Improving the dynamic performance of wind farms with STATCOM

When integrated to the power system, large wind farms can pose voltage control issues among other problems. A thorough study is needed to identify the potential problems and to develop measures to mitigate them. Although integration of high levels of wind power into an existing transmission system does not require a major redesign, it necessitates additional control and compensating equipment to enable (fast) recovery from severe system disturbances. The use of a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) near a wind farm is investigated for the purpose of stabilizing the grid voltage after grid-side disturbance such as a three phase short circuit fault. The strategy focuses on a fundamental grid operational requirement to maintain proper voltages at the point of common coupling by regulating the voltage. The DC voltage at individual wind turbine (WT) inverters is also stabilized to facilitate continuous operation of wind turbines during disturbances.