000July 2001, NREL/SR-500-31188 April, 2002. 14 DOE/NREL Wind Farm Monitoring Annual Report July 2000July 2001, NREL/SR-500-31188 April, 2002.
12

11

2-3

Variability of Wind Power Output

These high resolution (1-second) data allow examination and comparison of different sized wind farms with varying geography and wind resource types. Together with time synchronized utility system load, generation, and incremental cost information, there is an opportunity to analyze the wind farms power fluctuations for their contribution to potential ancillary service impacts and costs. To accomplish this, it is necessary to perform detailed data analysis on wind farm facilities operating data. These analyses included: Wind power fluctuations (daily, hourly, minute-by-minute, second-by-second changes) and their corresponding statistical properties (max. and mean values, standard deviations, etc.). Frequency distribution of wind farm output variations. This entails deriving a probability distribution function of wind farm output variations from long-term output data. Spatial and temporal correlation of wind farm output. This requires comparing outputs from individual turbines and the entire wind farm to investigate the spatial and temporal diversity. Coincidence with system peak and utility incremental cost.

Figure 2-1 shows an example of a daily profile obtained from four grid interconnection points of the Buffalo Ridge wind farms. The graph is based on 1-minute average data and shows the power output at each of the four meter points. Because of the height and the location of the anemometer, the recorded wind speed data do not represent the true wind speed at the turbine hub. Nevertheless, they do provide a good indication of wind speed and its trend over the entire 15 wind farm. The following description of these results is given by Cadogan, 2000 :
For this 24-hour period, the total wind power is near maximum output for three distinct periods: from 4:008:00, from 9:0012:30, and from 17:0023:00. The two downward spikes near 8:00 and 9:00 are caused either by over-voltage problems or by transmission network problems. The downward trends in the early afternoon are caused by individual turbines reaching the designed cut-off wind speed and shutting down. Additional data collected to date also shows some downward spikes during periods of extreme wind.

Two methods are used to characterize this kind of wind power fluctuations; namely, step changes and ramp rates, as described by Yih-Huei.16 Simple statistics and distributions were used for the step changes (power level differences between consecutive time steps). Ramp rates were measured by the rate of change, up or down, caused by the wind picking up or dying down. These two measures provide insight into the nature of the wind power fluctuations. These data point out several significant lose of turbine output events that occur with little change in wind speed. Irrespective of variations in wind, this significant decrease in plant output creates and operating issue. The scenarios are typically where either grid disturbances, local plant disturbances, or the advent of very high winds are tripping a large number of the wind turbines. The NREL continuous monitoring data show the real power, reactive power, and line voltage. This effectively illustrates the tripping problem and has helped the wind farm operator analyze tripping problems by describing wind farm states before and after an event. The monitoring data were subsequently used by the wind farm operators to design corrective measures and reduce forced outages of individual wind turbine rows as well as the entire wind farm.
J. Cadogan, etal, Short-Term Output Variations in Wind FarmsImplications for Ancillary Services in the United States, NREL/CP-500-29155, September 2000. 16 Yih-Huei Wan, Wind Power Plant Monitoring Project Annual Report, NREL/TP-500-30032, July 2001.
15

2-4

Variability of Wind Power Output

Figure 2-1 Example 24 Hr Output From NREL Monitoring at Buffalo Ridge Sub, Lake Benton, MN

Output Power Fluctuations

The differences in output power levels between consecutive time steps will indicate wind power persistence or variability. This behavior depends very much on the time step. To quantify power fluctuation of the wind resource, NREL calculated the maximum step changes in both positive and negative directions and their means and standard deviations, for three time steps (1-second, 1-minute, and 1-hour). The objective was to capture only the power changes caused by decreasing or increasing wind speed, therefore the recorded data stream was screened to eliminate large power changes caused by forced or controlled outages and startups. These screening algorithms could not be perfected for smaller changes that may be unrelated to the wind. So the individual turbine stops and starts for a wind plant with many turbines are likely to still be in the power fluctuation data. Once the data are screened for the major, non-wind related events, they can be analyzed based on the time period of interest. For example, in Figure 2-2, three weeks of plant monitoring date were analyzed based on ten-minute average changes. A total of 3023 periods were placed in bins based on the 10-minute average power change, P. As can be seen the most common changes are small with P from 0 to -1 MW at a frequency of about 11%, and from -1 to -2 MW at about 13% of the monitored periods. In this case the plant size was 250MWs which included both Lake Benton I and Lake Benton II, at Buffalo Ridge in Minnesota. 2-5

Variability of Wind Power Output

Large positive or negative changes in power are rare. The legend for Figure 2-2 shows that the largest positive change was 38.6 MW (maximum) and the largest negative change was 47.1 MW (minimum). However there were very few negative power changes that exceeded 20 MW and very few positive power changes exceeded 18 MW. Since about half the changes were positive and half were negative, the monitoring period was apparently long enough to filter out trends due to changing weather patterns. Another way to state this is that 99.999% of the measured changes were within 20MW. It should also be noted that 98% of the 10-minute power changes, up or down, were < 15 MW, or 6% of the plant output.
Relative Frequency
Count: Minim : um Av erage: Max um im : Range: St Dev : CP 01: CP 05: CP 25: CP 50: CP 75: CP 95: CP 99: SI Range: 3023 -47.13 0.01915 38.66 85.79 5.640 -15.04 -8.921 -2.643 -0.005580 2.590 8.912 14.72 2.616

Cumulative Frequency

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

12%
Cumulative Frequency Relative Frequency

10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%

-40

-20

Electrotek/EPRI

0 Delta P All (MW )

20 PQView

Figure 2-2 Power Fluctuations in 10 Minute Average Data for 250 MW Wind Plant, 11/18/03 to 12/10/03

These same data can be analyzed for other time periods. The shorter the period, the smaller the power changes from one period to the next, relative to the nameplate capacity of the wind plants. Table 2-2 shows the how the changes in power increase with the time periods. Both max/min and the range containing 98% of the average changes are calculated. The maximum changes are based on data from February 2000 to January 2001 at Lake Benton II (~100MW plant). The data showing the range containing 98% of power changes is from the Buffalo Ridge substation (~250 MW plant) from November 18 to December 10, 2003.

2-6

Variability of Wind Power Output

Table 2-2 Average Power Changes for Different Time Periods at Buffalo Ridge Sites for Different Plants Time Period Average Data 1 second 1 minute 10 minute 60 minute Power (MW) Maximum change -4.4 to +7.6 -11.5, +14.4 N/A -51.7, +65.4 % of 100 MW Wind Plant 4.3% to 7.4% 11%, 14.4% N/A 50%, 63% Power (MW) 98% are within N/A -1.6 to +1.8 -15 to +14.7 -42 to +55 % of 250 MW Wind Plant N/A 0.64 to 0.72% ~6% 17 to 22%

It was clear that, for short periods, the step changes are very small. In the case of Lake Benton II, where the peak power output was approximately 100 MW the maximum change was as high as 63% based on one hour averages. However, 94% of the hourly change values were less than 20% of the plant capacity. The one-second data indicated changes as high as 7.4% of the plant rating. However, this was a very rare event. In fact the data showed that 98% of the 1-second change values were less than 0.5% of the total plant capacity. As a result, this level of change is not likely to cause voltage fluctuations that lead to light flicker complaints.

Output Power Ramp Rates

Ramp rates indicate the trend, up or down, in power output and are measured in kW or MW/unit time. These are simply estimated from the slope of a straight line that fits with the wind output data points over a specific time interval. Time intervals can be seconds, minutes or hours depending on the period of interest. The shorter the time interval, the higher the ramp rates tend to be. As a rule, power system operators are looking for several different functions from generation systems that involve different time intervals of interest. In the case of load following, units typically follow an hourly plan with 5- to 10-minute resolution. In the case of system frequency regulation, the dispatch signal may be automatic, via AGC, with updates every minute. Voltage regulation is treated as a service where plant output is regulated up or down with no net energy difference. In the case of reactive power supply for local voltage regulation, the service is usually continuous with second to second resolution. NREL monitoring data allowed calculation of ramping rates with either 1-second or 1-minute average power data over the desired time interval. For example, data from Lake Benton show for a 5-minute interval that the wind power plant can ramp up at 8.7 MW/min, or ~8.7% of total plant capacity. The maximum ramping-down rate for the 5-minute interval was -11.5 MW /min or ~11.5% of the plant capacity per minute. For 10-minute intervals the maximum ramping-up and ramping-down rates were about half the 5-minute intervals rate.

2-7

Variability of Wind Power Output

Average ramp rates were much smaller. At the 5-minute interval, the average ramp was about 400 kW/min for both up and down ramping. At the 10-minute interval, the average ramp rate was approximately 300 kW/min for both up and down ramping. Small standard deviation values of the average ramp rates, for both kW/sec and kW/min are confined within a narrow range. The distributions of five and ten-minute ramp rates are plotted in Figure 2-3 for Lake Benton II data, from Yin-Huei Wan, NREL 2001. In this graph, the area under the curve accounts for 100% of measured ramp rates over a one year period. The very pointed distribution confirms that the most common rates are small and the higher ramps increasing or decreasing occur much less often. Analysis of the data showed that 90% of ramp rates for 5-min intervals are within 780 kW/min and for 10-min intervals within 640 kW/min. Wan speculated that this ramping burden is to be covered by another power plant with power regulating capability. The requirement to cover 99% of the ramping conditions in the one year data is approximately 13.2 MW/min or 220 kW/sec. Relative to the size of the Lake Benton plant, ~ 100 MW, this is about 13 % of installed wind power capacity. The NREL study also found that average ramping rates and their standard deviations are affected by many forced outages of the wind power plants, which reflected higher standard deviation values especially for negative ramp rates (power levels ramping down). This is because forced and maintenance outages will result in precipitous power drops and, consequently, very large negative ramping rates. Lake Benton II experienced many outages prior to summer of 2000. The data collected at the grid interconnection points were not sufficient to determine the causes of these outages. However, data have shown significant improvement in the operations of Lake Benton II wind power plant in later periods.

Figure 2-3 Distributions of Five-Minute and Ten-Minute Ramp Rates (Vertical is Frequency in %, Horizontal is kW)

2-8

Variability of Wind Power Output

Wind Plant Tripping Concerns Like any power plant, wind turbines are subject to both planned and forced outages. As expected, the forced outages have been the most significant factor causing rapid reductions in power output. On one hand, wind plants actually have an advantage over the larger conventional generating plants when it comes to planned outages. Given the diversity factor for a large number of turbines, routine maintenance downtime should not pose a problem. The typical approach with large number of turbines is to assume that some turbines, or a small percent of plant output, will be down all the time. On the other hand forced outages can cause a problem when a large number of turbines are affected. This can be significant because a number of different can trip most, or all, of the turbines. These conditions include faults in the grid, faults inside the plant, over or under voltage conditions, phase shifts, switching transients, over speed due to high winds and mechanical breakdown. Turbine Trips Due to Grid Faults A momentary fault on the grid can trip a wind farm. Even distant faults may unbalance or reduce the voltage enough to start tripping turbines. Trip settings for wind turbines have usually favored protection over ride-through and until recently there have been no provisions to keep them running during abnormal voltage conditions. As such, turbines that rely on a stable grid voltage will quickly trip during a system fault. Also, depending on the stiffness of the system, faults in interconnected transmission lines can cause abnormal voltages over a hundred mile wide area. In addition, it has been documented that the protective device at the wind farm PCC will react to a fault and trip the entire farm. In cases where turbines have built-in ride-through capability they will likely react to the fault with real and reactive power swings. When there is a mixture of turbine types, some turbines will be loaded more during the fault conditions than others. And there will likely be a dynamic interaction between nearby by machines that is unpredictable. The conclusion in this case is that although tripping many turbines during a fault is not desirable, the alternative of riding through the fault with many different types of machines interacting with each other may be undesirable. The issue of fault ride-through remains a challenge for wind farm operation. Turbine Protective Shutdowns Wind turbines undergo a wide variation in mechanical stresses as winds vary, from low to high speeds, and with various degrees of turbulence. Nearly all wind turbines have wind speed limits and will shut down in high winds. Consequently, when very high winds occur, they are likely to cause a large drop in wind power generation. Similarly reactive power variations, either from the wind plant or in the transmission line, can lead to an over- or under-voltage trip. Depending on the circumstances, the event may be self correcting or cascading, where the tripping of one turbine aggravates the situation and leads to another trip and so on.

2-9

Variability of Wind Power Output

Output Power Diversity

Output power diversity of the individual wind turbines, within a wind plant can reduce the aggregate output power variations. As a wind air mass flows across a wind plant, no single turbine sees the exact same wind speed at a given time. As such, the magnitude and direction of the aggregate wind speed vector causes output fluctuations. Wake losses from upstream turbines can have significant effects on downstream turbine output. Spatial diversity will also impact the total wind generation fluctuations for multiple wind plants within a given area. The same factors affecting intra-plant diversity have impact on inter-plant diversity as well. One of the best studies to quantify this effect was carried out in Japan by 17 NEDO. The study specifically addressed how to measure smoothing effects for dispersed generators and variations in local topography as well as the meteorological conditions. The study used high resolution data to look at smoothing phenomena in short, medium and longer time frames. Results from the NEDO study clearly showed that, for shorter period of times, correlation of the turbine outputs is low and that smoothing is high. This means that short-term, less than 10minute power fluctuations are significantly smoothed out as the number of turbines increase and the land area grows. Conversely, for periods of more than 100 minutes, the correlation of wind speed and corresponding wind power output is quite high, and therefore shows less smoothing. In between, from 10 to 100 minutes, the correlation varied both with the weather and with the area covered. Figure 2-4 presents example results from the NEDO study and illustrates the correlation between wind speed and wind generation vs. timeframe in units of average coherence, which is suggested as a good indicator of the smoothing effect. Low average coherence occurs at low wind speeds and over short time frames from seconds up to a few minutes and indicates significant smoothing and low correlation between wind speed and power output. Figure 2-4 shows that, on windy days, December 22 and 24, short-term plant outputs (less than ten minutes) are relatively incoherent and long term outputs (greater than 100 minutes) show consistent coherence levels. Data from NREL monitoring at Lake Benton II demonstrate similar results. In general, the longer period plant outputs, such as hourly values, show a high correlation with the wind. This is illustrated in Figure 2-5, where four sites at Lake Benton, and the total output match very well with monitored wind speed. Delta, Echo, Foxtrot and Golf are four areas along a 10.7 mile ridge containing 138 turbines.

Toshiya NANAHARA, etal, Smoothing Effects of Distributed Wind Turbines Part.2: Coherence among Power Output of Distant Wind Turbines, 2003

17

2-10

Variability of Wind Power Output

1 0. 8 A verage coherence 0. 6 0. 4 0. 2 0 0 10

D ec. 22 D ec. 23 D ec. 24

10

10

10

Figure 2-4 Average Coherence for 16 Sites in Japan in NEDO

Figure 2-6 presents 1-second power data showing the local peaks at each of the four sites. In this case there is very poor correlation of the power between sites and the recorded wind speed. This result supports the NEDO finding that short-term power and wind speed data are highly correlated. Consequently the short-term power smoothing effects increase. The overall results from the data indicated that short-term power fluctuations will be small when the number and diversity of turbines are high. The number of turbines installed within a plant can also affect the plant output fluctuations. The percent variation in plant output is inversely proportional to the amount of turbines within a given plant. As such, small wind plants having fewer turbines are more likely to experience the same wind speeds throughout the plant due to close proximity to one another. For larger wind plants utilizing more turbines, the geographical area of the wind plant increases, thus increasing the potential impact that spatial diversity has on total plant output. This point is illustrated in Figure 2-7, which provides measured wind plant output fluctuations as a function of total number of turbines installed.

2-11

Variability of Wind Power Output

Figure 2-5 Sample Daily Power Output Profile from Four Wind Sites in the Same Vicinity

Figure 2-6 Details of Local Peak Power Output Using 1-Second Data

2-12

Variability of Wind Power Output

2 1.8 1.6

% of Rated Output

1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

14

30

39

55

# of Turbine s

276

Figure 2-7 Measured Minute-to-Minute Wind Plant Production Fluctuations as a Function of the Number of Installed Turbines, 1-Second Resolution Data

2-13

3
ROLE OF POWER COMPENSATION
This section addresses the application of power electronic and control technologies to enhance performance of wind power systems. Modern wind turbines are riding on technological advances in design and control. The advent of power electronic applications in new models of wind turbines provides better wind power tracking, smoother real power output, enhanced reactive power control, and a more constant torque. These technologies help to ease grid integration of wind power. Some of the modern Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) today are available with a selectable power factor range that can be either set at each turbine or by the plant SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for the whole wind farm. These typically include built in turbine blade pitch controls, generator power electronic conversion, as well as short-term energy storage technologies. Options for auxiliary or custom power compensation equipment, such as DVAR and DSTATCOM, are also considered. Stabilizing technologies are examined in light of the specific benefits they bring to wind power integration. Even so, the challenge associated with the unique characteristics of wind power especially older and mixed machine plants still exists. Most of these older plants use simple induction (asynchronous) generator designs that draw rather than supply reactive power from the system. And most new plants still require some form of reactive and real power compensation, whether it is built in or separate from the wind machines. Power compensation continues to play a critical role in the applications and integration of wind power with the electric grid.

Compensation Requirements are Site-Specific

The role of power compensation varies from one wind farm to the other, and largely depends on the relative strength of the grid and the allowable limits of the particular wind machine technology. At each site, the wind plant size and turbine layout vary, and the wind regimes vary with geographical location and terrain. In addition to diurnal and weather related variations, output fluctuations can also occur due to turbulence in the wind and the wake turbulence between turbines. The wind regime for a particular wind plant site is typically characterized by the average wind speed and wind direction, measured at the ambient temperature and local air pressure. The common descriptors for wind farm layout include the number of wind turbines, average hub height above ground, separation between wind turbines, relative elevation of each turbine vs. the others, area of the wind farm, and the turbine layout by cluster, ridge-line, grid, and individual turbines. Variations in power output can be mitigated with the addition of compensation devices. The power compensation (both real and reactive) equipment available today is capable of 3-1

Role of Power Compensation

providing very fast, cycle-to-cycle or second-to-second compensation with electronics and conventional capacitors. With the addition of short-term energy storage, the compensation can be extended to longer variations such softening minute to minute output power ramp rates. Longer duration changes fall in the realm large scale energy storage and are not covered in this report. Table 3-1 describes several wind plant variables that correspond to the need for compensation equipment. The allowable grid operating limits are assumed to be appropriate for the application.
Table 3-1 Wind Plant Variables versus Power Compensation Requirement
Wind Plant Variable Real Power Output Terminal and System Voltage System Frequency Reactive Power Output Power Ramping Rate Distributed Collection Method Location of the Variable Point of Common Coupling PCC Point of Common Coupling PCC Wind farm (internal), PCC, Utility Grid Point of Common Coupling PCC Individual wind turbine, PCC Wind farm (Internal) Dependent System Elements Wind Regime, Electrical Drive Electrical Drive, Wind Regime Electrical Drive, Energy balancing reserves Electrical Drive Wind Regime, Regulating generation Wind farm size and layout, Transformer arrangement Requires Compensation Yes Yes NA Yes NA Yes Type of Power Compensation Active and Reactive Active and Reactive NA Reactive NA Reactive

Output Power and Voltage The steady output power and terminal voltage at the wind turbine depends primarily on the wind regime and the electric drive employed. Electric drive configurations for wind applications are based on the following: machine type (Induction, Synchronous), control (regulator field control, electronic converter, switched capacitor), speed (Fixed, Variable), drive (Direct, Gearbox). The wind turbine drive and power converter determine output voltage and reactive power control. Output requirements vary with the real power generated from the wind machine. Constant speed drives like squirrel cage induction machines always draw reactive power from the grid, and offer very limited voltage-control capabilities. These machines are best used with a stiff power grid. Variable-speed induction drives like the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) have more capability to control output voltage and reactive power. Using power electronics, the DFIG decouples the electrical grid frequency from the mechanical rotor frequency, adding 18 another level of voltage control. Table 3-2, adopted from Hansen et al , provides a summary of induction-type electric drive configurations, including voltage control and reactive power 18 capabilities and the applicable power grid application.
L. H. Hansen, etal Conceptual survey of Generators and Power Electronics for Wind Turbines, Ris-R1205(EN), Ris National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark, December 2001
18

3-2

Role of Power Compensation Table 3-2 Induction Machine Drive Configurations and Reactive Power Controls

Line diagram

Voltage Control Capability

Starter

Reactive Power Applicable rid Control capability G type

No
Squirrel cage, Induction m achine, Active or passive stall, Fixed Speed, Power converter used as Soft-starter

No

Stiff

Yes
Squirrel Cage, Induction m achine, Active or passive stall, Variable speed, Pow converter used as Full scale Frequency er Converter

Yes

Stiff and W eak

Yes
Wound Rotor, Induction Machine, Pitch Controlled, Limited variable speed, Power Converter used to vary Rotor resistance, Optislip or Dynamic Slip - used in Vestas machines

No

Stiff and Weak

Yes
Wound Rotor, Induction Machine, Pitch Controlled, Variable speed, Power converter used as Frequency Converter, Doubly-fed Induction Generator (DFIG) used in GE machines

Yes

Stiff and Weak

3-3

Role of Power Compensation

Reactive Power Output For local voltage control, all generators are required to provide some level of reactive power support. Wind plants often require power compensation equipment for reactive power control and to maintain the desired voltage at the point of common coupling. In general, the system operator of the local utility will impose power factor requirements for the wind farm at the PCC. Wind machines most capable of affecting the reactive power use synchronous machines and 19 power electronic conversion. Table 3-3, adopted from Hansen et al , summarizes synchronous type electric drive configurations, including voltage control and reactive power capabilities and the applicable power grid application. System Frequency and Ramping Frequency stability refers to maintaining system balanced conditions by matching load to generation, which holds the system frequency at a constant value. Rapid changes in system load are matched by ramping generation up or down in a 5-to10 minute timeframe. Frequency is a system-wide variable and frequency excursions affect the systems both internal and external to the wind farm. For grid-connected systems, frequency stabilization is outside the realm of the wind plant. If the wind plant is situated in a weak grid, such as a small island, then wind variations will need to be compensated to avoid burdening the energy balancing efforts of system operators. The operators ability to cope with power variations depends on available generation regulating reserves. These are generally limited in any power system due to economic constraints. Serious compensation for frequency stabilization and the need to address power ramping requires the delivery of power in the range of minutes. However, most of the power compensation technologies discussed in this report is only capable of providing power for a short duration which typically is seconds. Distributed Collection Method In case of large-scale wind plants, the turbines are spread over several square miles or along bluffs or ridges based on the geographical topology. Collection of wind energy is usually at distribution voltage levels. The distribution system may be built solely for the wind plant or it might exist to serve other customers. In either case, integration issues exist, but the common 20 objective is to deliver the wind to the transmission grid via the point of common coupling .

19

L. H. Hansen, et al., Conceptual survey of Generators and Power Electronics for Wind Turbines, Ris-R1205(EN), Ris National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark, December 2001 20 Wind Power Integration Technology Assessment and Case Studies, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA 2004,1004806

3-4

Role of Power Compensation

Table 3-3 Synchronous Machine Drive Configurations and Reactive Power Control Capabilities, Adapted from Hansen et al21
Line diagram Voltage Control Capability Reactive Power Control capability Applicable Grid type

Yes
Permanent magnet Synchronous machine, No gear box, Active or Passive stall or Pitch controlled, Variable speed, Power converter used as Frequency Converter

Yes

Stiff and Weak

No Externally excited, Wound Rotor Synchronous machine, Passive stall or Pitch controlled, Variable speed, Power converter used as Rectifier, Not widely used.

Yes

Stiff

Line diagram

Voltage Control Capability

Reactive Power Control capability

Applicable Grid type

Yes
Externally excited, Wound Rotor Synchronous machine, Pitch controlled, Variable speed, Power converter used as Rectifier and Frequency Converter, Not widely used.

Yes

Stiff and Weak

Yes
Multi-pole, Wound Rotor Synchronous machine, Pitch controlled, Variable speed, Power converter used as Rectifier and Frequency Converter. Used in Enercon and Lagerwey machines

Yes

Stiff and Weak

The system elements affecting the collection of wind are location, type of the collection system, the length of the system, transformation levels within the collection system and the wind regime. 22 Figures 3-1 to 3-4, from Lundberg , show some of the wind farm layouts and the distributed collection systems in use today. The layout shown is Figure 3-1 is most common in North
21 22

Hansen, et al., Riso, 2001. Stefan Lundberg, "Evaluation of Wind Farm Layouts" 4th Nordic Workshop on Power and Industrial Electronics (NORPIE 2004), Trondheim, Norway, 14-16 June, 2004.

3-5

Role of Power Compensation

America. The layouts in Figures 3-2 and 3-3 have been seen in Europe for emerging off shore installations. Also in countries that are highly populated such as Germany and Spain, there is a lot of distributed wind that is distribution connected. Figure 3-4 shows the concept of full-dc collection that may be seen in the future as power electronics become more integrated in wind machines.

Figure 3-1 Typical Wind Plant Layout

Figure 3-2 Off-Shore Wind Plant Layout

3-6

Role of Power Compensation

Figure 3-3 Offshore Wind Plant Layout with DC Collection and DC Link

Figure 3-4 Large Wind Plant with Series DC Collection and DC Transmission

In some cases, the point of common coupling with the transmission grid is physically and electrically distant. Simultaneous voltage regulation at the terminals of the turbines and at the PCC can be problematic with fluctuating power flows. For example increased MW export across the wind farm leads to higher MVAr consumption in the distribution collection system. This additional reactive power has to be compensated either by the wind plant or by the transmission grid. Special wind plant collection system designs can balance reactive power compensation such that a constant voltage is maintained at the PCC. Figure 3-5 shows a single line diagram of a distributed collection scheme in Ireland where reactive compensation issues had to be addressed.

3-7

Role of Power Compensation

Figure 3-5 Single Line Diagram of a Distributed Collection System, from Hopewell23

Figure 3-6, left side, shows system voltage and power at the point of common coupling for two cases of fixed power factors and controlled power factor machines. The highest fluctuations of voltage and reactive power occur for wind farms operating with fixed-power factor machines. The lowest fluctuations of voltage and reactive power occur for wind farms equipped with the GE WindVar controller. This type of reactive control can ensure fast local control in order to maintain a more constant voltage at the distant PCC, even in the presence of wind variability. This is accomplished when the controller measures the PCC voltage and issues wind turbine set 23 points for dispatching adequate wind farm reactive power .

23

Paul D. Hopewell, GE Energy, Integration of High Penetration wind into Electric Power Grids, IEA-Dublin, November 2004 http://www.irish-energy.ie/uploads/documents/upload/publications/Hopewell_GEGR_IEA_NOV2004.pdf

3-8

Role of Power Compensation

Time in Seconds Figure 3-6 PCC Voltage and Reactive Power Challenges for Large Wind Farms

Nature of Compensation Benefits

The operation of large grid-connected wind plants in most cases, cause short-term and long-term electrical phenomenon that need to be compensated for efficient system operation. The shortduration electrical variations are a direct or indirect result of the wind variability. Many modern wind turbines today are well equipped with power electronic controls and hence short-duration fluctuations causing frequency stability, voltage flicker and harmonics might not pose a serious concern. However, the random nature of the wind products could lead to dynamic stability issues on the grid. Though the scale of impact varies based on the wind scenario, the benefit offered by power compensation devices with both the on-board controllers at the turbine and the custom power compensation equipment at the substation are expected to mitigate these short-duration issues. The following is a list of the most likely short-duration electrical phenomenon and fluctuations caused by large amounts of wind power generation that might impact the electric power system. Grid Stability Voltage Control (Fast and slow) at the PCC Switching Transients

3-9

Role of Power Compensation

Fault Ride-Through

Grid Stability Stability is the ability of a transmission grid to regain a state of operating equilibrium after being subjected to a disturbance. That is, the entire system remains essentially intact. Figure 3-7 24 classifies grid stability on the basis of the following considerations, as explained by Kundur. The physical nature of the potential instability The size of the disturbance considered The time intervals needed to establish stability

In the daily operation of any grid power system, overall system security, as well as local reliability, requirements are determined to guard against thermal overload and/or instability in the event of credible contingencies. Based on the accepted North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) criteria, a credible contingency may include the forced (unplanned) outage of a single major element such as a line, transformer, or on-line generator (n-1 contingency), simultaneous outage of two major elements (n-2 contingency), and in rare cases, outage of more than two elements (cascading events). Often, these security and reliability requirements result in the transmission system being operated at a level below its rating, resulting in corridors of constrained power flow, or bottlenecks.

Grid Stability

Rotor Angle
Stability

*Frequency Excursion Suppression

Voltage Stability

Small-Disturbance

Transient

LargeDisturbance

SmallDisturbance

Short Term Short Term Long-Term

Short Term

Long Term

*Frequency Excursion events can challenge operational equilibrium, but are not characterized via classical stability analyses in the manner of Rotor Angle and Voltage Stability. Figure 3-7 Classifications of Modes of Grid Stability

24

Power System Stability and Control, Kundur. P, The EPRI Power System Engineering Series, 1994

3-10

Role of Power Compensation

Kundur defines three main types of stability, rotor angular stability, frequency excursion suppression, and voltage stability. These are each described in more detail to get a better idea of the role of power compensation and energy storage to improve power system stability. Power systems must consider thermal and electrical limits with different time frames. While thermal overload is a quasi-steady-state phenomena (tens of minutes); angular and voltage instability, or fault recovery, are dynamic phenomena (from a few cycles to tens of seconds). Under steady-state conditions, both before and after a contingency, transmission line flow levels and substation voltages must stay within specified limits. Even if a feasible post-contingency steady-state condition may exist, instability may prevent transition to such a state, and result in loss of synchronism, cascading outages, or voltage collapse. Generally, both power and energy may be employed to dampen power system instabilities. This scale of compensation is more likely to be at the PCC than near the individual wind turbines.
25 Previous work by EPRI has shown that stored energy strategically introduced within the overall grid can potentially alter the scope of credible contingencies such that the allowed transmission capacity of the system is increased.

Rotor Angle Stability Rotor angle instability occurs when a fault (e.g., short circuit) occurs in the transmission system that initially causes one or more generators to accelerate. This leads to weakly-coupled electromechanical oscillations with other generators on the grid. If such generator oscillations are not damped, an unstable operating condition may emerge as generators lose synchronism with the grid and begin to trip off line. In addition, if other transmission equipment or lines fail, the affected circuits may overload and in turn may trip out of service, which then leads to more overloads and potential system instability. The relative angular positions of rotors of synchronous machines remain constant (synchronized) when no disturbance is present. If power flows in an interconnected transmission system change too much or too suddenly (such as loss of a major transmission line), some machines may lose synchronism. One type of rotor angular instability is long term dynamic instability, which results in undamped electromechanical oscillations. Such electromechanical oscillations may involve a number of generators with wide geographical separation (inter-area oscillations) and may appear when system loading is increased across a weak transmission link. If not controlled, these oscillations may lead to partial or total power interruption. Figure 3-8 illustrates oscillations for a marginally damped loading combination (solid line) and for an undamped condition caused by only a 10MWac load increment (dashed line). If unchecked, such an undamped condition would lead to system breakup (i.e., further tripping of lines or 26 generators). Wind plants are prone to tripping when system disturbances occur, and some system disturbances can be wide spread over thousands of square miles. As the number and size
EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage for Transmission and Distribution Applications, EPRI Palo Alto, California, 1001834, December 2003 26 Evaluation of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage for San Diego Gas & Electric, EPRI TR-106286, August 1997.
25

3-11

Role of Power Compensation

of wind plants has increased, the issue of large area wind plant tripping has become more prominent.

Bus Voltage Magnitude, pu

Time in Seconds
Figure 3-8 Sample of Marginal Damping and Effects of 10MW Load Increment, Southern California Intertie 27

Power compensation has become the solution of choice to prevent wind plant turbine tripping in the first place. However, this can be a very expensive proposition, particularly after turbines have been designed and installed without built-in disturbance ride-through capability. In some cases, angular oscillations can be controlled by electromechanical devices at the generation plants, e.g., fast relief valves, power system stabilizers, etc. In other cases, they may be controlled by switching stored energy between charge and discharge modes at the frequency of the oscillation (~0.5 Hz) over a period of a few tens of seconds. West Coast utilities have studied this type of solution using superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES). Other technologies, including ultracapacitors, flywheels, and some battery technologies, may also be suitable to act as shock 28 absorbers or stabilizers. Frequency Excursion Suppression Frequency excursions can occur following a severe system upset resulting in a significant imbalance between generation and load. Generally, problems related to frequency are associated with inadequate equipment response, poor coordination of control and protection, or insufficient generation reserve. Such problems can be brought on by market circumstances, such as contracts with provisions for abrupt termination of the power supply.
Evaluation of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage for San Diego Gas & Electric, EPRI TR-106286, Palo Alto, CA, August 1997. 28 Power Control between a Wind Farm and a Power Transmission System, US Patent 6,858,953, issued February 22, 2005.
27

3-12

Role of Power Compensation

Frequency excursion suppression provides the power grid system the ability to maintain steady frequency within a nominal range following a severe system disturbance caused by, or resulting in, a significant imbalance between generation and load. Stable operation depends on the ability to quickly restore balance between system generation and load, with minimum loss of load. The excursions that may result occur in the form of sustained variances of system frequency from normal, leading to tripping of generating units and/or shedding of loads. Severe system disturbances generally result in frequency excursions, power flows, voltage swings, and variations in other system variables, thereby invoking the actions of processes, controls, and protections that are not modeled in conventional transient stability or voltage stability studies. These processes may be very slow, such as boiler dynamics, or only triggered for extreme system conditions, such as volts/hertz protection tripping generators. In large interconnected power systems, frequency excursions precede disconnection of part of the system, most commonly associated with islanding (i.e., a condition in which a portion of the utility system that contains both load and generation is isolated from the remainder of the utility system). Figure 3-9 shows the response of a disturbance on the Golden Valley Electrical Association (GVEA) system in Fairbanks, Alaska, that occurred following the loss of a 25 MWac coal-fired power plant in Healy, about 100 miles away. At the time of the disturbance, load in Fairbanks was being served by a combination of local generation (with no reserves) and a 60MWac import from Anchorage, 400 miles away. Following the loss of the Healy plant, generation in Anchorage responded and overloaded the inter-tie. This resulted in voltage and frequency decay on the Fairbanks 138-kV inter-tie to which nearby Static VAr Compensators (SVC) responded until reaching their limits. Because VAR support was still inadequate, the voltage decayed to 0.43 PU at which time a relay opened the transmission line inter tie breaker. After the breaker opened, Fairbanks was in an islanded condition with insufficient generation. Frequency continued to decay until sufficient load was shed to stabilize the system. This case illustrates an ideal application for a SVC device to stabilize angular swings in a loosely coupled power system. GVEA also installed a battery energy storage system to deliver 40MWac for 15 minutes full power discharge, providing additional spinning reserves. Energy storage may be used to mitigate such events by promptly providing sufficient energy to allow time to mobilize additional generation.

3-13

Role of Power Compensation

Figure 3-9 Disturbance on GVEA System Following Loss of 25MW Generator April 19, 1997 at 23:45 29

Voltage Stability Voltage instability can occur when a load and the associated transmission system require a large amount of reactive power (compared to the real power component of the load), exceeding the capability of available reactive power sources. Under this condition, any increase in load is accompanied by a drastic voltage drop and the voltage collapses. This condition is usually caused by contingencies leading to (generally localized) high power flows that create an increased demand for reactive power due to increased line loadings. Compared to frequency swings, voltage problems can be much more localized and are common in large isolated wind plant installations. Theoretically, voltage stability is challenged by either a sudden increase in demand or decrease in generation. For wind plants, the latter is the most common. Because of the fundamental relationships between load and voltage, maintaining adequate reactive power is critical to ensuring voltage stability. Since inductive line losses make it inefficient to supply a large amount of reactive power over long transmission lines, loads requiring high in-rush currents such as large motors must be supported locally. Voltage instability induced by major disturbances such as loss of generation or transmission can be mitigated with system responses such as load recovery or shedding actions, regulation control, etc.

29

Tim DeVries, System Justification and Vendor Selection for the Golden Valley BESS, EESAT, April 2002.

3-14

Role of Power Compensation

Although the introduction of real power is theoretically unnecessary to establish voltage stability, analyses indicate that a small amount of real power significantly improves system performance by increasing the rate at which stability is restored and/or by decreasing the rating of the power conditioning system required. This value was illustrated using a STATCOM with short term energy storage in a Wisconsin case addressing a transmission line that was vulnerable to fast voltage collapse. Figure 3-10 shows the results of analyses by Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) of 115-kV line outages, which caused low voltages and fast voltage collapse on the system. As indicated in the figure, the options evaluated are Static VAR Compensators (SVC), distributed STATCOMs and distributed STATCOMs with additional energy storage. Note that the latter enabled voltage recovery to 0.8 Vpu well within the system criteria of less than 0.5 seconds after fault clearing, as required by certain high value customers. Alternatively, this criterion could have been met with 30 31 smaller STATCOMs equipped with additional energy storage . These systems are expected to find applications in wind plants where transmission line voltage not stable.

Volts Per Unit

0.5

1.5

Time, seconds
Figure 3-10 WPS Northern Loop Stability Analysis Showing Introduction of Energy Storage

Bud Kehrli, D-SMES Applications for Transmission and Power Quality Improvement, EPRI Working Group Meeting, February 26, 2002. 31 Dale Bradshaw, The Advent of Energy Storage for Transmission Voltage Stability Support via Ultra Capacitors (TUCAP) and the Emitter-Turn-Off (ETO) Thyristor as an Advanced Power Electronic System, Consortium for Advanced Power Electronics and Storage, Tennessee Valley Authority, November 14-15, 2002

30

3-15

Role of Power Compensation

Voltage Control (Fast and Slow) Wind plants inject current into the grid, often without generator voltage control. Changes in current result in voltage changes at the PCC. So a slow change of steady state voltage level is an inherent consequence of injecting current into the grid. The steady state voltage level can be expressed as a function of the produced active and exchanged reactive power using the formula:

(3-1)

where Un U p q R X Nominal voltage of the grid Voltage at the point of common coupling Active power produced Reactive power consumed Grid resistance; Grid reactance.

The voltage at the PCC with induction generators directly connected to the grid (fixed-speed systems), depends on the induction generator characteristics, but mainly on the grid X/R-ratio. A ratio of around 2 to 3 usually gives a very low impact. This condition holds provided that the wind system is equipped with a capacitor bank designed typically to compensate for no-load 32 reactive power consumption of the induction generator . It is also possible to have a system in which the capacitor bank is connected in several steps in order to gradually compensate for a reactive power demand required for an actual active power production. The voltage level can also be affected by the wind turbine installation in a short time scale (tens of seconds down to a tenth of a second). The turbulence in the wind together with the wind turbine itself creates power variations in the region of 0.0110 Hz. These faster voltage fluctuations may produce light flicker, and the calculation of severity is different than for slow voltage variations. A standardized method to evaluate the fast voltage fluctuations is based on the fact that flickering of the light is irritating to people. The assumed source of flickering is a light bulb connected to a fluctuating voltage. The short time flicker severity index, Pst, is a dimensionless quantity that measures the level of irritation over a 10-min period. Pst is most sensitive to a 0.25% voltage fluctuation in the frequency region near 9 Hz where the majority of people are likely to be irritated. Figure 3-8 shows flicker emission from a wind turbine located in a 720 kW wind plant.

Torbjrn Thiringer, Tomas Petru, and Stefan Lundberg, Flicker Contribution from Wind Turbine Installations, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, VOL. 19, NO. 1, March 2004

32

3-16

Role of Power Compensation

Figure 3-11 Fast Voltage Fluctuations (Flicker) From a 720 kW Grid-Connected Wind Park in Southern Sweden

The use of power electronic converters in wind turbine systems provides the means to reduce the fast voltage fluctuations. This is because the incoming power fluctuations can be taken up by varying the turbine rotor speed slightly (i.e., variable-speed operation). Switching Transients The influence of a wind turbine connected to the grid through switching transients has been classified by Thiringer33 for two distinct cases. The first case addresses the impact on steady state voltage level during connection of the turbine generator. The constant-speed turbines pose switching problems at start up, especially during low-wind speed conditions (See Figure 3-12). High currents drawn by the turbine generator can cause a voltage dip. This is an important factor that limits the connection of such wind turbines to the grid. It should be noted that variable speed generators or generators that use a soft starting circuit do not pose such a problem. The relative size of these transients depends on the size and design of the individual wind turbines and the strength of the grid. The frequency of these starting and stopping transients may be a function of the number of wind turbines in the wind farm location. Also the switching of local capacitor banks for voltage control can create voltage transients with enough magnitude to trip turbines on an over voltage. Switching transients also occur due to switching between the Y and couplings of step-up transformers. Flicker problems, due to turbine and grid voltage interaction, is also likely to increase with the number of wind turbines and increased frequency of starting transients.

Torbjrn Thiringer and Andreas Petersson, Grid Integration of Wind Turbines, Swedish-Polish Motion Control and Wind Energy Symposium, Warszawa, Poland, October 22, 2003.

33

3-17

Role of Power Compensation

Switching Transients

Figure 3-12 Start up Transients From a 180 kW, Fixed Speed, Stall Controlled Turbine Connected at Low Wind Speed Conditions in a Wind Park on the Island of Gotland, Sweden

When starting currents have a high inrush they may disturb the grid voltage and induce torque spikes in the drive train of a wind turbine. This is common for directly-connected induction machines and not usually an issue for inverter-connected turbines. Thus the reduction of torque transients is one of the advantages of an electronic interconnection. Another switching-related disturbance is due to capacitor switching. A high-frequency inrush current and a corresponding voltage transient in the connected grid follow the switching. The inrush current causes disturbances in the grid and induces high torque spikes in the drive train of wind turbines in the case of directly-connected induction generator machines. Switching transients also occur due to switching between the Y and couplings of step-up transformers and switching of capacitor banks. This can only be a problem if sensitive equipment is connected to the same low-voltage bus bar as the wind turbine. These switching-related events can contribute to flicker levels attributed to the wind plants. Due to this limitation, switched capacitor banks are typically not used for dynamic reactive power control of fixed-speed wind turbine systems. Fault Ride-Through One drawback of the variable-speed wind systems is that the built-in power electronics are relatively sensitive to grid disturbances relative to an induction or synchronous generator interface without power electronics. However, the power electronic interface offers a faster and more controllable connection. The result is that a perceived weakness has been turned into an advantage by the addition of low-voltage ride-through capability in variable-speed, power electronics-interfaced wind turbines. The ride-through capability is feasible in both the full converter and the doubly-fed machines for momentary low voltages lasting less than 15 cycles. This is a very practical solution because 80 to 90% of low-voltage events are momentary.

3-18

Role of Power Compensation

The key is to limit the high current in the rotor in order to protect the converter. To do this, a current bypass is provided via a set of resistors that are connected to the rotor windings. With the resistors, it is possible to ride through neighboring faults or faults cleared downstream without disconnecting the turbine from the grid. Since the generator and converter stay connected, the synchronism of operation remains established and stays connected during and after the fault and normal operation can be continued immediately after the fault has been cleared. As an additional feature, reactive power can be supplied to the grid during long voltage sags dips in order to facilitate voltage restoration. A control strategy has been developed that takes care of the transition back to the normal operation; otherwise, large transients would occur.

Wind Plant and Grid Interactions

Electric grid-characteristics play a significant role in defining the interface with wind power plants. Depending on the strength of the grid, short-term fluctuations associated with wind power generation may be either aggravated or mitigated. The following main factors define the interface: Stiff/weak grid: Stiffness or weakness of the grid is usually specified relative to the size of the wind farm. It depends on the equivalent impedance at the PCC and might affect voltage stability and short-term power fluctuations. The short-circuit power level of the grid relative to the capacity of the generator is typically used as a measure of this strength. The following are 34 examples of these measures that are recommended in EPRI report 1000419 : 1. Compare the ratio of the utility systems available fault current at the plant PCC (without the wind plant) to the maximum rated output current of the wind plant. Stiffness Ratio = Ifault/I Wind Plant 2. Compare the total of the short circuit kVA of the utility system plus the wind plant at the PCC to the wind plant circuit kVA, including any step-up transformers. Stiffness Ratio = (SC kVA Utility + SC kVA Wind Plant) / SC kVA Wind Plant Note: The stiffness ratio is assumed to be calculated at a PCC on the high-voltage side of the dedicated wind plant transformer(s). This may vary depending on the interconnection. Voltage Regulation at PCC: Regulation, to a large extent, depends on the grid and is affected by the wind farm operation. The impact of varying turbine output on voltage regulation is a function of the short-circuit strength at that particular point on the system. Weak systems are susceptible to adverse impacts on voltage regulation resulting from varying power flows. On the other hand, it may be easier to provide local voltage regulation on weak systems than to change these systems. Thus, turbine and plant level voltage compensation is very common in large wind plants.

Engineering Guide for Integration of Distributed Generation and Storage into Power Distribution Systems, 1000419, EPRI Palo Alto, California, December 2000.

34

3-19

Role of Power Compensation

The impact that wind generation can have on voltage regulation also increases as wind plants become more concentrated in a specific area. Spatial diversity is lessened as the physical distance between wind plants is decreased because the same average wind speed profile can be seen by multiple plants. When this is the case, wind plants fluctuations are more synchronized, and can have more of an additive effect. In addition, the closer the wind plants are physically, the increased likelihood that they are electrically close together. That is they may be interconnecting to same transmission line or possibly even the same substation, thus increasing the possible negative impact on local voltage regulation. Turbine-based voltage control has been fairly rare. However, this is a very important consideration, especially if the wind farm is connected to a relatively weak part of the transmission grid. Figure 3-13, from the Buffalo Ridge study, illustrates the importance of having reactive compensation to control voltage at the PCC as the output from a 250 MW wind plant varies. For this particular case, the wind plant feeds into two 115kV transmission lines, one of which is assumed to be out of service, thus weakening the system drastically.

1.20

1.00

Voltage (pu)

0.80

80 140 0 10

0.60

PGE N(MW)

200

-10

QGE N(MVAR)

Figure 3-13 Study Results from a 250MW Wind Plant Connected to Weak Transmission

As shown in this graph, when the wind plant output fluctuates, the amount of reactive power needed to stay on a constant voltage contour varies considerably. If the reactive power supply is not maintained, the system can easily slide into voltage collapse. Figure 3-14 shows the strong correlation between reactive power generated and the local connection point voltage.

3-20

Role of Power Compensation

250000

Tot al Generat ion - P & Q

200000 150000 100000 50000 0 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 -50000 -100000 97

P (total)

Q (total)

1.3

Volt age (per unit )

1.2 1.1 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

BR 35 kV

Alpha

Bravo

Charlie

Delta

Echo

Foxtrot

Golf
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97

Timest ep

Figure 3-14 Time-Domain Simulation of Lake Benton Wind Plants Showing Collector Line Voltages (at Interconnection Point or Original Regulator Location) With Variations in Plant Generation

Value Proposition for Built-in Power Compensation Because of the remote locations of most large wind plants, the power generated must be delivered over a long distance to the load center. Frequently these transmission corridors are relatively weak. The need to interconnect large amounts of wind power on relatively weak utility transmission grids has caused documented problems in several different cases.35 The problems seen by the wind plant operators, developers, and utilities come in many forms. For utilities, the most pervasive problem is the large amount of reactive power consumed by the typical wind plant. This reactive demand associated with induction wind generators can cause an unacceptably large voltage drop at or near the wind farm interconnection point. These voltage variations can create alternating high and low voltage for the wind farm and for other utility customers served near the wind plants on the same transmission system.

35

Wind Power Integration Technology Assessment and Case Studies, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA 2004,1004806

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Role of Power Compensation

In most of these cases, some form of power compensation and/or short term energy storage offers a solution. For example installing a small dynamic reactive device at the utility/wind plant interface can resolve many issues and can benefit both the wind farm and the utility. There are four basic types of reactive compensation/voltage control options that can be utilized to meet specific power factor/voltage regulation requirements, including: Distributed Constant Power Factor: mechanically- switched capacitor banks utilized at each WTG, set to maintain a constant power factor over the full range of generator output. Distributed Variable Power Factor: plant-wide control of each WTGs reactive power production/consumption to control an entire wind plants power factor at the point of interconnection voltage in real time. Substation Switched Capacitor Banks: relatively large, switched capacitor banks installed at the interconnect substation or central transmission location. FACTS Devices - such as STATCOMs are power electronic devices that utilize voltage source converters to generate reactive current. For increased voltage regulation, this option is typically utilized in combination with large switched capacitor banks.

Table 3-4 provides a summary of four different compensation approaches used to meet certain power system needs such as voltage regulation, wind plant power factor control, low-voltage ride through, and even voltage unbalances that may appear in a collection system.
Table 3-4 Summary Table of Power Compensation
Distributed Constant Power Factor No No No No No Distributed Variable Power Factor Yes Yes Yes No No Substation Switched Capacitor Banks Yes No Yes No No

Compensation

Substation STATCOM

Voltage Regulation at PCC Voltage Regulation at WTG Power Factor Control at PCC Low-Voltage Ride Through Support Voltage Unbalance Correction

Yes No Yes Yes Yes

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Role of Power Compensation

The benefits of power compensation to the wind plant developer/operator include: The collector bus voltage is continuously regulated within a narrow bandwidth. This keeps the wind farm on-line and avoids the need to trip-off due to either steady-state or transient low- or high-voltage conditions. It also maximizes kWh output and therefore revenues. Step-voltage changes due to local and remote capacitor bank switching are eliminated, preventing excess gearbox torque and premature gearbox failure. Capacitor bank switching events are minimized which reduces switch maintenance costs. Wind farm revenues are maximized because of the ability to remain on-line. Overall interconnection and impact mitigation costs are minimized.

Utilities derive benefits by: Eliminating large VAR demands, and their resulting voltage swings caused by uncompensated wind farm operation. Mitigating or eliminating the need to install capacitor banks on the transmission system to control voltage. Allowing larger banks that still have smooth transition without special switching equipment because of the smooth VAr control.

It is worth noting that the farther the power compensation device is located from the wind turbines, the less effective it can be in providing voltage support. For example, voltage support will not be provided for faults located between a STATCOM and the wind turbines. The opposite may be true for voltage regulation at the point of interconnection. With distributed reactive compensation (at the WTG terminals), the effectiveness is limited to the characteristics of the collection system (reactive power losses and generator voltage requirements). Reactive compensation at the substation, however, is not as limited and provides the voltage support/power factor control where it is needed most which is at the point of interconnection. These power compensation devices also provide several possible benefits that may be used to leverage value out of the existing infrastructure. In the case of larger systems benefits, such as from a Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS), the additional value propositions include increased asset italicization and increased reliability, availability and grid stability, as discussed 36 below : Increased Asset Utilization Increasing the energy transfer capacity and controlling the load flow of transmission lines are of vital importance, especially in de-regulated markets, where the locations of generation and the bulk load centers can change rapidly. Adding new transmission lines to meet increasing electricity demand is limited by economical and environmental constraints. Custom power technologies show promise to meet these requirements with the existing transmission systems.
FACTS, For Cost Effective and Reliable Transmission of Electrical Energy, Klaus Habur and Donald OLeary, Siemens AG
36

3-23

Role of Power Compensation

Increased Reliability, Availability and Grid Stability Custom power devices can mitigate the effects of faults and make electricity supply more secure by reducing the number of line trips. For example, a major load rejection results in an over voltage of the line which can lead to a line trip. SVCs or STATCOMs counteract the over voltage and avoid line tripping. Long transmission lines, interconnected grids, impacts of changing loads and line faults can create instabilities in transmission systems. These can lead to reduced line power flow, loop flows or even line trips. Custom power devices stabilize transmission systems with resulting higher energy transfer capability and reduced risk of line trips.

3-24

4
AVAILABLE COMPENSATION TECHNOLOGIES
This section covers the various types of power compensation technologies that are available for wind power systems. Power compensation for large grid-connected wind plants can be broadly classified into two categories based on technology, location, and use: Power compensation built into wind turbines (On-board power compensation): Wind turbines driving either induction or synchronous generators must provide for some level of real power, reactive power or voltage control: Mechanical such as blade pitch control, Electromechanical such as field control and rotor resistance, switched capacitors, Power electronic such as converters, inverters and doubly-fed devices.

Auxiliary and custom power compensation devices (Off-board compensation devices or substation compensation equipment): Wind plant connection points require reactive compensation, stabilization, or voltage control: Switched capacitors, Power electronics or custom power devices.

Built in compensation devices are likely to be selected and sized based only on the wind turbine requirement. Auxiliary compensation equipment is more typically selected and sized based on both the wind plant requirements and the local power system characteristics. In either case electric energy storage can be used to enhance the compensation capabilities of these systems. Short-term energy storage technology, such as ultracapacitors, SMES or flywheels, can combined with power electronic conversion to provide both active and reactive power compensation.

Power Compensation Built Into Wind Turbines

Starting with compensation technology that is built-in the wind turbines, this section addresses primarily electronic means, with a few examples of mechanical compensation. The built in compensator devices are made more effective when power electronics are applied to the main electrical conversion circuit of the turbine generator. Both fully-electronic and electromechanical converters, with supplemental power electronics, are addressed in this section. Mechanical controls on the turbine side of the WTG include: Pitch control, Stall-control, Yaw control, and Gear-train control in some turbines. Mechanical control can also be achieved to some extent by a combination of aerodynamics interacting with generator shaft inertia. These mechanical power compensation methods are not covered in this report. 4-1

Available Compensation Technologies

Power electronics can be an integral part of the turbine power conversion or supplemental to the main power conversion. Many induction and synchronous machine drives for wind applications are available with built in power-electronic controllers that provide smoothing and limited reactive power compensation support. Virtually, all the modern wind turbine generators are based on one of the following power electronic-based control modules: Scalar control of Rotor currents for DFIG, Dynamic slip control for Induction Generator wind turbines, Permanent Magnet Synchronous WTG with back-to-back voltage source converters, induction or synchronous WTG with back-to-back converters, frequency converter based direct-drive synchronous generator with grid-side Pulse-Width-Modulated (PWM) converter, frequency converter driven synchronous generator with gear box and grid-side PWM converter. On-Board Power Factor Correction Capacitors Induction generators, currently the most common of operating wind turbine types, require a source of reactive power in order to excite the generator. Drawing reactive power from the grid is generally not practical because this will depress the terminal voltage and increase line losses. Consequently, switched capacitor banks are typically located on board the turbine generator. These banks are switched on in steps, either upon generator connection or after the turbine comes up to speed. Three or four banks are not unusual, and these are separately switched based on the output current and depending on the desired power factor of the induction generator. The four switched banks shown in Figure 4-1 are typical. These are installed in the based of a 660 kW turbine. Each oil-filled capacitor is rated 3-phase, 800Vac, and 25 kVAr. Thus two steps of 50kVAr and two steps of 75kVAr are available and will provide a total of 250kVArs.

Figure 4-1 Switched Capacitors (10-25 kVAr units) are Used to Correct the Power Factor for a 660 kW Induction Wind Generator

4-2

Available Compensation Technologies

Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) The DFIG is a wound-rotor induction machine with a four-quadrant ac-to-ac converter connected to the rotor winding. The four-quadrant converter consists of two power converters connected back to back via a DC link, one line-side and one wind machine-side converter. The three induction machine rotor windings are accessible via slip rings on the machine shaft. The fourquadrant converters control both real and reactive power flow in either direction, by exerting fast magnitude and phase control over the rotor circuit currents. The feed from the rotor side controls speed and torque to achieve maximum power from the wind. The stator-side feed is controlled to maintain power factor and terminal voltage and hence reactive power regulation to and from the Wind turbine. Figure 4-2 shows the typical configuration of the doubly-fed induction generator machine.
Utility Grid

P, Q

(stato r)

Gearbox
750 kW woundrotor induction generator

Shaft Speed
P

Blades

(roto r/co nverter)

Power Converter (line side)

Power Converter (m achine side)

Switch Control

i abc(rotor)

Pgen ,Qgen

i* abc(rotor)
Rotor Current Com putation

T*

Torque Com putation

Lookup Table (T vs. )

Figure 4-2 Typical Configuration of the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland37

Modern wind turbines with doubly-fed induction generators employ either vector- or scalar-rotor current control schemes.
Electric Systems Consulting, ABB Inc, Integration of Wind Energy into the Alberta Electric System Stages 2 & 3: Planning and Interconnection Criterion, May 2004, 2004-10803-2.R01.4
37

4-3

Available Compensation Technologies

Vector Control of Rotor Current The vector control method employs magnitude and phase control in both the machine side and line side converters to achieve a smooth control of the active and reactive power output. Figure 4-3 shows the electrical control schematic of the doubly-fed induction generator.

Figure 4-3 Control Schematic of the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator38

The following defines the converter controlled currents shown in Figure 4-3. Idr - Rotor current component in phase with the stator leakage flux. Controls the machine excitation. Iqr - Rotor current component in quadrature with the stator leakage flux. Controls the electromagnetic torque. Idl - Line side current component in phase with the stator voltage. Controls the DC-link voltage Iql - Line side current component in quadrature with the stator voltage. Controls the reactive power output (or input) of the line side inverter.

Adopted from: Aggregated Wind Park Models for Analyzing Power System Dynamics, Markus Poller and Sebastian Achilles.

38

4-4

Available Compensation Technologies

The doubly-fed induction generator is relatively popular due to its superior control capabilities, such as fast-control, variable-speed, and controlled soft-start features, though its cost is higher than that of dynamic slip control turbines. Primary benefits of the doubly-fed technology are fast reactive and active power control (in the millisecond range), no external capacitors are required for compensation and DFIG machines require virtually no maintenance on electronic components. The main drawbacks of the technology include partial compensation of dynamic voltage flicker and short circuit power contribution in the event of faults. However, the new class of DFIG turbines in the 1.5 MW range offered by GE Energy offer low-voltage fault ridethrough capability and high value for wind integration. GE Energy was one the first to offer low-voltage ride-through capability on its 1.5 MW doublyfed induction generator machines. This low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) option allows the machine to stay connected to the grid during grid faults, thus keeping wind farms on-line by feeding reactive power during system events. It can be programmed to align with the operational/control parameters of the host transmission system. The ride-through option can be effective even below 30% of normal voltage at the point of common coupling, as shown in Figure 4-4.The system remains engaged until after the fault is cleared, providing support to bring the system back to normal operating conditions.

Figure 4-4 Low-Voltage Fault Ride-through Capability of the 1.5 MW GE Wind Turbines in Operation at Taiban Mesa Wind Plant, New Mexico39

Robert H Gates, The Economics of Wind and the Impact of Technological Advances in Megawatt Class Turbines, 2003 California Wind Energy Collaborative Forum, Davis, California, December 15, 2003

39

4-5

Available Compensation Technologies

Scalar Control of Rotor Current The scalar control of rotor current refers to magnitude control only and is less sophisticated than vector control. A thyristor-controlled external resistance is connected to the rotor of an induction generator via a slip-ring assembly. By controlling rotor resistance a small amount of speed control is achieved. The voltage drop across the external resistors is varied to maintain rotor current magnitudes constant and hence the torque is controlled. The operation is rapid and enables the turbine output power to be held constant even during gusty wind and over-speed conditions. As wind speed increases, the variable rotor resistance is increased in order to flatten out the machine torque-speed curve and thus allow machine operation at higher speeds. This type of variable speed control offers a slip range of roughly 10% over speed. In contrast, the doublyfed induction generator can typically run between +/- 20% slip (i.e. from 0.8 pu to 1.2 pu speed). Dynamic Slip Induction Generator Dynamic slip control is similar to scalar control of rotor current in DFIG as described above. The primary difference between the scalar control in DFIG and the dynamic slip control is that the latter offers a relatively lower level of reactive power control. This is due to the fact that wind turbines with dynamic slip control are not doubly fed. The Vestas OptiSlip is an example of a wind turbine that employs a dynamic slip control principle (Figure 4-5).
Utility Grid

Gearbox

Shaft Speed

Blades

Wound Rotor Induction Machine

Switched Capacitor Banks

Converter

Figure 4-5 Configuration of Dynamic Slip Control of Induction Generator (from Vestas)

The dynamic slip control of Induction generator is relatively inexpensive in capital cost and simple to implement. The bandwidth of variable speed operation that can be achieved is limited. This control technology provides active power control only and requires external capacitors for compensation. The control bandwidth is longer and hence dynamic slip control has a slower response to electrical fluctuations. High maintenance, no flicker compensation, lack of reactive power control and controlled soft-start capabilities are the main drawbacks of this technology. 4-6

Available Compensation Technologies

Static Inverter-Based Converter This type of control could be employed with most of the machines including wound-rotor and squirrel-cage induction generators as well as separately-excited and permanent-magnet synchronous machines. Figure 4-6 is a simplified diagram of a turbine generator feeding a static inverter for grid-connected variable-speed wind turbines.
dc

ac
dc

ac

to G rid

Figure 4-6 Full Conversion of a Turbine Generator Output for Grid Connection

The basic building blocks in modern static inverter are three-phase, fast-switching devices. These switching devices can be self-commutated or line-commutated based on voltage source topology or current source topology. Line-commutated devices such as the silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) have been the work horse for basic power conversion. Most converters being built today use self-commutated devices such as gate-turn-off thyristors (GTO), insulated gate bipolar thyristors (IGBT), and integrated gate commutated thyristors (IGCT). Figure 4-7 shows the basic IGBT and IGCT modules designed by ABB.

4-7

Available Compensation Technologies

Figure 4-7 Switching Modules for Static Inverters, Top Left IGBT Module, Top Right IGCT Module, Bottom Water-Cooled Thyristor Stack. Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland

Figure 4-8 shows Static Inverter-based control for variable-speed wind turbines.

Figure 4-8 Static Inverter Based Control for Variable-Speed Wind Turbines Source: ABB Motors and Drives, Finland

The control technique widely used in static converters is pulse width modulation (PWM). This type of converter provides for control of reactive power exchanged between the grid and the wind turbine independent of the active power. It also allows for independent control of speed to match the wind. As shown in Figure 4-8, it consists of two inverters connected back to back (cascade connection). Generally, the grid-side inverter is connected to the grid through a transformer or reactor.

4-8

Available Compensation Technologies

The difference in amplitudes between grid voltage and converter voltages is transformed into a reactive current. Additionally, if the two voltages present a phase difference, an active power component appears in this current, and active power is exchanged between the ac and dc sides of the converter. Since the static inverter is an autonomous ac voltage source, the inverter located at the wind farm side provides frequency control. The wind farm ac frequency may be adapted such that the generators operate at optimum efficiency as the measured wind speed varies. The dc bus could be equipped with a storage device to provide functions like generation leveling, primary reserve, and black start capability. The static inverter interface is a generic class of output power conversion and control. It has the ability to handle variable voltage and/or frequency with fast control and relatively small contribution to short circuit power, and it is increasing its presence in wind plants.

Comparison of Built-in Compensation Technologies

The performance of built-in compensation technologies can be compared on a generic basis. However, specific cost and performance advantages will likely depend on the wind system, the site and the electric grid connection. Table 4-1 summarizes the performance of various built-in wind turbine power converters. Both power electronic and electromechanical converters are covered. The performance and technology benefits are independent of the drive employed. Significant among these benefits are variablespeed operation, active and reactive power control, fast control capability (millisecond range), controlled soft-start and no requirement for compensating capacitors. Cost figures are not available at this time, but are likely to be higher on a $/kW basis relative to the cost of other technologies.

4-9

Available Compensation Technologies Table 4-1 Performance of Various Wind Power Converter Technologies
Power Converters Performance Variable Speed Active Power Control Reactive Power Control Time period of Interest Flicker Compensation Controlled Soft-start Compensation Capacitors Short Circuit Power Total Capital Cost $/kW Maintenance Doubly Fed Induction Generator Yes Yes Yes 1 ms Partial Yes No Contribute 1300 None GE (US/Ger) Vestas, NEG Micon (DK) Gamesa MADE ECOTECNIA (Spain) Nordex, Repower(Ger) Dynamic Slip Control No Yes No 100 ms None No Yes Contribute 1000 Relatively high Vestas (DK) Gamesa (Spain) Perm. Magnet Sync Gen. with Inverter Yes Yes Yes 0.5-1 ms Partial Yes No No * Low Enercon Lagerwey Northern Power (US) MADE None Ext. Magnet Sync Gen. with Inverter Yes Yes Yes 0.5-1 ms Partial Yes No No * Low Induction Gen. with Inverter Yes Yes Yes 0.5-1 ms Partial Yes No No * Low

Vendors

Auxiliary and Custom Power Compensation Devices

Several different auxiliary power compensation technologies are available for wind applications. These are in addition to and installed separately from the turbines. Auxiliary compensation includes switched capacitors and various types of electronic or custom power devices. In most cases, these compensation devices are already used in other power system applications. Consequently, there is a wide range of available technologies for wind applications. Devices covered in this section are switched capacitors, distribution static shunt compensator (DSTATCOM), distribution static VAR compensator (DSVC), static/dynamic voltage restorer (S/DVR), and static series compensator (SSC). Large wind farms often will need auxiliary power compensation equipment in addition to the power compensation provided by on-board controllers. The requirements of reactive power and thus voltage regulation at the point of common coupling are often significant for the reliable and stable operation of the grid. Equally important is the location of dynamic reactive power compensation. For example, better results for controlling voltage are achieved with a number of smaller compensation units located at selected locations than one large unit connected at a point. 4-10

Available Compensation Technologies

Auxiliary power compensation equipment that primarily includes fixed and switched capacitors is typically located in the substation in the vicinity of the wind farm. Capacitor banks provide dynamic reactive power compensation and VAr control at the wind farm level or at the point of connection to the grid. Modern power electronic-based control and switching techniques has enabled rapid switching of capacitor banks for transient voltage stability and dynamic reactive power compensation. However, capacitor switching could introduce switching transients that might need additional compensation. The newer genre of dynamic power compensation equipment called custom power devices are seeing a lot of applications in wind plants, especially when all the generators are of the induction type. Custom power devices usually perform more than one function, including reactive power support, VAr control, dynamic voltage regulation, harmonic compensation, and low-voltage ride through, protection. Fixed and Switched Capacitors Capacitor banks are the lowest-cost option, for providing reactive power compensation and managing VARs. Traditionally, capacitor banks are located at a centralized location in the wind farm, typically a substation. Switched capacitors cannot smoothly adjust their reactive power output because they rely on mechanical switches and take several cycles to operate (less than a second). As voltage levels fluctuate, capacitor banks are switched on or off to either inject more VARs into the system or absorb them, as required. The resulting effect is the system voltage is maintained at optimum levels consistent with the specification of the utility. Switched shunt capacitors are connected to the system through mechanical switches or circuit breakers and their real power losses are very small. Reactive power output from capacitors is proportional to the square of the voltage. This can be a problem during a contingency or a depressed voltage condition; because as the voltage falls, the reactive power supplied by the capacitors decreases according to the square of the voltage, causing voltage to fall further. Additionally, capacitor bank switching results in an immediate, abrupt step-change in the voltage on the grid/bus that increases the torque or the mechanical stresses on the wind turbine gearbox. Series capacitors can be used for series compensation, which employs controlled insertion and removal of series capacitors in AC transmission lines. Series capacitors provide reactive power to the power system according to the square of the line current the higher the line current, the more reactive power support. Due to characteristics of the impedance of a series capacitor compared to that of the line impedance, a series-compensated transmission line is electrically 40 reduced to a shorter distance, thereby increasing its transfer capability .

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff Report Principles for Efficient and Reliable Reactive Power Supply and Consumption February 4, 2005

40

4-11

Available Compensation Technologies

Distribution Static VAR Compensator (SVC) or (DSVC) Distribution Static Var Compensators (DSVC) and Static Var Compensators (SVC) are in a generic class of shunt-connected, thyristor-switched, passive-reactive components (capacitors and reactors), that provide line compensation in continuous or discrete steps. For large wind plants, DSVCs are applied at the grid connection point and act as a central exciter system. This means that the reactive power can be controlled even when the wind plant is not generating power. DSVCs use thyristor-switched reactive (TCR) components to eliminate voltage fluctuations and rapid changes in reactive power caused by line switching, faults and varying reactive loads. In order to limit switching transients, capacitors are switched on and off at the instants 41 corresponding to the current zero crossings . Figure 4-9 shows SVC configurations with TCR and IGBT units. The TCR units shown in the figure are switched current control devices, with anti-parallel connected thyristors capable of handling up to 4000 A at about 8kV per device. The IGBT-based static VAR compensators operate as AC/DC voltage source converters (VSC) with anti-parallel connected diodes, capable of handling 1500 A at 2.5 kV per parallel array. Figure 4-10 shows a commercial DSVC module for transmission applications.

Figure 4-9 Switched Capacitor Banks and Series Reactors at a Wind Plant in McCamey, Texas

41

Understanding FACTS Concepts and Technology of Flexible AC Transmission Systems, Narain G Hingorani , Laszlo Gyugyi,, IEEE Press, 2000.

4-12

Available Compensation Technologies

SVC -Thyristor Controlled Rectifier

SVC- Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor

Figure 4-10 DSVC Configurations with TCR and IGBT, Courtesy of ABB

The active power production and the reactive power consumption in a wind plant will vary with wind speed. An appropriately-rated SVC offers continuously variable compensation, and regulates terminal voltage by controlling the amount of reactive power injected into or absorbed from the power system. Figure 4-11 show the components of a typical SVC available for wind power applications from several manufactures.

Figure 4-11 Typical Dynamic Static Voltage Compensator, Courtesy of Schneider Electric, Also Available From ABB, American Superconductor Corporation, and Inverpower

4-13

Available Compensation Technologies

Distribution Static Shunt Compensator (STATCOM) or (DSTATCOM) The DSTATCOM is a distribution class, static shunt-connected compensator, which acts as a controlled reactive-power source, as shown in Figure 4-12. One manufacture describes this technology as D-VAr. This technology uses advanced power electronics such as gate turn-off type thyristors, sometimes in combination with traditional capacitor banks, to dynamically inject or absorb precise amounts of VArs into the system.

PCC

Figure 4-12 STATCOM Connection for Wind Farms42

Varying the output voltage magnitude of the STATCOM is the key to controlling the exchange of reactive power between the wind plant and the utility grid. Table 4-2 shows the typical representation for voltage and phase control, where ES and EU are the STATCOM and utility voltages, and S = U are the relative phase angles of the voltages. An energy storage device is assumed connected to the STATCOM to enable real and reactive power injection capabilities, even under reduced voltage conditions.
Table 4-2 Voltage and Phase Control Parameters for a Typical STATCOM Operation. Voltage (Magnitude) |ES| > |EU| ES| < |EU| |ES| = |EU| |ES| = |EU| Voltage (Phase) S = U S = U S > U S < U Reactive Power flow Capacitive-reactive Power STATCOM Utility Grid Inductive-reactive power Utility Grid STATCOM None None Active power flow None None STATCOM Utility Grid Utility Grid STATCOM

42

Marta Molinas, On Wind Energy Integration in Electrical Grids - Some Compensation Topologies, 2004

4-14

Available Compensation Technologies

The unit shown in Figure 4-13 is typical of a static converter that is currently operating in several utility battery installations. The unit shown is rated at 18 MVA with approximately 4000Vdc energy storage input and is transmission connected. This device provides dynamic reactive power control, also referred to as a flexible AC transmission system or FACTS type device. It is a versatile system that can provide has several different operating modes depending on the application. For example it will provide constant Q with frequency-dependent real power output, or constant P with voltage-dependent reactive power output. It also operates based on constant P and Q, or constant dc current, or other modes based on external inputs.

Figure 4-13 18 MVA STATCOM Installation, Typical of the System Used in Several Battery Plant Installations for Conversion and Control. GTO Thyristor Stack on the Right

Static Voltage Regulator (SVR) or Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) SVRs were originally designed for distribution loads and medium voltage lines to mitigate voltage stability problems. Static voltage regulators are series connected, solid-state power conditioners with fast voltage regulation and sag compensation functionalities. They are also referred to as DVRs for use in power quality applications. Figure 4-14 shows the single line diagram of a SVR. The numbered items are the main components, 1 regulator xformer, 2 booster xformer, 3 SCR tap switches, 4 SCR crowbar switch. Voltage stability is achieved by injecting into the line a voltage of compensating amplitude, frequency and phase angle and could be used for voltage regulation in large wind farms due to the buffering effect the device 43 can provide against voltage sag/swell events .

43

Eduardo Alegria, Janos Rajda Static Voltage Regulator (SVR) Ride Through Support For Semiconductor Facilities, Nov 1998

4-15

Available Compensation Technologies

Figure 4-14 Single Line Diagram of an Static Voltage Regulator (SVR)44

Using this technology, wind plants can isolate and protect themselves from transient system disturbances that are characterized by voltage sags or swells originating on the interconnected transmission or distribution network. The same protection applies to the utility grid system for protection against voltage fluctuations from the wind plant side. Figure 4-15 shows the Static Voltage Regulator (SVR) from Inverpower. This module is a threephase, series regulating system that has been specifically designed to mitigate the power quality problems associated with voltage sags that occur on the utilitys distribution and transmission systems. These regulators are available as distribution class and low-voltage class devices. The SVR is intended to operate or regulate the load voltage during source under-voltage conditions, specifically during source-side feeder voltage sags due to adjacent feeder faults, transmission level sags and other source-side conditions which may sag the source voltage.

44

Source: Inverpower

4-16

Available Compensation Technologies

Figure 4-15 4.5 MVA and 15 MVA Capacity Static Voltage Restorers from Inverpower

In systems where sag mitigation or a voltage regulator on the low voltage side is required, the Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) may be a more effective option. Additionally, a DVR can mitigate harmonic voltages on the utility grid system. The DVR generally uses large capacitor banks for energy storage, to provide power for reactive power compensation. S&C Electrics PureWave DVR (Figure 4-16) has been used at several sites to protect critical loads from power disturbances and voltage quality problems. The PureWave DVR is best suited for medium and high voltage applications. Developed in cooperation with EPRI, the DVR is available up to 44 MVAR in self-contained units of capacities 5, 9 and 11 MVAR each. 45 Multiple units can be connected together for higher MVA capacities .

Figure 4-16 Static Voltage Regulator or Dynamic Voltage Restorer, From S&C Electric

45

Harnessing the Wind, S & C Electric Company, January 2005

4-17

Available Compensation Technologies

Static Series Compensator (SSC) The SSC is a series-connected device is typically applied at the transmission level. It provides for a variable controllable voltage. Using the impedance of the series connection, a voltage that is higher or lower than the source voltage could be created on the load side. This implementation can be used in power quality applications, voltage regulation, and for cancellation of lower-order voltage harmonics. The reactive power compensation capability of SSC is limited. However, an energy storage device can be added to the DC bus of the converter to provide for additional compensation capacity, even at reduced terminal voltages. The series compensator can be implemented as a controlled voltage source that is connected in series with the transmission line to control current or as a variable reactive impedance. The variable-impedance series compensators are classified as: thyristor-switched series capacitor (TSSC) and thyristor-controlled series capacitor (TCSC). Figure 4-17 shows the connection schematic of two commonly used static series compensators.

S ta tic S y n c h r o n o u s S e r ie s C o m p e n s a to r

T h y r is to r c o n tr o lle d S e r ie s C o m p e n s a to r

Figure 4-17 Static Series Compensator (SSC) Connection Methods

Distributed SMES or D-SMES with Dynamic Capability A superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system is a device for storing and instantaneously discharging large quantities of power. These systems have been in use for several years to solve voltage stability and power quality problems for large industrial customers and have seen some applications on utility distribution feeders (D-SMES) to improve system reliability and transfer capacity. Both T&D applications are more for power control than energy storage. Applications for wind plants have been proposed but none are installed. The D-SMES is a shunt-connected device designed to increase grid stability, improve power transfer and increase reliability. Unlike other compensator devices, D-SMES injects real power as well as dynamic reactive power to more quickly compensate for disturbances on the utility grid and prevent voltage collapse. SMES devices are available in 250-kW modules. Inverters provide up to 2.3 times nominal instantaneous over-current capability and can also be configured 4-18

Available Compensation Technologies

for continuous VAR support. Figure 4-18 shows a mobile D-SMES system on a standard truck trailer.

ENERGY STORAGE

CRYOGENIC

DC-AC INVERTER

Figure 4-18 A Mobile Distributed-Superconducting Magnetic Storage System (D-SMES)46

Comparison of Auxiliary and Custom Power Compensation Devices

Reactive power support for wind plants can be achieved by employing auxiliary compensation devices and custom power devices. These devices can be connected at either distribution or transmission levels. The auxiliary devices such as fixed or switched capacitors and inductor (or reactors) banks are mature technologies, and are relatively inexpensive. Since these switched devices supply and consume fixed amounts of reactive power, they cannot smoothly adjust their reactive power output. Usually they rely on mechanical switches and take several cycles (less than one second) to operate. When capacitors are removed from the line, they must be discharged before reconnection, normally with discharge time ranging from two to fifteen minutes. In special applications requiring disconnection and fast reconnection, the capacitor banks are equipped with fast discharge reactors that will discharge the capacitors in about 120 milliseconds (ms), thus enabling them to be reconnected to provide voltage support to the power system. This section addressed Electronic or Custom Power technologies most suitable for wind. These include static VAr compensators and static compensators devices, capable of changing their output according to pre-set limits in response to the changing system voltages. Output from SVCs can be varied continuously, and they do not require the discharge time needed for switched capacitor banks. Static voltage regulator or dynamic voltage restorer and static series compensator can be used for wind applications as well, when series compensation is required.

46

Source: American Superconductor Corporation

4-19

Available Compensation Technologies

Custom compensation devices can provide strategic benefits to wind plants for improved dynamic voltage control and better dynamic stability of the host utility grid. Table 4-3 exhibits the various stabilization benefits offered by custom power compensation technologies.
Table 4-3 Mapping Technologies with Compensation Benefits for Wind Power
Compensation Benefits of Wind Technology Distribution Static VAR Compensator (DSVC) Distribution Static Shunt Compensator (DSTATCOM) Static Voltage Regulator (SVR) Distributed SMES (D-SMES) Static Series Compensator (SSC) Voltage Control (At PCC) Fast (Flicker) Slow (Reactive Power) Transient Stability Dynamic Stability Switching Transients Others Harmonic Mitigation (Value)

Fault RideThrough

The accuracy and fast response characteristics enable the DSVCs to provide high dynamic stability such as optimized reactive power control and damping power swings. Transient stability performance, including rotor angle stability and frequency stability, is average. SVCs can provide limited voltage control and compensation against switching transients that may be beneficial in wind power applications. Smaller SVCs can change output in a few milliseconds. Larger SVCs can make small changes quickly, but may take a few seconds to make larger changes. A DSTATCOM is similar to an SVC in performance in that it offers relatively superior transient stability. An advantage can be gained with the addition of short term storage, when the STATCOM acts like a current source. This feature enables better fault ride-through capability. To prevent tripping, DSTATCOMs are seeing applications in wind plants for both feeder support and for isolation of the wind turbines from feeder faults. Capacities up to 8 MVA have been observed.

4-20

Available Compensation Technologies

Since the SVR is a series-connected device, it can provide fault ride through support, and can help wind plants stay on-line during voltage sags and swells. The SVR also provides some transient stability benefits such as limited phase angle control for rotor angular stability. SVRs operate as controlled current sources and are less suitable for voltage regulation and reactive power control than STATCOM at the transmission level. Some distribution class applications of SVR have included energy storage to provide voltage regulation benefits. This function could be of value to wind plants that operate at distribution voltage, and interact with nearby end users loads and other power sources. The SVR is also similar in operation to the SSC. Seriesconnected devices are the most effective protection against faults and allow wind turbine ridethrough. The distributed SMES technology uses energy storage to provide real and reactive power control over several seconds timeframe. The transient stability performance of SMES is by far the best among custom power devices due to its capability to inject and absorb both active and reactive power, providing voltage, frequency, and rotor angle stability. The main reason for not utilizing more SMES is its relatively high cost. Differences in the effectiveness and cost of compensation technologies dictate that reactive power is provided in a mix of static and dynamic devices. While capital costs tend to dominate, the costs of providing reactive power also include generator fuel costs, operating expenses and the opportunity costs from not generating real power. The capital costs of static reactive power sources, such as capacitors, are orders of magnitude lower than the capital costs of dynamic custom power compensation sources, such as SVCs, STATCOMs, and D-SMES. The investment costs of such custom power devices can be broken down into two categories: Equipment costs Infrastructure costs

The equipment costs depend not only upon the installation rating but also upon special requirements such as redundancy of the control and protection system and communication with the substation control. Infrastructure costs depend on the substation location, where the custom power device is installed. For example, the costs include land acquisition, if there is insufficient space in the existing substation; modifications of the existing substation, e.g. if new HV switchgear is required; construction of a building for the indoor equipment (control, protection, thyristor valves, auxiliaries etc.); yard civil works (grading, drainage, foundations etc.); and connection of 47 the existing communication system with the new installation . Switched capacitor banks have the lowest cost and range from $1 million for 50 MVAr at 115 kV to $5 million for 200 MVAr at 500 kV. For typical SVC and STATCOM device ratings, the lower limit of the cost range shown in Figure 4-19 indicates the equipment costs and the upper limit indicates the total investment costs including the infrastructure costs.
FACTS, For Cost Effective and Reliable Transmission of Electrical Energy, Klaus Habur and Donal OLeary, Siemens AG
47

4-21

Available Compensation Technologies

Figure 4-19 Range of Equipment and Total Capital Costs for STATCOM and SVC Devices

The total investment costs shown, which are exclusive of taxes and duties, may vary by 10% to +30% due to the described factors. In general, in the 115-230 kV range, SVCs typically operate in ranges of 0-100 MVAr inductive and 100-200 MVAr capacitive, and cost $5 million to $10 million. At higher voltages, SVCs range from 300 MVAr inductive to 500 MVAr capacitive, and 48 cost $10 million to $15 million . Maintenance of power compensation devices is expected to be minimal, and similar to that required for switched- and fixed-shunt capacitors, reactors and transformers. Normal substation personnel can be expected to perform the maintenance. The amount of maintenance ranges from 150 to 250 man-hours/year/installation and depends upon the size of the installation and the local ambient conditions.

Energy Storage Used to Support Power Compensation

Table 4-4 compares the costs of energy storage technologies used to support power compensation in short duration applications. As indicated, the duty cycle supplies 10 MW for 30 seconds, occurring 10,000 times a year (roughly 27 times a day.). The $/kWh costs for the energy storage systems shown in the table might not seem realistic to many readers. This is because very short duration operations result in a very low capacity factor relative to energy storage capacity. Also, the storage technologies for short-duration applications utilize only their power capability, rather than their energy capacity, which results in the high $/kWh cost. It is also important to note that the kWh figures in Table 4-4 are not the energy delivered by the storage device, but the total energy stored.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff Report Principles for Efficient and Reliable Reactive Power Supply and Consumption February 4, 2005

48

4-22

Available Compensation Technologies

For a full analysis of energy storage costs and benefits on a life-cycle basis, as well as a full comparison of technologies, it is recommended that the reader consult the EPRI-DOE Handbook of Energy Storage, as well as the special supplement describing energy storage applications to 49 wind generation . Conventional battery technologies should become considerably less expensive in the future. In particular, nickel-cadmium can compete well with lead-acid batteries at this power level because they have substantially higher power densities than lead-acid batteries, and therefore require smaller and fewer batteries to do the same job. Sodium-sulfur batteries still look very attractive, especially since they can be expected to last at least twice as long as lead-acid or nickel-cadmium batteries. Finally, note that short-duration energy storage devices are still not cost-effective. In the case of SMES and flywheels, this is because most modern products are based on delivering power quickly rather than storing energy. Both technologies can conceivably do better, especially flywheels.

EPRI-DOE Handbook Supplement of Energy Storage for Grid-Connected Wind Generation Applications, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Washington DC: 2004. 1008703.

49

4-23

Available Compensation Technologies

Table 4-4 Cost Comparison of Energy Storage Technology based on a 30-Second Discharge Applications.
Energy Storage for Wind Applications: 10 MW plant with 30 seconds of storage, used 10000 times a year Initial Capital Cost Initial Capital for a 10 MW / 2.5 Initial Capital Cost Cost per kWh 2 ($/kWh) MWh Installation per kW ($/kW) $6 M $600 $72,000 $5.2 M $520 $62,400 $5.5 M $5.7 M $6.5 M $18 M $8.3 M > $100 M $62 M $12 M $6.7 M $550 $570 $650 $1,800 $830 > $10,000 $6,200 $1,160 $670 $66,000 $68,400 $78,000 > $100,000 $99,600 > $100,000 > $100,000 $139,200 $80,400

Pumped Hydro CAES Batteries Lead-Acid Batteries Nickel-Cadmium Batteries Sodium-Sulfur Batteries Vanadium Redox Batteries Zinc-Bromine Batteries 5 Hydrogen Storage SMES 6 Flywheels Ultracapacitors
1 2 3 4 5 6

Expected Cycle Life Expected Service Life (cycles) (years) N/A >25 years N/A >25 years > 10000 > 100,000 > 200,000 > 200,000 > 200,000 > 1000 > 200,000 > 200,000 100,000 1 7 15 10 10 <1 20 20 10

AC Round-Trip Efficiency 80-85% 4 >100% 30-50% 30-50% 60-70% 65-80% 65-80% 20-45% 90% 90% 90%

Service life calculation is based on operating conditions and cycle life, and does not include refurbishment Costs include initial installed cost for battery, power conditioning, and balance of plant, but not O&M or life-cycle costs Costs for small pumped hydro and CAES systems are extrapolated from larger systems (hundreds of MW). These systems are unlikely to be cost effective at small power levels. Because most CAES systems have a natural gas input, efficiency can be greater than unity Hydrogen storage figures describe state of present art; future performance may be significantly better Describes commercially-available power flywheels

4-24

5
SUMMARY
With rapid growth of wind power generation, the intermittent and variable nature of wind generators is beginning to affect electricity transmission and distribution system operations. Both short-term power fluctuations resulting from gusty winds and longer-term variations resulting from diurnal wind speed variations and shifting weather patterns can affect utility power delivery as well as grid operations. This report addressed the short-term power fluctuation characteristics and technologies available to smooth the fluctuations of wind power systems to be integrated into the utility grid. The topics addressed include available power compensation technologies and the need for, role of, and benefits of the available technologies. In all cases, the extent of smoothing and stabilization achieved from any one technology depends on its location and the characteristics of both wind power and the electric utility system. We found that the combining power electronics with a modest amount of energy storage can ease wind integration issues and add value to wind energy. The needed technologies are generally available. However, the added costs for power compensation technologies are not likely to be offset by integration benefits alone. Fortunately, there are a number of other benefits that may be realized when these technologies are incorporated into a wind turbine design or added as a separate substation-level device. The benefits include: Increased energy output with reduced mechanical stresses on load-bearing wind turbine components. Better fault ride-through performance to avoid tripping and loss of power generation after momentary line voltage sags and other disturbances. Improved local voltage profiles and power factors.

Selection of the most appropriate technology for a wind plant is very case dependent. A comprehensive evaluation of wind plant characteristics, the power system integration needs, and the specific system application will determine if smoothing technologies can be cost justified. The most likely case for smoothing power fluctuations is when the grid and the wind plant are otherwise incompatible, and energy production suffers or production costs increase when such wind fluctuations cause inefficiencies, curtailments, or instabilities.

5-1

Summary

In many ways the issues created by power fluctuations from wind power are similar to those experienced from end-user loads that ramp up and down over seconds to minutes, and outside the control of system operators. Also the wind plant can behave like some load applications where the effect of sudden wind gusts and calms are similar to occasional load starting or tripping transients. Consequently, many of the currently available power electronic devices being used in wind plant applications have already been created for other applications where grid reinforcement was needed. Knowledge of these available technologies, as well as their application and use, will assist utility engineers in assessing the need and choosing the most costeffective solution for smoothing wind plant outputs. Prior EPRI work in the area of custom power devices and flexible ac transmission is now finding application for wind plants. For example, research and development to improve grid power quality has led to flicker reduction and ride through devices that can be applied to wind systems. In another example, static voltage compensators can be used to reduce wind related voltage fluctuations. Also high power, short-term ride through technologies such as dynamic voltage restorers developed for power quality applications can offer stabilization and prevent tripping of turbines during system faults. Finally, power electronics built into wind machines for variable speed operation can offer rapid response and reactive power control that can ease wind power integration in certain utility grid scenarios. In conclusion, power fluctuations and outages of large wind plants can create unique grid operating problems. Solutions to these problems will ease the integration of wind power into the electric grid and effective grid integration is seen as a key success factor for wind power. The short-term wind power fluctuations that are addressed in this report are not unique to wind, and a number of technologies and solutions are available.

5-2

A
SAMPLE APPLICATION CASE
Wind generation in Canada is growing fast. According to the Canadian Wind Association (CANWEA) Canada expects to have 10,000 MW by 2010. This case illustrates how the growth of wind plants in an isolated region can lead to the requirement for significant investment in transmission-level electronic compensation. The case was obtained from reports prepared by CANWEA, ABB and the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO).50 As shown in Figure A-1, Alberta is currently Canadas most favored province for wind resource development with the installation of hundreds of Megawatts of wind capacity. The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) has received applications to connect approximately 500 MW of wind generation capacity, in addition to 275 MW of existing wind plants in the southwestern region of the province. In addition, there have been inquiries from interested parties for 1000 to 1500 MW of additional capacity.

Yukon

Alberta Saskatchewan

Qubec Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

Figure A-1 Overview of Installed Wind Capacity in Canada51

Integration of Wind Energy into the Alberta Electric system- Stage ,1, prepared for the Alberta Electric System Operator, prepared by Electric Systems Consulting ABB Inc, Report 2003-10803-2.R02.4, May 2004. 51 Canadian Wind Energy Association http://www.canwea.com/en/CanadianWindFarms.html

50

A-1

Sample Application Case

Figure A-2 shows the current and proposed generation, transmission and wind facilities in the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES). The major wind farms that are currently in operation close to, and around, Pincher Creek are the Summerview Wind Farm (131 MW), McBride Lake Wind Farm (75 MW), Castle River Wind Farm (40 MW), MaGrath Wind Farm (30 MW), and the Cowley Ridge Wind Farm (41 MW).

Figure A-2 Proposed and Existing Generation, Transmission and Wind Energy Facilities in the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES) as of May 200452

The McBride lake wind farm is the largest wind plant in the AIES featuring 114 Vestas, V47, 660 kW, conventional fixed-speed turbines on 50-meter towers. With a total capacity 75 MW the farm was fully commissioned for operation in September 2003.

Integration of Wind Energy into the Alberta Electric system- Stage 1, prepared for the Alberta Electric System Operator, prepared by Electric Systems Consulting ABB Inc., Report 2003-10803-2.R02.4, May 2004.

52

A-2

Sample Application Case

The Summerview Wind farm, located near Pincher Creek Alberta, features 38 Vestas V80, 1.8 MW, conventional fixed-speed wind turbines commissioned in September 2004, the first phase of the Summerview Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 68 MW. The second phase of Summerview is under development with 33, Vestas V90, 1.8 MW, Doubly-fed Wind turbines. The Summerview 2 Wind farm would add an additional 60 MW of installed capacity to the AIES and is expected to be operational in 2005. The 41 MW Cowley Ridge Wind farm is located north east of Pincher Creek and was the first wind plant that was built and added to the generation mix. Commissioned in two phases, 1993 and 2000, the Cowley Ridge wind farm has 55, ~350kW inverter-fed, variable-speed wind turbines from Kenetech. In October 2001, the Cowley Ridge North Wind Farm was commissioned with 15 more wind turbines. These turbines are Nordex, N60, 1.3 MW conventional, fixed speed machines. The Castle River facility has a total capacity of 39.5 MW with 60 Vestas V47 turbines, 660 kW conventional fixed speed turbines. Located west of Pincher Creek and just south of the Castle River recreation area. The Magrath facility is the newest of all the wind farms developed, with 20 GE Wind, 1.5 MW doubly-fed turbines. The Magrath facility became operational in September 2004 and currently has a total installed capacity of 30 MW.

Characteristics of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System53

The AIES has a wide variety of generation mix, but is primarily Hydro and Wind plants. The AIES is interconnected to BC Hydro through a single interconnection path, thus managing the Total Transfer Capability (TTC) is particularly important and challenging. Given the level of wind generation volatility, this may reduce scheduling capability on the inter-tie well below the required TTC levels to be compliant with the requirement for the 20-minute time window. The AIES synchronous inter-tie with BC Hydro is capable of transferring about 8% of the AIES peak load. It is interesting to note that the total proposed amount of wind generation by the 2007 time frame is 1202 MW, 13% of the present peak load in AIES. The Alberta BC inter-tie consists of one 500 kV line and two 138 kV lines. These three lines are considered to be one path. The rating of the path is 1000 MW export and 1200 MW import, however, TTC is much less, mostly due to security constraints on the Alberta side. The transmission reliability margin is presently determined to be 65 MW and the Available Transmission Capacity (ATC) varies with the Alberta load as described in the Operating Policies and Procedures, Alberta Electric System Operator, March 2004. Imported ATC varies from 540 to 715 MW while export ATC varies from 0 to 700 MW. Imported ATC is enhanced by applying an interruptible load reserve to ensure that the import does not become the largest contingency, and thereby set new reserve level requirements. Typically the export ATC is less than 200 MW during the day and likely zero over the evening peak. In off peak hours the export ATC is typically around 600 MW. The Alberta load typically will support an import ATC of over 600 MW during on peak hours and over 500 MW in lower load.
53

Electric Systems Consulting ABB Inc, Integration of Wind Energy into the Alberta Electric system- Stage 4, May 2004. 2003-10803-2.R03.4

A-3

Sample Application Case

The key operating concerns for wind in the AIES are: The variability of wind energy, and the associated costs of operation within market and system reliability constraints, Ensuring that automatic controls and protection on wind farms are designed and coordinated in such as way as to help maintain, rather than deteriorate, system security during major disturbances (e.g. low-voltage ride-through capability, automatic voltage regulation capability etc.).

Both long and short term changes in wind plant output need to be considered for effective integration of these wind facilities. In the following we will consider only the short-term variations.

Short-Term Variations
The short-term variability of wind power was determined from two sets of data from the vicinity of Pincher Creek. The first set was hourly average total wind generation, recorded once every hour over a four-year period. Based on the data shown in Figure A-3, the month with the greatest wind generation is November, thus a 1-minute sampled data set for the month of November in 2003 was also used. For the 1-minute data, discounting large swings, which are presumably due to tripping and restarting of wind farms, the largest step changes (from one minute to the next) were 17% up and 24% down. This is a percentage of total wind generation capacity monitored in Alberta (2003). Furthermore, 99.9% of the step-changes over the period were less than 10%, 99.7% were less than 5% and 79.0% were less than 1%. This is shown in Figure A-3 Frequency of Step Changes in Wind Power Over a 1-Minute Period in Alberta.

Figure A-3 Frequency of Step Changes in Wind Power Over a 1-Minute Period in Alberta

A-4

Sample Application Case

An inventory of existing wind machines, Table A-1, shows the variety of different types and manufacturers in the Pitcher Creek area of Alberta. The turbines vary significantly in both design and vintage. For example the older turbines by Vestas and Nordex are based on induction generators and require supplemental capacitance. The new Vestas V90 and the GE wind turbines are doubly-fed machines while the old Kenetech is the predecessor to the doubly-fed, using a full inverter interface to the grid. Both machines have variable speed control. The GE uses a vector control that also offers built in reactive compensation. The newer GE machines also offer fault-ride through capabilities while the other turbines from vendors such as do not have similar capabilities. A voltage regulation study performed by ABB discusses the need for voltage regulation and fault ride-through on the AIES. This study provides detailed analysis based on a simulated approach TM TM using power flow and dynamic modeling tools available in GE PSLF and PTI PSS/E .

A-5

Sample Application Case Table A-1 Generation in Alberta Interconnected Electric System54

Without fault ride-through capability most wind turbine generators (irrespective of manufacturer or type) will trip during a system disturbance. This is a concern since there may be a potential for tripping large amounts of wind generation when severe transmission level faults cause wide area voltage depression. This can cause a sudden and large deficiency in generation on the system, and could create serious problems during contingency conditions.

Integration of Wind Energy into the Alberta Electric System- Stage 1, Report number 2003-10803-2.R02.4 ABB Electric Systems Consulting for the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), May 2004

54

A-6

Sample Application Case

The solution is to simply require fault ride-through as a necessary feature on all wind turbine generators in future wind farms to be connected to the bulk transmission grid. Such fault ridethrough packages are currently available from several wind turbine manufactures and this capability is becoming more available and being continuously improved. The other operating concern is one of real-time voltage regulation. There are really two time frames of concern: Voltage regulation and recovery immediately during a system disturbance and for the few seconds following such a disturbance Voltage regulation during normal system operating conditions (over the minutes to hours time frame)

For voltage regulation/recovery immediately following a disturbance, the type of wind turbine technology determines how reactive power requirements are supplied. For machines with rotor excitation (e.g. doubly-fed asynchronous generators, or permanent magnet machines) the machine will have reactive power control capability (leading and lagging). Thus, if the unit is able to ride through a disturbance, and if the necessary controls have been installed in the wind farm, the individual machines will respond to produce the required reactive power to restore voltage. Also, voltage recovery can be obtained by installing a Custom Power device such as dynamic VAr support (SVC or STATCOM, coordinated with additional switched shunt capacitor banks if necessary). This device can effectively stabilize the response of conventional induction generators to major grid disturbances, if properly sized and located. Special configurations of STATCOM (also called D-VAR), may be able to prevent tripping of induction based wind generators, although this possibility has yet to be proven. Another finding of the ABB study was the ride-through capability potentially realized by a sudden reduction in mechanical input power during a system fault. Even so, a dynamic VAR compensator (in the form of an SVC) was required to prevent a system over-voltage; primarily used for its inductive capability. During the ramp down in power there is excessive reactive power produced by the shunt capacitors connected at the wind turbine for on-load power factor correction, and thus the SVC was needed. It may be argued that some capacitor banks should be disconnected during the disturbance or ramp down. However, then there would be the problem that the wind turbine cannot be ramped back up since the shunt capacitors would not be available to be reinserted for power factor correction and voltage support for perhaps several minutes until they have fully discharged. Thyristor-switched capacitors could be used to solve this problem; however, this is approximately equivalent to an SVC solution. Another issue is that of voltage regulation over the longer term, as wind power fluctuates, must be controlled to maintain a well-regulated voltage profile. SVC/STATCOM or control is quite fast, and such controls could be easily be coordinated with tap changers and switched shunt capacitor banks, which typically require many seconds to respond after a deviation in system voltage.

A-7

Sample Application Case

Solutions Options
With a conventional induction generator a combination of switched shunt capacitors and fastacting dynamic shunt compensation can be used to recover quickly and effectively smooth voltage variations following a disturbance. On-board electronic controls may also provide a solution to voltage regulation and fault ride through. Chosen Solution Custom Power STATCOM Based on the recommendations and results from the ABB study, AIES has installed two STATCOM (D-VAR) devices from American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC). The first stage at the Summerview Wind Farm was installed with an AMSC D-VAR55 system. The D-VAR voltage control system is located in a 138-kV substation near Pincher Creek. This system is essentially a combination of a +/- 8 MVAR STATCOM and three banks of 13 MVAR switched capacitor banks, which are coordinated to the VAR output of the STATCOM (See Figure A-4). The D-VAR system augments the reactive power compensation provided by the 56 wind farm's Vestas turbines. The Kettles Hill Project that is under development will also be installed with a D-VAR system from AMSC. Currently under development, this facility is located in the vicinity of Pincher Creek at the southern end of the Province of Alberta, near the border with Montana and Idaho. Proposed for completion in the spring of 2006, the facility includes 35 Vestas Wind turbines generating 63 MW of power. (Please note that table A-1 mentions GE wind turbines at the Kettles Hill Project, which could be an error, or a change that AIES incorporated since the ABB study report).

Figure A-4 D-VAR Voltage Regulating System for Fixed Speed, Conventional Wind Turbines at Summerview 1 and Kettles Hill (future) Wind Farms

55 56

D-VAR is a registered trade mark of the American Superconductor Corporation. Press Release statement - http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=86422&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=543790&highlight=

A-8

Sample Application Case

The voltage regulation system purchased by Kettles Hill consists of a single D-VAR unit and ancillary equipment including transformers and capacitor banks. In this configuration, the system will dynamically regulate the voltage for the entire wind farm at the point of connection to the transmission grid. Instead of allowing voltage to fluctuate up or down as wind speed changes, the D-VAR solution maintains a steady voltage for the power flowing onto the transmission grid. Operating this way, the D-VAR system makes it possible for wind farms to meet the interconnection requirements of the local transmission grid operator, in this case, Alberta Electric System Operator. There are alternate solutions to provide voltage regulation over longer periods as wind power output fluctuates. Some to be considered are: Switched shunt capacitors (automatically and manually controlled) On-load tap changing (OLTC) transformers Automatic voltage regulators from synchronous generators Any reactive capability available in the wind turbine generators or the wind farm.

Alternative Solutions On-Board Mechanical and WindVAr Another solution considered is applicable to conventional induction generators. This alternative is purely mechanical control where a fast reduction in mechanical power following a disturbance, which could be effected through quickly changing the turbine pitch (for active-pitch control designs). In this way the amount of over-speed on the wind turbine generators during the disturbance can be limited. Furthermore, once the disturbance has cleared the mechanical power is slowly increased back to the pre-disturbance value. One method to achieve this very fast mechanical movement is to use ultra capacitors to drive a motor to move the blades. In this way it may be possible to avoid potential transient stability problems associated with a sudden loss of wind generation. However, the question is whether such a technique, if applied to a number of wind farms in the system would still ensure transient stability following a major grid disturbance, following which the grid is left in a weakened state. In addition, even if transient stability is maintained under such circumstances, the question remains if the system voltage could remain stable over a longer period under the weakened system condition. This requires further studies with improved models and using midterm dynamic simulations. One issue is that the conventional induction machines when operated in conjunction with on line tap changers (OLTC) and switched shunt capacitor banks may see coordination problems. This is because the regulation in system voltage may become coarse and require continuous switching of capacitors and stepping of transformers leading to greater maintenance on these devices and more variability in system voltage (since switched capacitor banks and OLTCs can only effect discrete changes in voltage).

A-9

Sample Application Case

Another onboard solution could be electronic, such as doubly-fed induction generators (provided they have adequate reactive capability and a closed loop voltage regulation control loop). The electronic controlled output can help regulate system voltage and thus compensate for voltage fluctuations that may otherwise occur with variable wind generation. Since the response time of an SVC/STATCOM or that of the converter controls on a doubly-fed machine is quite fast, such controls can be easily coordinated with OLTCs and switched shunt capacitor banks, which typically require seconds to tens of seconds to act after a deviation in system voltage. The doubly-fed units, such as installed in MaGrath, could apply a centralized control along the lines advocated by GE Wind Energy for the WindVar system (See Figure A-5). This control system measures a single voltage (typically on the low voltage side of collector substation transformer) and acts upon the error between this measured voltage and desired voltage (plus current compensation) to adjust the power factor (or voltage reference) of the individual wind turbine generators throughout the farm. In this way, this control loop effects the voltage regulation at the collector substation, which is the point of interconnection to the transmission grid. The individual wind turbines may be operated in either power factor control (which was the typical mode of operation for units supplied by GE prior to 2004), or they may be operated to regulate their own terminal voltage. Irrespective of this fact, with the proper coordination of controls, the WindVAr system helps to regulate the voltage at the collector substation where the entire wind farm is connected to the transmission grid.

Figure A-5 WindVar Control a Centralized Voltage Regulation System Capable of Providing Both Voltage Regulation at the PCC and Fault Ride-Through for Doubly-Fed Induction Machines

A-10

Sample Application Case

The WindVar system is capable of providing both voltage regulation and fault ride-through capabilities in doubly-fed wind turbines. For conventional induction machines, D-VAR devices like STATCOM, with fixed capacitors, need to be used for reliable operation. Simulation studies were conducted by ABB. The Magrath wind farm was modeled as comprising doubly- fed GE 1.5 MW units, including a centralized voltage regulation system; that is, the GE Wind Energys WindVar control. The Summerview wind farm was modeled using conventional induction generators, together with an AMSC D-VAR system. All existing wind farms (commissioned before 2003) were modeled as conventional induction generators, with full power factor compensation (shunt capacitors) at the machine terminals. This study generated the following results: With no LVRT capability on any of the turbines for almost every disturbance potentially all of the wind turbines in the system trip off- line. This constitutes a loss of 267 MW of generation when all WTGs are at peak. If LVRT capability on the Magrath and Summerview units was considered, the tripping of these units can be avoided. The system voltage response at key transmission buses for the loss of the Peigan to Janet 240 kV line before and after the introduction of LVRT at Magrath and Summerview show only a minor difference the transient and the final voltage. For this case the difference in response is not very significant since the penetration of wind generation is relatively low.

A-11

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