March 26-29

Low Voltage Ride-Through of Variable Speed Wind Turbines with Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator
Weihao Hu Institute of Energy Technology Aalborg University, 9210, Aalborg, Denmark Electrical Engineering College Xian Jiaotong University, 710049, Xian, China E-mail: whu@iet.aau.dk Zhe Chen Institute of Energy Technology Aalborg University, 9210, Aalborg, Denmark E-mail: zch@iet.aau.dk Yue Wang Electrical Engineering College Xian Jiaotong University, 710049, Xian, China E-mail: yuewang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn Zhaoan Wang Electrical Engineering College Xian Jiaotong University, 710049, Xian, China E-mail: zawang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Copyright 2009 MC2D & MITI

Abstract: This paper presents a simulation model of a MW-level variable speed wind turbine with a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and a full-scale converter developed in the simulation tool of PSCAD/EMTDC. The low voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability of the wind turbine is investigated. A new control scheme for the wind turbine that keeps it connected to the grid during grid faults is designed and simulated. Its design has special focus on the regulation of the DClink voltage. Simulation results show the proposed control scheme is an effective measure to improve LVRT capability of variable speed wind turbines with PMSG. Keywords: Low voltage ride-through, wind power generation systems, permanent magnet synchronous generator. 1. Introduction Because of energy shortage and environment pollution, the renewable energy, especially wind energy has become more considerable all over the world [1]. Direct drive variable speed wind turbines based on multipole permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) and full-scale converter have some advantages such as no gearbox and good controllability [2], [3]. With an increasing amount of wind turbines installed, the behavior of wind turbines during grid faults becomes more important. Currently, most of the grid code specifications require that

the wind turbines must be able to ride-through grid faults that bring voltages down to very low levels. In recent years, some publications have been presented on the LVRT capability of the wind turbine with PMSG. The braking resistor is used to improve the LVRT capability [4]. HVDC link connecting a wind farm to the grid may be used to enhance the LVRT capability of a wind farm [5]. In this paper, a control scheme is proposed to improve LVRT capability of the variable speed wind turbine with PMSG. The control scheme can regulate the DC-link voltage during grid faults in order not to damage both the generator-side converter and the grid-side converter.

interaction analysis between wind farms and the power system to which they are connected. A wind model which is applied in this paper has been developed [6]. The rotor wind model provides an equivalent wind speed for each wind turbine, which is conveniently used as an input to a simplified aerodynamic model of the wind turbine. A simplified aerodynamic model is normally used when the electrical behavior of the wind turbine is the main interest of the study. The relation between the wind speed and aerodynamic torque may be described by the following equation:

Tw =

1 2 C ( , ) R 3veq P 2

(1)

2. Wind Turbine Model The wind turbine considered here applies a PMSG, using a back-to-back full-scale PWM voltage source converter connected to the grid. Variable speed operation of the wind turbine can be realized by appropriate adjustment of the rotor speed and pitch angle. A complete wind turbine model includes the wind speed model, the aerodynamic model of the wind turbine, the mechanical model of the transmission system and models of the electrical components, namely the PMSG, PWM voltage source converters, transformer, and the control and supervisory system. Fig. 1 illustrates the main components of the grid connected wind turbine. The Traditional control schemes are also shown in this figure, which will be discussed in Section 3. Wind simulation plays an important task in the wind turbine modeling, particularly for dynamic

where Tw is the aerodynamic torque extracted from the wind (Nm); is the air density (kg/m3); R is the wind turbine rotor radius (m); veq is the equivalent wind speed (m/s); is the the tip speed ratio; is the wind turbine rotor speed (rad/s); and Cp is the aerodynamic efficiency of the rotor. As for the mechanical model, emphasis is put on the parts of the dynamic structure of the wind turbine that contribute to the interaction with the grid. Therefore, only the drive train is considered, while the other parts of the wind turbine structure, e.g. tower and flap bending modes, are neglected. PSCAD/EMTDC software library provides a model of PMSG. In this paper, the PMSG model with detailed description of the stator direct and quadrature axis currents, the magnetic strength and the rotor speed is applied, using generalized machine theory [7]. pitch angle of the rotor (deg), = R / veq is

Fig. 1. Block diagram of a grid connected wind turbine with a PMSG and a full-scale converter.

3. Traditional Control Schemes Variable speed wind turbines may have two different control goals, depending on the wind speed. In low to moderate wind speeds, the control goal is maintaining a constant optimum tip speed ratio for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. In high wind speeds, the control goal is to keep the rated output power in order not to overload the system. Vector-control techniques have been well developed for PMSG using back-to-back PWM converter. Traditionally, the objective of the vector-control scheme for the generator-side PWM converter is to control the optimal power tracking for maximum energy capture from the wind by adjusting the speed of the wind turbine. The objective of the vectorcontrol scheme for the grid-side PWM converter is to keep the DC-link voltage constant regardless of the magnitude of the generator power, while keeping sinusoidal grid currents. When a fault occurs in the external grid, a voltage dip occurs at the AC output terminals of the wind turbine. During the fault, the active power Pgrid that the wind turbine can export to the grid is reduced with the terminal voltage. As the generator-side converter is decoupled to the grid, the generator continues to generate the normal active power Pgen. Therefore there is an energy imbalance in the back-to-back converters. The energy imbalance will cause the DC-link voltage Vdc to increase uncontrollably. This increased DC-link voltage will damage both the generator-side converter and the gridside converter. The energy imbalance in the back-to-back converters is shown in Fig. 2.

4. New Control Schemes A new control scheme is proposed in this paper to improve the LVRT capability. The control schemes of both the generator-side converter and the grid-side converter are shown in Fig. 3. The objective of the vector-control scheme for the generator-side converter is to maintain the DC-link voltage Vdc constant. It may also be responsible for controlling reactive power flow between the generator and the generator-side converter by adjusting Qs _ ref . At the same time, grid-side converter controls the optimal power tracking for maximum energy capture from the wind by adjusting the active power reference Pref . Normally, the reference values of both generator-side and grid-side converters, Qs _ ref and Qg _ ref are set to zero to ensure unity power factor operation and reduce currents of both generator-side and grid-side converters. During the grid fault, the active power Pgrid transferred by the grid-side converter is reduced with the terminal voltage. In order to maintain the DC-link voltage Vdc constant, the generatorside converter will reduce the generator power Pgen by decreasing the generator current automatically. The uncontrollable increase of DC-link voltage caused by the energy imbalance in the traditional control scheme will not exist in the proposed control scheme. But the energy imbalance still exists and stores in the kinetic energy of the large rotating masses. The control scheme may cause the acceleration of the wind turbine. This acceleration of wind turbine will trigger the pitch control to decrease the input aerodynamic power from the wind, if the wind turbine speed increases above its rated value. 5. LVRT Simulation Results Figs. 4-6 illustrate the LVRT behavior of variable speed wind turbine with PMSG during grid faults. Fig. 4 shows the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage during the fault. The PCC voltage during the fault decreases very quickly when the 3-phase short circuit fault occurs. The LVRT behavior of the traditional control scheme is shown in Fig. 5. During the fault, the active power Pgrid that the wind turbine can export to the grid is reduced with the terminal voltage. But the generator active power Pgen

igen igrid

Pgen

ic

Vdc Pgrid

Fig. 2. The energy imbalance in the back-to-back converters.

remains almost constant. The DC-link voltage Vdc increases uncontrollably if the traditional control scheme is used. The LVRT behavior of the new control scheme is shown in Fig. 6. During the fault, the generator power Pgen decreases as quickly as the grid power Pgrid. So the proposed control scheme may control the DC-link voltage in a certain limit in order not to damage the converters. But the energy imbalance still exists and stores in the kinetic energy of the large rotating masses of the wind turbine. The Rotor speed of the wind turbine increases during the fault.

Based on the simulation results, the DC-link voltage increases over the limit and needs additional protection when the traditional control scheme is used. The DC-link voltage may be controlled in a certain limit and the wind turbine speed only increases a little due to the large rotating masses of the wind turbine when the new control scheme is used. These results show that the new control scheme is an effective measure to improve LVRT capability of variable speed wind turbines with PMSG.

Transformer
2.5MVA

is
vs

ig

Vdc

vg

veq

Vdc _ ref

Qs _ ref

Pref

Qg _ ref

Fig. 3. The new control schemes of both the generator-side converter and the grid-side converter.

Fig. 4. The PCC voltage during the fault.

(a) Generator power and grid power.

(b) DC-link voltage.

(b) DC-link voltage.

(c) Wind turbine speed. Fig. 5. The LVRT behavior of the traditional control scheme.

(c) Wind turbine speed. Fig. 6. The LVRT behavior of the new control scheme.

6. Conclusion This paper describes the model of a MW-level variable speed wind turbines with permanent magnet synchronous generators using the fullscale back-to-back PWM voltage source converters. A new control scheme is proposed to enhance the low voltage ride-through. The generator-side converter maintains the DC-link voltage constant and grid-side converter controls the output active power of the wind turbine. Simulation results show the proposed control scheme is an effective measure to improve LVRT capability of variable speed wind turbines with PMSG.

References
(a) Generator power and grid power. [1] F. Blaabjerg, R. Teodorescu, M. Liserre and A. V. Timbus, Overview of Control and

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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