The development of real-time wind turbine emulation for microgrid research

A bespoke 9kW wind turbine has been designed and installed. An important aspect of the wind turbine is that operational data can be remotely accessed and therefore applied to simulation and emulation work. The data can be used to develop accurate wind turbine models, improve power flow analysis and investigate system interactions based on real data. To investigate microgrid dynamics and power interactions a microgrid test bed is being constructed which will incorporate emulation systems and in particular a wind turbine emulator based on the operational data from the bespoke turbine. The wind turbine emulator will not use the conventional structure of rotational machines but will employ power converters to replicate the power generated. Use of the system will allow an accurate representation of an actual generation system but within a laboratory test bed environment where it would not normally be possible.