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Providing trustworthy and accurate multi‐frequency (or harmonic) models for renewable energy generators (REG) is an ongoing challenge for harmonic studies. There have been effective attempts to propose and design a test device to validate the harmonic models, mainly based on shunt current perturbations. However, using additional devices for perturbations is costly for converter‐based test sites. This paper provides the test specifications to extend the application of the grid emulators for voltage perturbations and appropriate harmonic model validation. Besides, the effects of the sequence couplings, initial emissions, and power set‐points on the test results have been overlooked in the literature. Considering these effects, this paper proposes a generic test methodology to obtain more accurate models in the sequence domain. The experimental verification of the proposed methodology is demonstrated using a 7 MVA grid emulator for testing of a 2 MVA photo‐voltaic converter and a 2 MVA Type 3 wind turbine. This way, the test challenges, specifications, and recommendations are presented using the MW‐scale experiments on different REGs. Furthermore, the effects of sequence couplings and initial emissions on the calculation results are investigated and compared. The proposed methodology is applicable for harmonic model validation as well as empirical modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrical test and assessment of wind turbines go hand in hand with standards and network connection requirements. In this paper, the generic structure of advanced electrical test benches, including grid emulator or controllable grid interface, wind torque emulator, and device under test, is proposed to harmonize state-of-the-art test sites. On the other hand, modern wind turbines are under development towards new features, concerning grid-forming, black-start, and frequency support capabilities as well as harmonic stability and control interaction considerations, to secure the robustness and stability of renewable-energy-based power systems. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new and revised test standards and methodologies to address the new features of wind turbines. This paper proposes a generic test structure within two main groups, including open-loop and closed-loop tests. The open-loop tests include the IEC 61400-21-1 standard tests as well as the additional proposed test options for the new capabilities of wind turbines, which replicate grid connection compliance tests using open-loop references for the grid emulator. In addition, the closed-loop tests evaluate the device under test as part of a virtual wind power plant and perform real-time simulations considering the grid dynamics. The closed-loop tests concern grid connection topologies consisting of AC and HVDC, as well as different electrical characteristics, including impedance, short-circuit ratio, inertia, and background harmonics. The proposed tests can be implemented using available advanced test benches by adjusting their control systems. The characteristics of a real power system can be emulated by a grid emulator coupled with real-time digital simulator systems through a high-bandwidth power-hardware-in-the-loop interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel simulation approach to evaluate new ancillary service controls in the context of large-scale wind power integration. We adopt and compare different types of turbine inertial control methods with the proposed modifications to cope with realistic wind conditions in the field. The simulation procedure is started with the software-based simulation, in which we employ the high-fidelity wind turbine simulator FAST that models a real three-bladed controls advanced research turbine (CART3). The advantages of using FAST are that it can provide convincing simulation results and address the interactions between turbine electrical and mechanical systems. The developed controller model is then rapidly prototyped for the real-time simulation with the hardware-in-the-loop scheme. CART3 will respond to a virtual frequency event triggered in the emulated electric grid modeled in a digital real-time simulator. The introduced simulation platform streamlines the procedure of designing turbine auxiliary controls, and these simulations results give insights on the turbine controls and their impacts on the interconnected power system, as well as the effects on turbine mechanical components. For example, the results indicate that the inertial controls tend to reduce the out-of-plane mechanical loadings in region 2, while such loadings are dominated by the pitch actions in region 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate the degraded power system inertia and undesirable primary frequency response caused by large‐scale wind power integration, the frequency support capabilities of variable‐speed wind turbines is studied in this work. This is made possible by controlled inertial response, which is demonstrated on a research turbine – controls advanced research turbine, 3‐bladed (CART3). Two distinct inertial control (IC) methods are analysed in terms of their impacts on the grids and the response of the turbine itself. The released kinetic energy in the IC methods are determined by the frequency measurement or shaped active power reference in the turbine speed–power plane. The wind turbine model is based on the high‐fidelity turbine simulator fatigue, aerodynamic, structures and turbulence, which constitutes the aggregated wind power plant model with the simplified power converter model. The IC methods are implemented over the baseline CART3 controller, evaluated in the modified 9‐bus and 14‐bus testing power grids considering different wind speeds and different wind power penetration levels. The simulation results provide various insights on designing such kinds of ICs. The authors calculate the short‐term dynamic equivalent loads and give a discussion about the turbine structural loadings related to the inertial response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an example of application of a modern test facility conceived for experiments regarding the integration of renewable energy in the power system. The capabilities of the test facility are used to validate dynamic simulation models of wind power plants and their controllers. The models are based on standard and generic blocks. The successful validation of events related to the control of active power (control phenomena in <10 Hz range, including frequency control and power oscillation damping) is described, demonstrating the capabilities of the test facility and drawing the track for future work and improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the penetration of wind energy in worldwide electrical utility grids increases, there is a growing interest in the provision of active power control (APC) services from wind turbines and power plants to aid in maintaining grid stability. Recent research has focused on the design of active power controllers for wind turbines that can provide a range of APC services including inertial, primary frequency and secondary frequency control. An important consideration for implementing these controllers in practice is assessing their impact on the lifetime of wind turbine components. In this paper, the impact on the structural loads of a wind turbine providing a power reserve is explored by performing a load suite analysis for several torque-based control strategies. Power reserve is required for providing those APC services that require the ability of the wind turbine to supply an increase in power. To study this, we performed a load suite on a simulated model of a research turbine located at the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Analysis of the results explores the effect of the different reserve strategies on turbine loading. In addition, field-test data from the turbine itself are presented to augment and support the findings from the simulation study results. Results indicate that all power-reserve strategies tend to decrease extreme loads and increase pitch actuation. Fatigue loads tend to be reduced in faster winds and increased in slower winds, but are dependent on reserve-controller design. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential for wind power plants (WPPs) to damp interarea modes. Interarea modes may be the result of a single or a group of generators oscillating against another group of generators across a weak transmission link. If poorly damped, these power system oscillations can cause system instability and potentially lead to blackouts. Power conversion devices, particularly, megawatt-scale converters that connect wind turbines and photovoltaic power plants to the grid, could be used to damp these oscillations by injecting power into the system out of phase with the potentially unstable mode. In our model, this power may be provided by a WPP. Over time, the net energy injection is near zero; therefore, providing this static damping capability is not expected to affect the energy production of a WPP. This is a measurement-based investigation that employs simulated measurement data. It is not a traditional small-signal stability analysis based on Eigenvalues and knowledge of the power system network and its components. Kundurs well-known two-area, four-generator system and a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based WPP are modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC. The WPP model is based on the Western Electricity Coordination Council (WECC) standard model. A controller to damp interarea oscillations is added to the WECC DFIG model, and its effects are studied. Analysis is performed on the data generated by the simulations. The sampling frequency is set to resemble the sampling frequency at which data are available from phasor measurement units in the real world. The YuleWalker algorithm is used to estimate the power spectral density of these signals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The electrical frequency of an interconnection must be maintained very close to its nominal level at all times. Excessive frequency deviations can lead to load shedding, instability, machine damage, and even blackouts. There is rising concern in the power industry in recent years about the declining amount of inertia and primary frequency response (PFR) in many interconnections. This decline may continue due to increasing penetrations of inverter-coupled generation and the planned retirements of conventional thermal plants. Inverter-coupled variable wind generation is capable of contributing to PFR and inertia; however, wind generation PFR and inertia responses differ from those of conventional generators, and it is not entirely understood how this will affect the system at different wind power penetration levels. The simulation work presented in this paper evaluates the impact of the wind generation provision of these active power control strategies on a large, synchronous interconnection. All simulations were conducted on the U.S. Western Interconnection with different levels of wind power penetration levels. The ability of wind power plants to provide PFRand a combination of synthetic inertial response and PFRsignificantly improved the frequency response performance of the system. The simulation results provide insight to designing and operating wind generation active power controls to facilitate adequate frequency response performance of an interconnection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wind measurements for identifying and characterizing wind resources require instrumentation and analysis techniques for defining signal processing features for gusts, turbulence, and inflow winds. This paper describes the importance of those features for determining responses of wind turbines. In addition, when the system is deployed, the instrumentation that must be coordinated to manage the utility connection requirements, such as assessing reactive power supply, fault ride-through, and power quality monitoring, is also discussed. The control schemes for wind energy generation systems are discussed and associated with the system signal processing required to control active power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A wind power plant (WPP) consists of a large number of turbines interconnected by underground cable. A pad-mounted transformer at each turbine steps up the voltage from a generating voltage (690 V) to a medium voltage (34.5 kV). All turbines in the plant are connected to the substation transformer, where the voltage is stepped up to the transmission level. An important aspect of WPP impact studies is to evaluate the short-circuit (SC) current contribution of the plant into the transmission network under different fault conditions. This task can be challenging to protection engineers due to the topology differences between different types of wind turbine generators and the conventional generating units. This paper investigates the SC behavior of a WPP for different types of faults. The impact of wind turbine types, the transformer configuration, and the reactive compensation capacitor will be investigated. The voltage response at different buses will be observed. Finally, the SC line currents will be presented along with its symmetrical components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]