The challenge of operating wind power plants within a microgrid framework

The challenges facing the operation of intermittent power sources, such as wind power, in capacity-limited microgrids are discussed. Solutions are explored for stable operation of the microgrid in islanded mode in the presence of wind power generations. Energy storage can be used to provide ride through for momentary drop in wind power or for sudden increase in loads. A wind plant pitch angle controller (PAC) and a rotor speed controller (RSC) are introduced for wind power plant active power adjustment to help with frequency regulation. The use of Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) is discussed for stabilizing the microgrid voltage during short circuit faults. The strategies are tested on several test systems.