2006 International Conference on Power System Technology

Comparison of Using SVC and STATCOM for

Wind Farm Integration
Lie Xu, Senior Member, IEEE, Liangzhong Yao, and Christian Sasse

extremes, if any;
Abstract-- This paper studies system stability of wind farms * Controllability of the output power, e.g. automatic
based on fixed speed induction generators (FSIG) and frequency control, including speed of response etc;
investigates the use of the static var compensator (SVC) and * Reactive power operating range, e.g. the wind farm to
static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) for wind farm
integration. Due to the nature of asynchronous operation, system be able to operate with a specified power factor;
instability of wind farms based on FSIG is largely caused by the * Voltage control capability, etc.
excessive reactive power absorption by FSIG after fault due to As the number of wind farms in a power network has
the large rotor slip gained during fault. Wind farm models based increased, the connection requirements for wind farms have
on FSIG and equipped with either SVC or STATCOM are tended to become increasingly similar to those for
developed in PSCAD/EMTDC. It was found that the SVC and conventional synchronous generators.
STATCOM considerably improve the system stability during
and after disturbances, especially when the network is weak. Wind turbines using fixed speed induction generator
Compared to SVC, STATCOM gave a much better dynamic (FSIG) provide a simple, rigid, and cost effective solution.
performance, and provided a better reactive power support to However, a wind farm implemented using FSIG based wind
the network, as its maximum reactive current output was turbine has difficulties in meeting the proposed Grid Code in
virtually independent of the voltage at the point of common terms of the fault ride through, reactive power and voltage
coupling (PCC). control requirements. Previous research has revealed that
Index Terms-- Wind Farm Integration, Fixed Speed Induction faults which occur on the transmission line can lead to wind
Generator, Static Var Compensator (SVC), Static Synchronous generator over-speed and cause instability of the network
Compensator (STATCOM), System Stability, Voltage Control. voltage [2-5]. In [5, 6] system stability of FSIG based wind
turbines were studied using the equal area criteria originally
I. INTRODUCTION developed for synchronous generators. However, the
5,rind power is set to make up a significant proportion of operation of a FSIG is significantly different to that of a
W
renewable generation requirements, and as a result a synchronous generator due to the nature of its asynchronous
number of large, offshore sites have been proposed. Yet a operation. Thus the effectiveness of using the equal area
large wind farm which is electrically far away from its point criterion for studying system stability with FSIG is in doubt.
of connection to the grid poses a major stability problem if In addition, a breaking resistor was used to absorb active
adequate reactive support is not provided. As wind farms power during fault to improve the system stability [6].
increase in size, the ratio of the grid short circuit level at the However, the primary problem for FSIG based system is
connection point to wind generating capacity (known as the reactive power and thus the impact of such breaking resistor
short circuit ratio, SCR) is reduced. The connection of a large on system stability is insignificant. Furthermore, the research
wind farm will normally be subject to a connection agreement presented in [5, 6] was limited to a few case studies and has
between the wind farm developer/owner/operator and the not comprehensively looked at the effect of network strength,
network operator. The connection agreement sets out specific the rating of the compensation device, etc. on wind farm
technical requirements to be fulfilled by the wind farm, e.g. stability.
[1]: This paper considers the use of either the static var
*Fault ride through capability, outlining fault duration, compensator (SVC) or the static synchronous compensator
fault types, permissible changes to post fault power (STATCOM) to provide grid complied wind farm integration.
etc; Stability of FSIG based wind turbine is highlighted using the
* Frequency range, with time durations for extreme torque-slip and reactive power-slip characteristics. Wind farm
conditions, permissible power reduction at frequency models based on FSIG and equipped with either SVC or
STATCOM connected at the point of common coupling
L. Xu is with the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering & (PCC)
are developed using PSCAD/EMTDC. A detailed
Computer science, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5AH, U.K. (e- investigation is conducted on the impact of SVC/STATCOM
mail: l.xugee.qub.ac.uk). on system recovery after a network fault. Furthermore, the
L. Yao and C. Sasse are with AREVA T&D Technology Centre, Stafford, influence of SVC/STATCOM ratings and the network
ST17 4LX, U.K. (email: liangzhong.yaogareva-td.com,
christian.sassegareva-td.com). strength on system stability is studied. The performance of
1-4244-0111-9/06/$20.00c02006 IEEE. I
SVC and STATCOM is compared during disturbances on the
connecting network.
II. SYSTEM STABILITY OF FSIG BASED WIND TURBINES
The typical steady-state torque-slip and absorbed reactive
power-slip curves for a FSIG, whose parameters are given in
Appendix, are shown in Fig. l(a) and (b) respectively. As
shown in Fig. l(a), during normal steady-state operation the
machine operates at a small slip and the speed variation is
small. For the reactive power absorbed by the FSIG shown in
Fig. 1(b), at rotor slip of 0 which refers to no load operation,
the generator has the lowest reactive power absorption. When
the load (power generation) increased, the rotor slip will also
increase and so as the reactive power absorption. When the
rotor slip reaches a certain level, around +0.15 in this
example, the increase of reactive power absorption with the
increase of rotor slip becomes insignificant. In a practical
system, reactive power compensation is usually provided at
per turbine level, i.e., a number of power factor correction
(PFC) capacitors are switched in gradually using mechanical
switches when the power output is increased. However, such a
system can only provide steady-state compensation and their
responses during transient condition are inadequate [7-8].
torque is much greater than the electric torque, the FSIG will
begin to accelerate to a rotor slip of S2. This results in the
electric torque and reactive power characteristics moving to
points C1 and G1 respectively. When the system fault isolated,
the AC voltage will start to recover. With the FSIG still
operating at a slip of S2, it absorbs a large amount of reactive
power. This causes the AC voltage to recover to a lower level
of V3. The operating points now move to points D1 and H1. As
the electric torque is now greater than the mechanical torque,
the rotor de-accelerates and the slip begins to decrease. The
deceleration of the FSIG and decline of rotor slip means a
reduction in reactive power absorbed by the FSIG. This
reduction in reactive power absorbed in turns leads to a rise in
AC voltage. As the AC voltage approaches V1 from V3, the
electric torque and reactive power characteristics will return to
their steady state conditions (points A1 and E1 respectively)
thus, the system is stable.
03
a)
*$o
o
Ln
a)

4
3 41 Z-.- 0)
a,
Q 2 Generator operation / --t - - -

.o1
0
a)
0)

4
a)
_0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Slip
(a) Machine electric torque vs. slip (a) Stable operation
1.4
1.2 _

a)
0
o. o0 o
07

a)
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 Lu
Slip 0'
(b) Machine reactive power absorption vs. slip
Fig. 1 Steady state characteristics of FSIG 03
0

Using the torque-slip and reactive power-slip curves 0~

system stability of FSIG can be analyzed. Fig. 2 (a) and (b) a)

show the stable and unstable conditions respectively. As a)

0

shown in Fig. 2(a), during normal operation the FSIG operates I

0 S1 S3 Slip
at points A1 and E1 with an AC voltage of V1 and a rotor slip
(b) Unstable operation
of S1. At this point the electric torque is equal to the Fig. 2 System stahility with FSIG based wind turhines
mechanical torque and the FSIG is operating at steady state.
When a system fault occurs, it will cause a sudden drop in If the fault were not cleared until the rotor slip reaches S3
the AC voltage, falling from V1 to V2. This in turn causes the as shown in Fig. 2 (b) the operating points would move to D2
FSIG's electrical torque to fall from point A1 to point B1 and and H2 from C2 and G2 respectively. However, the electric
reactive power to fall from point E1 to F1. As the mechanical torque now is still less than the mechanical torque and the

2
rotor slip continued to increase. As the FSIG continues to
accelerate, both electrical torque and reactive power will move
towards points Z, and Z2. Thus the system is unstable and the
wind farm will have to be disconnected from the grid.
III. SVC AND STATCOM COMPENSATION
The capability of providing dynamic reactive power
compensation using SVC and STATCOM can raise the
network voltage during and after fault. This indeed increases
the electric torque produced by the FSIG and makes
generators less like to over-speed and thus to increase system
stability. Fig. 3(a) shows the configuration of a typical SVC. It
consists of a number of (2 in this example) thyristor switched
capacitors (TSC) in shunt with a thyristor controlled reactor
(TCR). The TSC provides step change of connected shunt
capacitance while the TCR provides continuous control of the
equivalent shunt reactance. The SVC can be operated to
provide reactive power control or closed-loop AC voltage
control. For closed-loop AC voltage control, the line voltage,
as measured at the point of connection, is compared to a
reference value and an error signal is produced. This is passed
to a PI controller to generate the required susceptance value. It
is then transmitted to the non-linear admittance characteristic
to generate the firing angle for the TCR and to determine the
number of TSC stages need to be switched on. The firing
angle is passed to the gate pulse generator, which then
generates the firing pulse for the TCR.
vs
TCR
TSC
(a) SVC
X connected at the terminal of the generator which fully
x
~~~Voltage
vS source VdC
converter
Coupling
transformer
(b) STATCOM
Fig 3 Schematic diagram of SVC and STATCOM
A typical STATCOM, which consists of a voltage source
converter (VSC) and coupling transformer connected in shunt
with the AC system, is shown in Fig. 3(b). In order for the
STATCOM to operate satisfactorily, its DC voltage is usually
controlled to a fixed value.
The principle operation of a STATCOM is based on
controlling the voltage generated by the converter to control
the generated reactive power. The STATCOM control system
is usually defined in the synchronous d-q reference frame with
the d-axis fixed to the network voltage [9]. This enables the
3
independent control of active power (DC voltage) and reactive
power by controlling the q-axis and d-axis currents
respectively. Similar to a SVC, closed-loop AC voltage
control can be realized by using a AC voltage controller which
generates reactive power order for the STATCOM control
system.
Fig. 4 compares the typical operating areas of SVC and
STATCOM. Since SVC is based on nominal passive
components, its maximum reactive current is proportional to
the network voltage. While for STATCOM, its reactive
current is determined by the voltage difference between the
network and the converter voltages and therefore, its
maximum reactive current is only limited by the converter
capability and is independent of network voltage variation.
Vs Vs
'I
I
I1
/<I
r
IL C ( /L
IC(maax) 0 IL(max) /C(max) o I ILL(max)
SVC STATCOM
Fig. 4 Comparison of operating areas of SVC and STATCOM
IV. CASE STUDIES
System studies of FSIG with SVC and STATCOM were
carried out using EMTDC/PSCAD. The power system model
used in this investigation is presented in Fig. 5. The 60 MW
wind farm is presented by a single lumped wind turbine model
with an output voltage at 11kV. The parameters of the lumped
FSIG are shown in the Appendix. As shown in Fig. 5, the
turbine-generator is coupled to the 132 kV network through
an 80 MVA transformer and connected to the grid via a
double-circuit line. A PFC capacitor rated at 28MVar is
compensates the reactive power absorption of the FSIG at
rated output power of 60MW. A solid three-phase-to-ground
fault is placed at the centre of one of the parallel circuits and
cleared by opening the breaks at the two ends of the circuit as
shown in Fig. 5. Throughout this study, the system short
circuit level is fixed at 1200 MVA with an X1 R1 ratio of 20.
The strength of the transmission line is varied between 3 and
20 in the study. The mechanical input torque to the FSIG was
set at 1.Opu throughout the study which refers to the most
critical condition.
132kV 132kV 11 kV 60MW
Fig. 5 Schematic diagram of the simulated system
 System studies with PFC only were carried out first and the
results are shown in Fig. 6. The double-circuit transmission
network has a short circuit level of 600 MVA with an X2/R2
ratio of 10. The three-phase to ground fault was applied at
0.5s and cleared after 140ms. Due to the trip of one of the
transmission circuit, the strength of the transmission line is
halved after the clearance of the fault. As can be seen from
Fig. 6, during the fault, due to the reduction of the AC
voltage, the generated active power and the electric torque are
significantly reduced. This causes the rotor speed to increase.
Once the fault is cleared, the AC voltage recovers and so as
the active power and electric torque. As the rotor slip is high,
the generator absorbs large amount of reactive power from the
network as clearly shown in Fig. 6. This results in the AC
voltage stayed at a low value of around 72% after the
clearance of the fault. As the electric torque is still less than
the mechanical input torque, the generator speed continue to
rise and the AC voltage remains low. The system becomes
unstable and the wind farm has to be disconnected from the
network.
With the same network configuration and an additional 30
MVar SVC, the simulated results are shown in Fig. 7. As can
be seen, the AC voltage recovers to about 80% after the
clearance of the fault due to the extra reactive power support
from the SVC. The amount of reactive power provided by the
SVC is about 20 MVar at 80% AC voltage. As shown in Fig.
7, the electric torque now is higher than the input mechanical
torque and therefore, the rotor speed decreases. Eventually,
the rotor slip backs to its nominal value and so as the AC
voltage, generator active power and reactive power
absorption. The SVC continues to control the AC voltage. As
can be seen, the system now is stable and the operation of the
system is satisfactory.

1.2 1.2
a
a a
01) 0.8 0.8
0 0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
z az
0 0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time (s) Time (s)
0
80 a.1

40
9

0-
a) Svc
a. Reactive Pow er reactive Power I - I I 1 1 1 1

-40
/ -40
\ Generator
reactive Pow er
-80 -80
0 0.5 1.5 2.5 0 0.5 1.5 2 2.5
Time (s) Time (s)

2.5 2.5
2 2 Electric torque
a 1.5 Mechanical torque
01) 1.5

cr
0L
0.5 o 0.5
a2 O j t Mechanical torque
0
01) torque 0)
-0.5 o -0.5
0 0.5 1.5 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time (s) Time (s)

1.6 1.06

a
'o Q
Q 1.4- 1.04

U)
0
, 1.2 ; 1.02 |\ _
a

1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 6 Simulated results with PFC only (fault applied at 0.5s and lasted for Fig. 7 Simulated results with PFC and 30MVar SVC only (fault applied at 0.5s
0.14s) and lasted for 0.14s)

4
 1.2 1.2
1 1
a
0.8
az 0.8
0) 0)
s
0)
s
0)
0.6 0 0.6
0
m
0
Svc
0.4 0.4
01) 0.2 az 0.2
z z
O
0 0.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Time (s) Time (s)

80 40
STATCOM
40 --
30
. -
-
- $I G~~~~~enerator Svc
E
0
-
1, I-active Power .2
a STATCOM
reactive Pow er a)
-40
- \ Generator
reactive Pow er
-80
0.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time (s) Time (s)

2.5 2.5
2 E3ectric torque 2 STATCOM t SVC
a
a 1.5 1.5 X
cr
0r 1
.2
-

0.5
0
a2 0.5 -

_-
a)
-0.5 -0.5
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 0.5 1.5 2.5 3
Time (s) Time (s)

1.06 1.06

^Q t Sv
n 1.04
az
U,

iu 1 .02

a STATCOMX

0 0.5 1.5 2 2.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Time (s) Time (s)
1.2 Fig. 9 Comparison of system with SVC and STATCOM only (fault applied at
0.5s and lasted for 0.14s)
ir I
az
0) 1
w --
> 0.8
STATCOM DC voltage is well controlled even during fault
D X 0.6
M conditions and its maximum over voltage is about 12%.
° 0.4
C.)
To compare the system operations with SVC and
0.2
Un STATCOM, Fig. 9 presents a comparison of the network
0

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

voltage, compensator reactive power, generator electric torque
Time (s) and speed under SVC and STATCOM compensations. As can
Fig. 8 Simulated results with PFC and 30MVar STATCOM only (fault applied be seen from Fig. 9, the SVC and STATCOM provide around
at 0.5s and lasted for 0.14s) 20 and 25 MVar reactive powers to the network respectively
after the clearance of the fault. This is due to the fact that the
For system with a 30 MVar STATCOM compensation, the
maximum reactive power capability of a SVC is proportional
simulated results are shown in Fig. 8. The STATCOM DC
to the square of the network voltage while for a STATCOM it
side voltage is rated at 40kV and the DC capacitance is
is proportional to the network voltage.
300tF. As can be seen, similar to system with SVC Due to the extra reactive power capability of STATCOM
compensation, the AC voltage after the clearance of the fault compared to SVC during low AC voltage, it results in a higher
recovers to a higher value compared to system with PFC only.
generator post-fault electric torque with STATCOM than
This results in a higher post-fault electric torque and the rotor SVC. Consequently, the rotor speed reduces faster for system
speed reduces after the fault is cleared. The active power, with STATCOM compensation than that with SVC. Fig. 9
reactive power absorption and the rotor slip gradually back to clearly shows that system operation is more satisfactory with
their nominal values and the system operation is stable. The STATCOM than system with SVC.

5
 To further illustrate the impact of network strength and the rating increased from 10 MVar to 60MVar. Similarly for
use of SVC and STATCOM on system stability, studies were STATCOM, it is increased from 130ms to 225ms. Again the
carried out to determine the critical clearance time for system STATCOM is more effective compared to the SVC.
with PFC only, with SVC, and with STATCOM
compensations. During the study, the transmission network V. CONCLUSIONS
SCR was varied and the results are shown in Fig. 10. Both the System stability of FSIG wind farms has been investigated
SVC and the STATCOM were rated at 30 MVar for this in this paper. The transient performances of a large wind farm
study. For system with PFC only, with SCR less that 5, any equipped with PFC only, with SVC, and with STATCOM,
disturbance can cause the system to become unstable. have been studied for different network strength and
However, with SVC and STATCOM compensation, it is compensation device rating. The results show that:
possible to connect the wind farm with a SCR of 3 although * System instability of wind farms based on FSIG is
the critical clearance time is relatively short. For all the three largely caused by the excessive reactive power
conditions, the stronger the network is the longer the critical absorption of the generator after fault due to the large
clearance time becomes. Both the SVC and the STATCOM rotor slip.
increase the critical clearance time with the STATCOM being * PFC does not provide sufficient support and that some
more effective. For system with PFC only, the critical form of dynamic reactive power compensation is
clearance time increases from 1 OOms to 150ms when the SCR necessary especially when the network is weak.
is increased from 10 to 20. The system critical clearance times * SVC and STATCOM can provide reactive power
increase from 60ms to 180ms for SVC and from 80ms to support to the network to compensate the large amount
205ms for STATCOM when the SCR varies from 3 to 20. For of reactive power absorbed by the FSIG after fault and
the study conducted, on average the critical clearance time is thus they considerably improve the system stability.
increased by 35ms and 65ms with SVC and STATCOM * STATCOM has better capability for providing reactive
respectively compared to system with PFC only. power compensation during low AC voltage than SVC.
240
Therefore, system with a STATCOM is less likely to
_ PFC only
become unstable than system with a SVC.
Eup) 200 SVC * The increase in ratings of SVC/STATCOM will
(D
E
STATCOM provide better reactive power support to the network
*
0)a)
160 and improve the system stability.
C
"---+ As wind farms become larger and further away from the
lr..
X 120
0)
-----
point of connection, reactive power compensation provided by
'U
SVC/STATCOM might become essential in order to meet
80
0 Grid Code requirements for the wind farm connection.
40
0 10 15 20 VI. APPENDIX
Network SCR
Table 1 Parameters of the lumped FSIG model
Fig. 10 Variations of critical clearance time with network SCR Rated power 60MW
240
Rated voltage 11kV
Stator resistance 0.0108 pu
E
220
Rotor resistance 0.01214 pu
0) 200 Stator leakage inductance 0.107 pu
E
0) 180 Rotor leakage inductance 0.1407 pu
U
C Mutual inductance 4.4 pu
160
0)
U
Lumped inertia constant 3s
140

0 120 VII. REFERENCES

100
10 20 30 40
SVCISTATCOM rating (Mvar)
Fig. 11 Variations of critical clearance time with compensation device rating
To further investigate the impact of SVC and STATCOM
compensation on system stability, studies with various SVC
and STATCOM ratings were carried out and the results are
shown in Fig. 11. The SCR of the transmission line was fixed
at 10 for this study. As can be seen from Fig. 11, the critical
clearance time increases from 11 5ms to 190ms when the SVC
[1] National Grid Transco, "Appendix 1: extracts from the Grid Code -
50 60 Connection Conditions", www.nationalgrid.com, 2004.
[2] V. Akhmatov, H. Knudsen, A.H. Nielsen, J.K. Pedersen, and N.K.
Poulsen, "A dynamic stability limit of grid-connected induction
generators". Proc. International IASTED Conference on Power and
Energy Systems, Marbella, Spain, September 2000.
[3] L. Holdsworth, X.G. Wu, J.B. Ekanayake, and N. Jenkins, "Comparison
of fixed-speed and doubly-fed induction generator wind turbines during
power system disturbances", IEE Proc. C - Gener. Transm. Distrib., vol.
150, no. 3, pp. 343-352, July 2003.
[4] S. M. Bolik, "Grid Requirements Challenges for Wind Turbines",
Fourth International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind
Power and Transmission networks for Offshore Wind Farms, Oct. 2003.

6
[5] L. Holdsworth, N. Jenkins, and G. Strbac, "Electrical stability of large,
offshore wind farms", IEE Seventh International Conference on AC-DC
Power Transmission, pp. 156-161, 2001.
[6] X.G. Wu, A. Arulampalam, C. Zhan, and N. Jenkins, "Application of a
Static Reactive Power Compensator (STATCOM) and a Dynamic
Braking Resistor (DBR) for the stability enhancement of a large wind
farm", Wind Engineering Journal, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 93-106, March
2003.
[7] Povh, D., "Use of HVDC and FACTS," Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol.
88, No. 2, pp. 235-245, February 2000.
[8] D. Eronmon, "Distributed energy resources (DER) using FACTS,
STATCOM, SVC and synchronous condensers for dynamic system
control of VAR", presented at the 2005 National Associateion of
Industry technology convention, USA, Nov. 2005.
[9] C. Schauder, and H. Mehta, "Vector analysis and control of advanced
static VAR compensator", IEE Proc. C, vol. 140, no. 4, pp. 299-3061,
1993.
VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Lie Xu (M'03, SM'06) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronic
engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, in 1993, and the
Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of
Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K., in 1999.
Currently, he is a Lecturer with the School of Electronic, Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast,
U.K. Previous to this, he was with ALSTOM T&D, Stafford, U.K. from 2001
to 2003 and University of Glasgow, Glasgow, U.K., from 1999 to 2000. His
main interests are power electronics, renewable energy, and application of
power electronics to power systems.
Liangzhong Yao received the M.Sc in 1989 and Ph.D. in 1993 all in electrical
power engineering from Tsinghua University, China. He was a Research
Associate at the Manchester Centre for Electricity Energy, University of
Manchester (formerly UMIST) from 1995 to 1999, and a Senior Power
System Analyst in the network consulting group at ABB Ltd in the UK from
1999 to 2004. Currently he is a Technology Consultant and Programme
Manager working on wind farm grid connections, network engineering design
and consulting at AREVA T&D Technology Centre, UK. Dr Yao is a
Chartered Engineer and a member of the IEE.
Christian Sasse received his M.Sc in Physics at the University of Karlsruhe
in 1986, and his Ph.D. in optical light scattering in solar heated fluidised beds
in 1992. He is currently the General Manager for the AREVA T&D
Technology Centre in Stafford, UK and has been responsible for the R&D
programme of distributed power, coordinating and managing research
activities in wind energy, fuel cells, biomass and energy storage in the UK and
in Europe. He is also Chairman of European Commission Technology
Platform "SmartGrids" where major stakeholders plan the R&D strategy for
Electricity Networks of the Future (2020+).