Analysis of Transmission Systems with High Penetration of Wind Power using

DFIG based Wind Farms during Voltage Sags

D. J. Figueroa, R. R. Avila, M. B. C. Salles, Member IEEE.

University of So Paulo, Brazil
djfigueroac@unal.edu.co

AbstractAt the present time, the wind power is one of the most accepted renewable energy sources and its
penetration in electrical power systems has increased considerably in the last 10 years. The high penetration of
wind power influences the electrical power system performance. In this paper the behavior of a transmission
system with a high level of wind energy penetration using doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind
farms is analyzed using computational simulations. The technical factors analyzed are steady-state voltage
profile the dynamics during voltage sags.

I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, wind power has become a pillar of the electric energy systems in many countries and is
recognized as a reliable source of electricity. By the end of 2011, the worldwide wind capacity reached 237
GW [1]. Wind power contribution to the energy supply has reached a substantial share even on the global
level: All wind turbines installed around the globe by the end of 2011 contribute potentially 500 TWh to the
worldwide electricity supply (3 % of the global electricity demand) [1]. Consequently, the penetration of
wind turbines in electrical power systems has increased and they may influence overall power system
behavior. It is therefore important to study the performance of wind turbines in electrical power systems and
their interaction with other generation equipment and with loads.

The most common wind turbine technology installed in systems is the doubly-fed induction
generator (DFIG). In this work, the impact of the wind energy penetration in a transmission system,
analyzing technical factors such as steady-state voltage profile, voltage stability, and voltage sags. The study
was carried out comparing the mentioned technical factors for different values of wind power generated in
the electrical system. The simulations were performed on Matlab/Simulink toolbox SimPower systems. The
digest is organized as follows. In Section II is included the description of the test system, partial simulation
results are reported in Section III.

II. SIMULATED SYSTEM MODEL

It was developed a similar methodology to the used in [2], comparing the impact of different
quantities of wind power generated in a transmission system. The transmission system used is the IEEE 9
bus test system, including two 90 MVA Wind Farms. The single-line diagram of the system used is shown in
Fig. 1. Such network consists of a 230 kV, 60 Hz ring transmission system with three generators (buses 1, 2
and 3), three step up transformers (buses 1 to 4, 2 to 8 and 3 to 6) and three loads (buses 5, 7 and 9).
Considering two 90 MW wind farms (53.75% of the total power demand) at buses 2 and 3 to supply three
loads located at buses 5, 7 and 9. For this situation, simulation studies were carried out to verify the
performance of DFIG based Wind Farms in this electric system.

Fig. 1. IEEE 9 transmission system with Wind Power generators.

III. PARTIAL RESULTS

A. STEADY-STATE VOLTAGE PROFILE
There were established scenarios with different wind power penetration levels. It was also studied
the influence of the two DFIG control type modes (Voltage regulation and VAr regulation).The network
voltage profiles for DFIG Wind Farms with unitary power factor and constant voltage are showed in Fig. 2.

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Steady-state voltage profile for different amount of Wind Power generated. (a) DFIG in VAr regulation mode. (b) DFIG
in Voltage regulation mode.

It can be seen that some nodal voltages will be below the inferior limit in absence of wind turbines,
also it can be observed that the presence of Wind Farms help the system to maintain the voltage values
within the permitted limits. The bigger the wind power penetration, the higher the nodal voltage values are,
reducing the energy losses in the case of VAr regulation control mode. The voltage profile has a uniform
behavior, almost independent of the wind power generation when the voltage control mode is used. This is
due to the fact that the power electronics associated to wind generators are capable to inject the reactive
power required to maintain their voltage output constant when this mode control is used. The most benefit
case is related to the constant voltage control mode in DFIG based wind farms.

B. VOLTAGE SAGS
The incidence of unbalanced short-circuits in transmission systems is relatively frequent. During
these short circuits, voltage sags could take place in the system buses. The presence of wind turbines may
affect the grid behavior during voltage sags. Therefore, it was analyzed the system performance in the
presence of a voltage sag with magnitude 30% and duration 250 ms. Different levels of wind power
penetrations were considered (100%, 63.63% and 36.36% of wind power capacity). The simulation results
for the two DFIG based wind farm control modes for the bus 9 are illustrated in Fig. 3.

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Response of the nodal voltage of bus 9 for a 30% sag applied at bus 1. (a) DFIG in VAr regulation mode. (b) DFIG in Voltage
regulation mode.

It can be observed that the installation of wind farms benefits the voltage sag magnitude; it occurs
because the wind farms supply power, reducing the power flow from Swing bar. When there is no generation
besides the Swing bar the voltage sag magnitude is 0.66 in pu. Using the VAr regulation control mode for the
generators this value increases with the higher level of wind power penetration; however, in the case of
100% wind power generation, the voltage magnitude during the sag is smaller than the other two cases of
percentage of wind power penetration. This occurs because the wind farms supply enough active power to
feed the loads but there is no reactive power generation besides the provided by the Swing bar. Moreover, in
the case of using the voltage regulation control mode, the operation is better than in the previous case due to
there is reactive power injection by the wind farms; the influence of wind power penetration for this control
mode it is noted in the transient duration, which is bigger when the penetration percentage is higher.
 The power performance during the sag can be observed in fig. 4 for the wind farm in bus 2. It is
shown that for the VAr regulation mode, there is only a disturbance when the sag begins and finishes; the
generators try to maintain the values of active and reactive power generated constants. In the case of the
voltage regulation mode the generators maintain voltage constant at the bus. When the sag finishes, the
generators return to the operation point previous to the sag; certainly there are transient disturbances when
the sag begins and finishes for both cases.

Fig. 4. Reactive Power supplied by a Wind Farm during a 30% sag applied at bus 1.

In the full version are contemplated the steady-state voltage profiles and the voltage sag studies
considering minimum load scenarios and the analysis for the IEEE 30 test system. Furthermore, it will be
included a voltage stability analysis.
IV. REFERENCES

[1] World Wind Energy Association. "The World Wind Energy Association 2011 report", 2012.
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Between Synchronous and Induction Machines for distributed Generation Applications", IEEE Trans. Power Sys.
Vol. 21, 2006, pp. 301-311.
[3] L. Meegahapola, D. Flynn, J. Kennedy and T. Littler, "Active use of DFIG based Wind Farms for Transient
Stability Improvement during Grid Disturbances", in IEEE/Power & Energy Society General Meeting, 2009.
[4] I. S. Naser, A. Garba, O. Anaya-Lara and K. L. Lo, "Voltage Stability of Transmission Network with Different
Penetration Levels of Wind Generation" in IEEE/Universities Power Engineering Conference (UPEC), 2010.
[5] I. D. Margaris, A. D. Hansen, P. Srensen and N. D. Hatziargyriou, "Dynamic security issues in autonomous
power systems with increasing wind power penetration", Elsevier Electric Power System Research 81, 2011,
pp.880-887.
[6] D. Gautam, V. Vittal and T. Harbour, "Impact of Increased Penetration of DFIG-Based Wind Turbine Generators
on Transient and Small Signal Stability of Power Systems", IEEE Trans. Power Sys. Vol. 24, 2009, pp. 1426-1434.
[7] E. Vittal, M OMalley and A. Keane, "A Steady-State Voltage Stability Analysis of Power Systems with High
Penetrations of Wind" IEEE Trans. Power Sys. Vol. 25, 2006, pp. 433-442.