Flicker Emission of distributed wind power: A review of impacts, modeling, grid codes and mitigation techniques

This paper provides a review of the technical issues related to voltage flicker introduced by continuous operation of distributed wind generators. It outlines the impact of voltage flicker on distribution feeders and the sensitivity of lighting equipment to the introduced voltage changes. The paper details the flicker problems encountered upon the connection of wind power to distribution networks and the effect the network characteristics have on flicker severity. It describes the required level of modeling for flicker studies, explains the flicker measurement procedure, highlights relevant grid code schemes for flicker allocation and provides a summary of present mitigation approaches pursued by utilities and recommended in literature.