Simulation of faults in DFIG-based wind farms

Demand for wind power has increased considerably due to technological advances and favorable government policies. As a result, large wind farms with multi-megawatt capacity are connected to sub-transmission and transmission systems. With high penetrations of wind energy, performance of the overall system is affected by the technical impacts introduced by wind turbine generators (WTG). Fault current contributions from WTGs will have a significant impact on the protection and control of the wind farm as well as the interconnected system. This paper initially describes the modeling aspects of Doubly Fed induction Generator (DFIG) during steady state and faulty conditions. Further, a 9 MW wind farm with 6 units of 1.5 MW DFIG is modeled in Matlab/Simulink and, voltage and current waveforms are presented and discussed for symmetrical and asymmetrical faults created within the wind farm and in the power system.