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The rapid evolution of wind energy in reducing CO2 emissions worldwide is undeniable, which is, in fact, expected to continue or even increase its impressive yearly capacity growth. In this regard, optimizing operations and maintenance of wind turbines (WTs) and farms is considered to be one of the options for reducing the levelized cost of electricity of wind energy. This can be achieved by developing innovative condition monitoring methods. To this end, the use of the windowed scalogram difference (WSD) algorithm, based on wavelets, is proposed as an alternative solution, combined with current signature analysis (CSA). The electric generator is one of the major contributors to WT failure rates and downtime, and doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) are the dominant technology in variable-speed WTs. In the present work, operational data on an in-service WT DFIG are analyzed over a period of eight months, in contrast to the majority of the studies in this field, which rely on laboratory or simulated data. The evolution of the fault, namely rotor mechanical asymmetry, at an early stage, is analyzed and quantified implementing WSD to the stator current signals, supported by the previous diagnosis achieved through CSA. The combination of CSA and WSD shows strong potential for diagnosing and tracking, respectively, incipient faults in in-service WT DFIGs.

Traditionally, inertia in power systems has been determined by considering all the rotating masses directly connected to the grid. During the last decade, the integration of renewable energy sources, mainly photovoltaic installations and wind power plants, has led to a significant dynamic characteristic change in power systems. This change is mainly due to the fact that most renewables have power electronics at the grid interface. The overall impact on stability and reliability analysis of power systems is very significant. The power systems become more dynamic and require a new set of strategies modifying traditional generation control algorithms. Indeed, renewable generation units are decoupled from the grid by electronic converters, decreasing the overall inertia of the grid. ‘Hidden inertia’, ‘synthetic inertia’ or ‘virtual inertia’ are terms currently used to represent artificial inertia created by converter control of the renewable sources. Alternative spinning reserves are then needed in the new power system with high penetration renewables, where the lack of rotating masses directly connected to the grid must be emulated to maintain an acceptable power system reliability. This paper reviews the inertia concept in terms of values and their evolution in the last decades, as well as the damping factor values. A comparison of the rotational grid inertia for traditional and current averaged generation mix scenarios is also carried out. In addition, an extensive discussion on wind and photovoltaic power plants and their contributions to inertia in terms of frequency control strategies is included in the paper.

[EN] Wind power plants depend greatly on weather conditions, thus being considered intermittent, uncertain and non-dispatchable. Due to the massive integration of this energy resource in the recent decades, it is important that transmission and distribution system operators are able to model their electrical behaviour in terms of steady-state power flow, transient dynamic stability, and short-circuit currents. Consequently, in 2015, the International Electrotechnical Commission published Standard IEC 61400-27-1, which includes generic models for wind power generation in order to estimate the electrical characteristics of wind turbines at the connection point. This paper presents, describes and details the models for wind turbine topologies Types 1 and 2 following IEC 61400-27-1 for electrical simulation purposes, including the values for the parameters for the different subsystems. A hardware-in-the-loop combined with a real-time simulator is also used to analyse the response of such wind turbine topologies under voltage dips. The evolution of active and reactive powers is discussed, together with the wind turbine rotor and generator rotational speeds.

In order to effectively utilize hydro production flexibility, a sufficient amount of transmission capacity has to be available between the hydro-dominated part of the system and the part that requires operational flexibility. This chapter starts with a rough categorization of “base” hydropower flexibility, investigating the types of hydropower plants installed in power systems today. The “effective” hydropower flexibility available to support the integration of variable generation is a far more complex and case-specific aspect. It is discussed through national experiences. The chapter presents potential developments that would increase the participation of hydropower and discuss the ensuing challenges. Modeling a flow-based hydro system is a complex exercise, as is modeling the power system. Especially important is the correct assessment of hydropower flexibility to support power systems with a large share of variable generation (VG) and its value for storage. With increasing uncertainty and variability, a stochastic scheduling approach should yield lower costs., QC 20240314Part of ISBN 9781119508311Part of ISBN 9781119508281

An alternative approach for combined frequency control in multi-area power systems with significant wind power plant integration is described and discussed in detail. Demand response is considered as a decentralized and distributed resource by incorporating innovative frequency-sensitive load controllers into certain thermostatically controlled loads. Wind power plants comprising variable speed wind turbines include an auxiliary frequency control loop contributing to increase total system inertia in a combined manner, which further improves the system frequency performance. Results for interconnected power systems show how the proposed control strategy substantially improves frequency stability and decreases peak frequency excursion (nadir) values. The total need for frequency regulation reserves is reduced as well. Moreover, the requirements to exchange power in multi-area scenarios are significantly decreased. Extensive simulations under power imbalance conditions for interconnected power systems are also presented in the paper.

The expansion of wind power around the world poses a new challenge that network operators must overcome, namely the integration of this renewable energy source into the grid. Comprehensive analyses involving time-domain simulations must be carried out to plan network operation and ensure power supply. In light of the above, and with the aim of extending the use of the wind turbine models developed by Standard IEC 61400-27-1 and assessing their performance according to national grid code requirements, an IEC Type 3 wind turbine model has been submitted for the first time to Spanish grid code PO 12.3. Indeed, there is a lack of studies submitting generic wind turbine models to national grid code requirements. The model's behavior is compared with field measurements of an actual Gamesa G52 machine and with its detailed simulation model. The outcomes obtained have been comprehensively analyzed and the results of the validation criteria highlight that several modeling modifications, in the cases of non-compliance, must be implemented in the IEC-developed Type 3 model in order to comply with PO 12.3. Nevertheless, the results also show that when the transformer inrush current is not considered, the reactive power response of the generic Type 3 WT model meets the validation criteria, thus complying with Spanish PO 12.3.

Wind power plants are becoming a generally accepted resource in the generation mix of many utilities. At the same time, the size and the power rating of individual wind turbines have increased considerably. Under these circumstances, the sector is increasingly demanding an accurate characterization of vertical wind speed profiles to estimate properly the incoming wind speed at the rotor swept area and, consequently, assess the potential for a wind power plant site. The present paper describes a shape-based clustering characterization and visualization of real vertical wind speed data. The proposed solution allows us to identify the most likely vertical wind speed patterns for a specific location based on real wind speed measurements. Moreover, this clustering approach also provides characterization and classification of such vertical wind profiles. This solution is highly suitable for a large amount of data collected by remote sensing equipment, where wind speed values at different heights within the rotor swept area are available for subsequent analysis. The methodology is based on z-normalization, shape-based distance metric solution and the Ward-hierarchical clustering method. Real vertical wind speed profile data corresponding to a Spanish wind power plant and collected by using a commercialWindcube equipment during several months are used to assess the proposed characterization and clustering process, involving more than 100000 wind speed data values. All analyses have been implemented using open-source R-software. From the results, at least four different vertical wind speed patterns are identified to characterize properly over 90% of the collected wind speed data along the day. Therefore, alternative analytical function criteria should be subsequently proposed for vertical wind speed characterization purposes.

(c) 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works., [EN] While wind turbine (WT) power capacities continue to increase and new offshore developments are being deployed, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs continue to rise, becoming the center of attention in the wind energy sector. The electric generator is among the top three contributors to failure rates and downtime of WTs, where the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is the dominant technology among variable speed WTs. Thus, the early detection of generator faults, which can be achieved through predictive maintenance, is vital in order to reduce O&M costs. The goal of this paper is to analyze a long-term monitoring campaign of an in-service WT equipped with a DFIG. A novel method named the harmonic order tracking analysis is used with two main objectives: first, to facilitate the data interpretation for non-trained maintenance personnel, and second, to reduce the amount of data that must be stored and transferred for the diagnosis of the DFIG. This method is applied and validated for the first time on an operating WT.

The participation of wind power in the energy mix of current power systems is progressively increasing, with variable-speed wind turbines being the leading technology in recent years. In this line, dynamic models of wind turbines able to emulate their response against grid disturbances, such as voltage dips, are required. To address this issue, the International Electronic Commission (IEC) 61400-27-1, published in 2015, defined four generic models of wind turbines for transient stability analysis. To achieve a widespread use of these generic wind turbine models, validations with field data are required. This paper performs the validation of three generic IEC 61400-27-1 variable-speed wind turbine model topologies (type 3A, type 3B and type 4A). The validation is implemented by comparing simulation results with voltage dip measurements performed on six different commercial wind turbines based on field campaigns conducted by three wind turbine manufacturers. Both IEC validation approaches, the play-back and the full system simulation, were implemented. The results show that the generic full-scale converter topology is accurately adjusted to the different real wind turbines and, hence, manufacturers are encouraged to the develop generic IEC models.

An alternative approach for combined frequency control in multi-area power systems with significant wind power plant integration is described and discussed in detail. Demand response is considered as a decentralized and distributed resource by incorporating innovative frequency-sensitive load controllers into certain thermostatically controlled loads. Wind power plants comprising variable speed wind turbines include an auxiliary frequency control loop contributing to increase total system inertia in a combined manner, which further improves the system frequency performance. Results for interconnected power systems show how the proposed control strategy substantially improves frequency stability and decreases peak frequency excursion (nadir) values. The total need for frequency regulation reserves is reduced as well. Moreover, the requirements to exchange power in multi-area scenarios are significantly decreased. Extensive simulations under power imbalance conditions for interconnected power systems are also presented in the paper.