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Converter outage fault ride-through control strategy for offshore MT-HVDC network
Offshore wind farms (OWFs) have received widespread attention for their abundant unexploited wind energy potential and convenient locations conditions. They are rapidly developing towards having large capacity and being located further away from shore. It is thus necessary to explore effective power transmission technologies to connect large OWFs to onshore grids. At present, three types of power transmission technologies have been proposed for large OWF integration. They are: high voltage alternating current (HVAC) transmission, high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, and low-frequency alternating current (LFAC) or fractional frequency alternating current transmission. This work undertakes a comprehensive review of grid connection technologies for large OWF integration. Compared with previous reviews, a more exhaustive summary is provided to elaborate HVAC, LFAC, and five HVDC topologies, consisting of line-commutated converter HVDC, voltage source converter HVDC, hybrid-HVDC, diode rectifier-based HVDC, and all DC transmission systems. The fault ride-through technologies of the grid connection schemes are also presented in detail to provide research references and guidelines for researchers. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of the seven grid connection technologies for large OWFs is proposed based on eight specific indicators. Finally, eight conclusions and six perspectives are outlined for future research in integrating large OWFs.
The installation of wind energy has increased rapidly around the world. The grid codes about the wind energy require wind turbine (WT) has the ability of fault (or low voltage) ride-through (FRT). To study the FRT operation of the wind farms, three methods were discussed. First, the rotor short current of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) was limited by introducing a rotor side protection circuit. Second, the voltage of DC bus was limited by a DC energy absorb circuit. Third, STATCOM was used to increase the low level voltages of the wind farm. Simulation under MATLAB was studied and the corresponding results were given and discussed. The methods proposed in this paper can limit the rotor short current and the DC voltage of the DFIG WT to some degree, but the voltage support to the power system during the fault largely depend on the installation place of STATCOM.
A model suitable for small-signal stability analysis and control design of multi-terminal dc networks is presented. A generic test network that combines conventional synchronous and offshore wind generation connected to shore via a dc network is used to illustrate the design of enhanced voltage source converter (VSC) controllers. The impact of VSC control parameters on network stability is discussed and the overall network dynamic performance assessed in the event of small and large perturbations. Time-domain simulations conducted in Matlab/Simulink are used to validate the operational limits of the VSC controllers obtained from the small-signal stability analysis.
Fault ride through of fully rated converter wind turbines in an offshore wind farm connected to onshore network via either high voltage AC (HVAC) or high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission is described. Control of the generators and the grid side converters is shown using vector control techniques. A de-loading scheme was used to protect the wind turbine DC link capacitors from over voltage. How de-loading of each generator aids the fault ride through of the wind farm connected through HVAC transmission is demonstrated. The voltage recovery of the AC network during the fault was enhanced by increasing the reactive power current of the wind turbine grid side converter. A practical fault ride through protection scheme for a wind farm connected through an HVDC link is to employ a chopper circuit on the HVDC link. Two alternatives to this approach are also discussed. The first involves de-loading the wind farm on detection of the fault, which requires communication of the fault condition to each wind turbine of the wind farm. The second scheme avoids this complex communication requirement by transferring the fault condition via control of the HVDC link to the offshore converter. The fault performances of the three schemes are simulated and the results were used to assess their respective capabilities.
This paper presents a new operational strategy for a small scale wind farm which is composed of both fixed and variable speed wind turbine generator systems (WTGS). Fixed speed wind generators suffer greatly from meeting the requirements of new wind farm grid code, because they are largely dependent on reactive power. Integration of flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) devices is a solution to overcome that problem, though it definitely increases the overall cost. Therefore, in this paper, we focuses on a new wind farm topology, where series or parallel connected fixed speed WTGSs are installed with variable speed wind turbine (VSWT) driven permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG). VSWT-PMSG uses a fully controlled frequency converter for grid interfacing and it has abilities to control its reactive power as well as to provide maximum power to the grid. Suitable control strategy is developed in this paper for the multilevel frequency converter of VSWT-PMSG. A real grid code defined in the power system is considered to analyze the low voltage ride through (LVRT) characteristic of both fixed and variable speed WTGSs. Moreover, dynamic performance of the system is also evaluated using real wind speed data. Simulation results clearly show that the proposed topology can be a cost effective solution to augment the LVRT requirement as well as to minimize voltage fluctuation of both fixed and variable speed WTGSs.
This paper studies the issue of the fault ride-through capability of a wind farm of induction generators, which is connected to an AC grid through an HVDC link based on voltage sourced converters (VSCs). National grid codes require that wind turbines should stay connected to the power system during and after short-circuit faults. In the latest literature, when the technology of HVdc based on VSCs is used to connect a wind farm to the power system, the blocking of the VSCs valves for a predefined short time interval is applied, in order to avoid the overcurrents and the tripping of the wind turbines. This paper proposes a control strategy that blocks the converters for a time interval which depends on the severity of the fault and takes special actions in order to alleviate the post-fault disturbances. In this way, the overcurrents are limited, the wind turbines manage to remain connected, and the AC voltage recovers quickly.
Multi-Terminal HVDC based on three-level neutral-clamped voltage source converters (VSC) is an ideal approach for the integration of DFIG wind farms to the power grid. However, dc-link faults and ac faults are major concerns for the safety and consistency of VSC-HVDC system. This paper demonstrates methods employing both full bridge and half bridge DC-DC converters for the fast clearance and protection of dc and ac ground faults respectively. In addition, control strategies incorporating decoupling control and feed-forward compensation on both grid side and wind farm side VSCs are also presented. Normal operations are observed to examine the performance of the MT-HVDC system, and also dc-link fault and three-phase ground fault at inverter side are simulated to verify the effectiveness of the approach employing DC-DC converters to suppress dc current overshoot in case of dc-link fault and mitigate dc voltage overshoot during three-phase ac ground fault. This proposed MT-HVDC transmission system and the fault-ride through capabilities provided by the dc choppers is validated by the simulation studies using detailed Matlab/Simulink model for normal operation, dc and ac ground faults.
A fully operational multiterminal dc (MTDC) grid will play a strategic role for mainland ac systems interconnection and to integrate offshore wind farms. The importance of such infrastructure requires its compliance with fault ride through (FRT) capability in case of mainland ac faults. In order to provide FRT capability in MTDC grids, communication-free advanced control functionalities exploiting a set of local control rules at the converter stations and wind turbines are identified. The proposed control functionalities are responsible for mitigating the dc voltage rise effect resulting from the reduction of active power injection into onshore ac systems during grid faults. The proposed strategies envision a fast control of the wind turbine active power output as a function of the dc grid voltage rise and constitute alternative options in order to avoid the use of classical solutions based on the installation of chopper resistors in the MTDC grid. The feasibility and robustness of the proposed strategies are demonstrated and discussed in the paper under different circumstances.
This paper includes a technical feasibility study on the use of an HVDC diode-based rectifier together with an onshore voltage-source converter (VSC) for the connection of large offshore wind farms. A distributed control algorithm for the wind farm is used, where all the wind turbines contribute to the offshore-grid voltage and frequency control while allowing wind turbine optimal power tracking. Moreover, the proposed system shows good fault ride-through performance to solid faults at the onshore connection point, wind-farm ac grid, and HVDC line. The technical feasibility of the proposed solution has been validated by means of detailed PSCAD/EMTDC simulations. The efficiency of the complete system has also been studied and found to compare favorably with that of a VSC-HVDC-inverter station.
This paper provides an overview of grid code technical requirements regarding the connection of large wind farms to the electric power systems. The grid codes examined are generally compiled by transmission system operators (TSOs) of countries or regions with high wind penetration and therefore incorporate the accumulated experience after several years of system operation at significant wind penetration levels. The paper focuses on the most important technical requirements for wind farms, included in most grid codes, such as active and reactive power regulation, voltage and frequency operating limits and wind farm behaviour during grid disturbances. The paper also includes a review of modern wind turbine technologies, regarding their capability of satisfying the requirements set by the codes, demonstrating that recent developments in wind turbine technology provide wind farms with stability and regulation capabilities directly comparable to those of conventional generating plants.
Since wind generation is one of the most mature renewable energy technologies, it will have the greatest share of future renewable energy portfolio. Due to the special characteristics of the wind generation, it requires extensive research to explore the best choice for wind power integration. In light of the practical project experience, this paper explores the feasibility of using HVdc transmission technology, particularly multiterminal HVdc (MTDC), as one of the preferable solutions to solve the grid interconnection issue of wind generation. This paper mainly focuses on the application of the hybrid MTDC to integrate wind farms into the electric power grid. A five-terminal hybrid MTDC model system including a large capacity wind farm is set up in PSCAD/EMTDC, in which the corresponding control strategy is designed. The operation characteristic of the hybrid system is studied, and the proposed control strategy is verified through simulation under various conditions, including wind speed variation and faults on ac side and dc side.
In this paper, a new general voltage source converter high voltage direct current (VSC MTDC) model is derived mathematically. The full system model consists of the converter and its controllers, DC circuit equations, and coupling equations. The main contribution of the new model is its valid for every possible topology of the DC circuit. Practical implementation of the model in power system stability software is discussed in detail. The generalized DC equations can all be expressed in terms of matrices that are byproducts of the construction of the DC bus admittance matrix. Initialization, switching actions resulting in different topologies and simulation of the loss of DC lines amount to a simple calculation or recalculation of the DC bus admittance matrix. The model is implemented in Matlab. Examples on a two- and six-terminal system show that the new model is indeed capable of accurately simulating VSC MTDC systems with arbitrary topology.
Security requires that a system continues to function even when any one subsystem fails. A multiterminal HVDC system consists of N voltage-source converters (VSCs) exchanging power through a DC network. When any one converter is lost, before the surviving (N-1) converters have time to re-establish a new power balance, the excess DC power can produce voltage spikes which are destructive to the power electronic switches. The paper shows that the advanced DC voltage controller (ADCVC), which is a higher hierarchical controller, can meet the targeted voltage margin.
Examination of Fault-Ride-Through Methods for Off-Shore Wind Farms with VSC-Based Multi- terminal HVDC
- U Karaagac
- J Mahseredjian
- H Saad
- S Jensen
- L Cai
Ride-Through Methods for Wind Farms Connected to the Grid via a VSC-HVDC Transmission
- L Y J Harnefors
- M Hyttinen
- T Jonsson