Ride-through capability predictions for wind power plants in the ERCOT network

Utility system operators and engineers now want a better understanding of the impacts of large wind farms on grid stability before the farms are interconnected to the grid. Utilities need wind farm electrical models and methods of analysis that helps them analyze potential problems of grid stability. Without the necessary tools and knowledge of the behavior of large wind power plants, utilities are reluctant to integrate more wind power into the grid. The dynamic models used in this paper were developed by Power Technologies Inc. (PTI), under subcontract from ERCOT. A three-phase fault on important buses are tested, and the impact on wind farms are investigated. Two methods, dynamic analysis and steady state analysis (Z_bus prediction), is used to predict the low voltage ride through capability of the wind farms. Comparison between the two methods are presented.