CONDITIONING OF POWER GRIDS SERVING

OFFSHORE WIND FARMS BASED ON

ASYNCHRONOUS GENERATORS
R. Grünbaum, P. Halvarsson, D. Larsson, P. R. Jones*
ABB Sweden *ABB Ltd, UK

Keywords: Utility interface, Induction generators, compensation will then form and integral part of the
Reactive power, Voltage stability, Wind farm. network scheme.
Evidence suggests that the increased revenue from
Abstract exploiting higher wind speeds farther offshore can
outweigh the increased cable costs and electrical losses.
Wind power is gaining momentum in the world´s energy The most common wind power generator is based on the
balance. Several issues have to be addressed whenever asynchronous machine, since it is robust and cost
power-generating devices are connected to the grid. This effective. Induction generators, however, do not
paper describes how wind farms affect grid voltages and contribute to regulation of grid voltage, and they are
how faults in the connected transmission system impact substantial absorbers of reactive power. Ideally, they need
on induction generators in a wind farm. It will also be to be connected to very stiff grids in order not to influence
shown that, when the network is weak, local dynamic power quality in a detrimental way. This is not the case in
reactive power support may prevent voltage collapse and reality, however. Quite on the contrary, wind power is
make it possible for the wind farms to recover and remain usually connected far out at the extremities of the grid, on
in service after a short-circuit event. A dynamic voltage sub transmission or even distribution levels, where the
control scheme based on a combination of SVC and network was not originally designed to transfer power
STATCOM technology will be discussed. back into the grid.
The reactive power balance of asynchronous generators
can be improved to a certain extent by use of the recently
1 Introduction introduced doubly-fed rotor concept. To keep this
technology within reasonable cost margins, however,
rotor converter ratings must be kept limited to steady-state
After decades in the starting block, wind power is finally
requirements only. During transient occurrences in the
taking off as a serious and accepted source of energy,
grid, the performance of doubly-fed induction generators
sustainable and environmentally friendly. World-wide,
(DFIG) may well prove inadequate to safeguard primarily
more than 30 GW of wind power was in operation by the
voltage stability of the grid.
end of 2002, an annual growth of approximately 27%. It
is expected that by the end of 2007, this figure will have
increased to well over 80GW.
In Germany for example, ten years ago, wind power was 3 Sea cables: a key issue
of marginal importance. Today, with more than 12,000 Comprehensive sea cable networks add another
MW in operation, the country is Europe’s most important dimension, calling for additional elaborate reactive power
user of wind power. In the UK, more than 2000 MW of control. The overall scope of reactive power control
wind generation is expected to be installed by 2005. In should encompass the wind farm as well as the sea cables,
Denmark, close to 3000 MW of wind power is now to bring about a well regulated reactive power balance of
contributing more than 15% of the country’s generation the whole system, performing to the same demands on
capacity. reactive power regulation as any other medium to large
generator serving the grid.
2 Offshore wind generation: fast emerging Limits of transmission capacity of sea cables should be
calculated with compensation, so half of the charging
Increasingly offshore based wind farms, where large current flows to each end at maximum load. An example
amounts of wind power generation (typically tens of MW of transmission capacity for XLPE cables at four different
up to several hundred) are located out to sea with the voltage levels and as a function of cable length is shown
electrical energy brought to shore through large heavy in Figure 1 [1]. In the example, the cables all have a
duty underwater cables. The largest offshore projects now cross-section of 1,000 mm2.
in operation are the 160 MW Horns Rev and the 160 MW It can be seen that the power transmission capability
Nysted, both in Danish waters. AC is utilized in both exceeds 350 MW at a distance of 100 km and a voltage of
cases for landing the power. It is anticipated that AC 220 kV. At a distance of 250 km, the power transmission
transmission will be an economical and technically capacity is still 175 MW.
attractive option in many of the small to medium sized
windfarm cases, and dynamic reactive power
 5 Voltage control
Reactive power control is necessary to meet the criteria
mentioned in Section 4 above. With synchronous
generators, reactive power control is achieved by means
of the exciter system. However, this is not possible for
induction generators. An SVC positioned at the grid
connection point acts as a central exciter system but with
the advantage that reactive power can be controlled even
when no power is generated.
The subtransmission, or even distribution, systems to
which offshore wind farms may be connected are usually
designed to distribute power from the main grid to remote
customers. The system in most cases is very weak and a
change in power flow direction will strongly affect the
Figure 1: Limit of power flow as a function of length for
voltage level. Mechanically switched capacitor banks,
compensated cables type 3x1x1,000 mm2.
(MSC), are often used to deal with voltage level
problems. However, power production, and thus reactive
4 Requirements related to network connection power consumption, in wind farms vary with wind speed.
The resulting frequent switching of MSC deteriorates
All national grid codes, even though several differences power quality and decreases the lifetime of the MSC. An
can be found, discuss the importance of grid support from SVC, with continuously variable susceptance, is often a
all installed power generating devices. Many regulatory cost efficient alternative to several small MSC.
authorities require that the generators should be able to Several phenomena associated with power produced from
vary their reactive power output dependent on the grid wind, introduce voltage flicker on the connecting node,
voltage level. This requirement is a result of the desire to i.e. generators´ start and stop, wind speed variations, and
maintain voltage stability and limit dynamic voltage tower shadow effects. This flicker has a detrimental
variations. Wind farms have often been excluded from effect upon other components connected to the grid,
these demands. They cannot, however, expect to enjoy causing complaints from power consumers. By
this favoured treatment forever. connecting an SVC at the grid connection points, this
In the past wind power plants typically have had a small flicker can be mitigated.
power rating, when compared to the strength of the
connecting electrical network. The power system as such
6 Induction generator behaviour at short-
did not depend on the contribution from the renewable
power sources. Under these circumstances the behaviour
circuit
of the wind farms to faults in the network seemed to be The behaviour of the induction generator during network
non-critical and the manufacturers could design a simple faults and fault clearance is governed by simple physical
control system that dropped out the wind farms whenever principles that apply to this kind of machines. A broad
disturbed conditions occurred on the network. overview is given in order to explain the problems related
Looking at the larger wind farms presently being planned to network connection of large wind farms utilising such
this design philosophy becomes questionable. When a generators.
fault occurs in a power system the faulty part will
normally be disconnected from the system. Thus if the 6.1 Induction generator basic structure
fault occurred on the feeder to which the wind farm is The reason for the attractiveness of the induction
connected it will be disconnected. But, if the wind farm is generator is its extremely simple basic design, making it
connected to the non-faulted part of the system it is small, robust and cost-effective. The rotor simply
desirable that the wind farm stays connected during the comprises a stack of iron plates with axial conductive
fault. As soon as the faulty feeder has been disconnected bars, which are connected between short-circuiting
the wind generator should return to operation in order not endrings. The rotor is mounted in the stator, coaxial and
to cause consequential loss of generation in addition to with a small airgap as shown in Figure 2.
generating units connected through the faulty feeder. If a
stator flux
significant consequential loss of generation occurs it is
possible that a system collapse could result.
rotor flux
Therefore the wind farm connection must be designed so
that the wind turbines are capable of continuous
uninterrupted operation during the protection clearance
times for the faulted components (“ride-through
capability”). Typically the time required in a transmission
system is in the range 100-200ms. Increasingly windfarm
connection agreements are specifically stating that “there
is no reason to exempt wind generation from this
requirement”. Figure 2: Structure of the induction generator.
The small airgap causes a strong magnetic coupling instantaneously. Therefore, initially the induction
between any winding on the stator and the rotor structure. generator, just like a synchronous machine, delivers
The main portion of the magnetic flux passing through the reactive power to the fault. The machine thus contributes
stator winding also must pass through the rotor. But the to the current through the fault.
rotor cage is a highly conductive structure, which at any But the current in the generator demagnetises the rotor
time opposes every change of the magnetic flux in the and both the rotor flux and the stator current disappear in
rotor. It serves like a magnetic screen that prevents about 100 ms. The stopped and still-standing stator flux,
external fields from penetrating into the rotor. Forced, fast which is captured by the short-circuited stator winding,
changes of the magnetic flux in the rotor can only be creates a braking torque on the rotor. The flux decays in
achieved at the expense of large stator (and rotor) about the same time as the rotor flux, i.e. in about 100 ms.
currents. Due to their close linkage the rotor flux follows Figure 4 shows the rotor flux and the stator currents at a
the stator flux with a first order delay of about 100 ms. short-circuit very close to the generator.
6.2 General principles of operation Stator & rotor flux
psiS psiR
When the machine is connected to a strong network, the 1

applied voltage determines the magnetic stator flux, 0.8

because the derivative of the stator flux must equal the

0.6

applied voltage. The network voltage creates a magnetic

0.4

0.2

stator flux, which rotates with constant speed in the 0

airgap. The rotor flux derivative, and consequently the 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Stator current
0.7 0.8 0.9 1

stator current, can be low only if the rotor rotates almost 15

iSa iSb iSc

synchronously with the stator flux. This is highlighted in 10

the top graph in Figure 3, which depicts the stator current 5

versus the rotor’s speed deviation from synchronous

0

-5

speed at constant stator voltage. It is characteristic that the -10

induction machine draws a lot of current at start and at -15

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

high overspeed. time (s)

5
Stator current (pu) Figure 4: Short-circuit of the induction generator close to
4
its stator terminals, stator and rotor fluxes (upper), stator
3
phase currents (lower).
iS (pu)

1 6.4 Mechanical effects at short-circuit

0
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 A short-circuit on the transmission system, somewhere
Electrical torque (pu)
between the generator and the receiving network, prevents
any electrical power from passing through that point as
3

1
the voltage becomes zero. The loss of the electrical output
from the generator causes a mismatch between
Tel (pu)

-1
decelerating electrodynamic torque and the (initially
-2

-3
unchanged) accelerating mechanical torque on the
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
rotor freq (Hz)
10 20 30 40 50
generator shaft from the wind turbine. Thus the generator
will accelerate during the short-circuit. Due to the
Figure 3: Typical induction generator characteristics involved mechanical time-constants in the wind turbine
versus rotor frequency (fnetwork – fmech) at fixed stator flux: blade control system it is not possible to reduce the
stator current (upper) and electrical torque (lower). turbine torque during the short-circuit.
The total inertia constant for the generator and the turbine
is a few seconds. Typically most of the inertia is located
Small deviations from synchronous speed, on the other in the wind turbine and only approximately 20% of the
hand, excite rotor currents that produce mechanical inertia relate to the generator rotor. These two masses are
torque. This is shown in the lower graph of Figure 3. It can connected through a soft torsional shaft exhibiting a
be seen that the torques having the highest magnitudes, resonance frequency in the range of 1-2Hz. Figure 5 shows
the ‘pullout’ torques, are produced at quite small speed the speed of the induction generator and of the wind
deviations from synchronous speed. The normal operation turbine, when the wind farm is operating at its rated
range for the induction generator is on the slope between power and a short-circuit occurs close to the generator
the positive and negative pullout torque. The nominal terminals. The curves show that the average speed
operating point is marked by a small ring in Figure 3. increases with approximately 6-7 Hz per second as long
6.3 Electrical effects at short-circuit as the short-circuit is applied. Thus the negative slip
frequency increases during the short-circuit. It has already
Now, if a short-circuit is applied to the network close to
been pointed out in Figure 3 that the induction generator
the generators, the stator voltage becomes zero. The stator
current increases rapidly, when the rotor frequency
flux, being the integral of the applied voltage, then stops
deviates from the synchronous speed.
because its derivative becomes zero. The rotor flux
however is captured by the rotor cage and cannot decrease
 Induction generator speed 7.2 Effects of overspeed
If the short-circuit duration is long and/or the
400

385
speed (rad/s)
370 magnetisation of the induction machine takes too long,
355

340
the generator speed increase becomes considerable. This
325 means that the absolute value of the slip increases and the
310
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
impedance of the rotor circuit branch lowers. When the
Wind turbine speed feeding network is weak almost all the injected current
390
passes through the rotor circuit and almost no magnetising
376
current results as shown in Figure 7.
speed (rad/s)

362

348
conn
334 bus rS xS xR
320
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
time (s) rR/s
xm
Figure 5: Speed of generator and wind turbine at short-
circuit.
weak network induction generators
7 Recovery from a fault Figure 7: Magnetising the induction generator at
The line, where the short-circuit arose, will automatically overspeed.
be disconnected from the rest of the transmission system
with little delay, typically within 100-200 ms. If the
7.3 Conclusion
isolated, faulty part does not involve the wind farm, it is
anticipated that the latter restores its steady state The induction generator can recover successfully from the
generating operation, when the network voltage returns short-circuit fault only if it becomes magnetised
after fault clearance. However, as it has been shown sufficiently fast so that it can produce torque and reduce
above, the machine has been demagnetised during the the generator rotor overspeed. If the overspeed becomes
short-circuit and its rotor speed has increased so that the too large the generator will pass over the pullout
negative slip has increased. Both these factors impact on frequency and then it will consume large amounts of
the process of recovery. reactive power. If the network is weak this situation will
cause a voltage collapse to occur in the transmission
7.1 Effects of demagnetisation system.
Consider first the fictitious case that the rotor speed of the
generator is constant during the short-circuit. When the 8 Improvements by utilizing SVC
network voltage returns a stator flux is being impressed
on the generator stator. But the rotor cage prevents the A Static Var Compensator, SVC, can be provided as a
stator flux from rapidly entering into the rotor due to the reactive power source located close to the machine. This
screening effect caused by the rotor cage. During the rotor approach brings about some advantages:
magnetisation (time constant 50-100 ms) the stator will ¾ one device serves the whole wind farm
carry a large reactive current. Depending on the network ¾ the voltage in the connecting point is stabilised by a
strength this magnetising current causes a voltage drop, voltage controller
which lowers the generator terminal voltage below, ¾ Flicker due to tower shadow effect and variations in
possibly even significantly below, its rated value. If the wind speed will be decreased
rotor remains rotating with synchronous speed the stator A typical system has been chosen and studied (Figure 8).
flux will penetrate into the rotor and the machine will The layout of this generic system is based on related cases
finally be magnetised. When the network is weak it and studies.
appears approximately like a current source as indicated Wind
Farm
in Figure 6. The equivalent impedance in the rotor circuit
is high, when the slip is low. Accordingly most of the
injected current passes into the magnetising inductance of 35 km
the generator.
conn
bus rS xS xR
66 kV
SVC

rR/s Minor
Main
Load
xm Grid
Subtransmission/distribution link

weak network induction generators Figure 8: Set-up of generic study of grid connection of
off-shore wind farms.
Figure 6: Magnetising the induction generator with
normal rotor speed. 8.1 Voltage stability
Starting and stopping of the generators is critical in many
applications. Induction machines draw considerable
reactive currents when the stator gets energised, even if wind turbine generator will require a restart in order to
the turbine is accelerated to synchronous speed before regain its prefault power generation operation. When the
being connected to the grid. This results in a period of electrical network is weak the behaviour of wind farms at
decreased voltage. In this paper, the phenomenon is network faults will be strongly improved by reactive
simulated with a small example. power support at the connection point.
Figure 8 shows the set-up of a generic simulation of the
1

With SVC
recovery from a network fault. It is assumed that the
network has a short-circuit strength of ten times the total
0.99

rated power of the wind farm generators. Additional

0.98

transformers are inserted between the subtransmission

Without SVC system and an intermediate voltage level (20-36 kV) and
0.97

further from this intermediate voltage level down to the

low-voltage internally used in the wind farm towers. It is
0.96

assumed that the no-load reactive power consumption is

Generator Generator compensated internally in the windmills.
0.95

Disconnected Connected
Figure 11 shows the simulation results when a 200 ms
fault is applied at the high-voltage bus at the grid
0.94

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TIME SECONDS connection point and when the SVC is not in operation. It
is assumed that the turbine power is constant.
Figure 9: Voltage variations at the minor load associated
with start and stop of one 1.5MW wind turbine. Stator & rotor flux
stator rotor
1.2
Power from the rest of the park Power produced by connected wind mill
1
1.02

1.4

Without SVC 0.8

per unit
1.01

1.1

0.6
0.8
1

0.4

0.2
0.99

0.5

0
0.98

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

0.2

With SVC
Wind turbine & induction generator speed
0.97

-0.1

turbine generator
1.12
0.96

-0.4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1.1
a) TIME SECONDS c) TIME SECONDS

1.08
Voltage at wind farm Average turbine speed
1.026

per unit
1.03

1.06

1.04
1.025
1.02

Without SVC 1.02

With SVC
1.024
1.01

0.98
1.023

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

1

time (s)
1.022
0.99

Without SVC
Figure 11: Simulation results without SVC.
1.021
0.98

With SVC
0.97

1.02

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
b) d)

The upper diagram shows the stator and rotor flux in the
TIME SECONDS TIME SECONDS

generators and the lower diagram shows the speeds of the

Figure 10: The same event as in Figure 9 but other data wind farm turbines and the induction generators. The
presented. a) Power production from the rest of the wind simulation indicates that the wind farm will possibly
farm – also affected by the voltage variation, b) Voltage recover from this fault, but the network is very close to a
at the wind farm, c) Power produced by the switched voltage collapse situation.
generator and d) Average turbine speed. Figure 12 shows the simulation result for the same event
as in Figure 11 when an SVC connected to the
The total wind farm generation is 60MW in this example intermediate voltage level and having the same rating in
and the switched generator produces 1.5MW. A shunt MVAr as the generators have in MVA is used.
capacitor producing 500kVAr is connected at the same Stator & rotor flux
time as the generator. The turbine is increased up to 1.2
stator rotor

synchronous speed before being connected. Figure 9 and 1

Figure 10 show that the SVC has a stabilising effect on the 0.8
per unit

voltage variation. 0.6

0.4

8.2 Using SVC to improve recovery from network 0.2

0
faults 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Wind turbine & induction generator speed

It was shown in Section7 that it is crucial that the 1.12
turbine generator

induction generator is magnetised very rapidly, when the 1.1

network voltage returns following a network fault. If this 1.08

per unit

1.06

cannot be achieved sufficiently fast the generator will 1.04

speed up and then the slip cannot be brought down close 1.02

to zero by the electrical network. The speed reduction 0.98

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

must then be achieved using the mechanical turbine blade time (s)

angle control system. The time constants then become

Figure 12: Simulation results with SVC.
much larger than the typical short-circuit duration and the
The stability clearly has been improved significantly and Thus, Figure 13, shows a typical example, a VSC rated at
the generators recover to the prefault generation within a –/+53 MVAr is combined with a Thyristor-Switched
second. The critical point occurs a few hundred ms after Capacitor (TSC) rated at 94 MVAr and a 3 MVAr
the fault clearance and at that time it is clear whether the Harmonic Filter, giving a total output of –50/+150 MVAr.
recovery will be successful or not. The purpose of the scheme is to yield dynamic VAr
Although this simulation is very much simplified it gives compensation of a large sea-based wind farm. The TSC
a general indication that the conditions at fault recovery will only operate in cases of potential voltage collapse
should be looked at if the (post-fault) network strength is until the wind farm can be tripped or until the fault has
lower than ten times the rating of the generators. been cleared, i.e. only for a short duration, and can
therefore be rated in a very economical way.
9 SVC implementation
10 Conclusion
The SVC today can be obtained in two different versions.
The first SVC approach is based on conventional In this paper the voltage variations associated with an
capacitor banks together with parallel thyristor controlled offshore wind farm being connected into an existing
inductive branches, which consume the excess of reactive power network have been discussed. The paper concludes
power generated by the capacitor bank. This type of that an SVC at the grid connection point can mitigate
equipment can be directly connected to the intermediate voltage problems.
voltage bus, which interconnects the wind farms (up to 36 In addition to this, the instability that can occur in a wind
kV). It is also possible, but less cost effective, to connect farm due to network faults and the recovery from such
the SVC at the high-voltage network by a dedicated faults have been discussed. The risk of voltage collapse
transformer. emerges from the nature of the induction generator, which
The second alternative implementation of the SVC makes consumes large amounts of reactive power when its speed
use of a power electronic voltage source (VSC). The slightly deviates from the synchronous speed. There is a
converter utilises semiconductors having turn-off time window when it is possible to catch the accelerating
capability. The converter can inject or consume reactive turbine after fault clearance, but it requires fast
power to/from the bus where it is connected. This magnetisation of the generator. This process can be
application of VSC technology is usually referred to as dynamically supported by an SVC, a STATCOM, or a
STATCOM (Static Compensator). This alternative has the combination of both, installed close to the connection
benefits of a smaller footprint as large air-cored inductors point of the wind farm.
are not used. Another advantage stems from the fact that a It is clear that the resilience of windfarms to remain
smaller parallel capacitor bank can be used, as the connected during network faults will become increasingly
converter itself may contribute reactive power. important as the ratings of planned wind farm installations
By combining the two types of schemes, a cost-effective become significant when compared to the network
dynamic compensator can be achieved, rated for a high strength at the connection point. In addition as the
dynamic yield during a short time and a lower yield for percentage of wind farm generation becomes a significant
steady-state operation, Figure 13. part of the UK generation portfolio, greater reliance on
the stable operation of wind farms will be essential to
132 kV
maintain total grid security during major system incidents.

150 MVA
11 References

[1] F. Rudolfsen et al: “Power transmission over long

three core submarine AC cables”, 3rd international
workshop on transmission networks for offshore wind
farms, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 2002.

IEE_PEMD 2004

~
= FC
3 Mvar

VSC TSC
+/- 53 Mvar 94 Mvar

Figure 13: Combined VSC and TSC scheme.