Control strategies of DC-based offshore wind farm

The interest about offshore wind farm (WF) has increased significantly during past years. Usually, local distribution is achieved by an AC grid. For distance higher than 100 km, HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) connection is used for power distribution from farm to shore. Considering the recent improvements of DC-DC converters and theirs impact on electrical architecture, the generalization of DC link within the distribution scheme of the farm becomes easier and really interesting. In this paper, a wind farm topology is under study as well as different possible control strategies for converters. Especially DC-DC converter in WT and in offshore platform. Firstly, several control strategies for offshore wind farm will be studied. Then, a global comparison of the different technical solutions has been done in terms of: advantages and drawbacks for each control strategy; possible technological choices resulting from control scheme. Finally, a comparison about the control strategies for DC-DC converters for a wind farm topology is achieved by simulating Real-Time Simulations. Full-Bridge technology for DC-DC converter appears to be a suitable solution given it has a simple control mode, and less expensive technology than Double Active Bridge DC-DC converter.