Grid Friendly Integration

of Wind Turbines

Markus Altenschulte
As Wind Power Plants increase in
size and contribution …

Utility systems require that wind power

plants:
› Provide Controlled and Predictable Power Response
From Variations in Wind, Turbine and Grid Frequency
› Must remain connected to the grid following
disturbances – in short, they must remain stable

Good locations for wind plants often entail

connection to relatively weak transmission
systems Wind plants must perform
like a conventional power plant
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GE Company 2/19/2009
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Plant Performance Solutions
AEP
Grid Friendly Capabilities Improveme
nt

O&M Tools 3/
GE Renewable Energy
GE Company 2/19/2009
proprietary
Wind Farm Mgmt via
WindCONTROL TM
Plant level control system to bring
“Grid Friendly” feature to Wind
Power Plant…
 Addresses Reliability Concerns of Grid
Operators
 Improve Grid Operability and Security
 Increase Capability of Grids to Successfully
Achieve High Levels of Wind Penetration

Today, over 180 WindCONTROLTM systems

installed controlling more than 8000 turbines.
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GE Renewable Energy
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Why Inertial Response: System
Needs
> Increasing Dependence on Wind Power
– Large Grids with Significant Penetration of Wind Power
> Modern variable speed wind turbine-generators do not
contribute to system inertia
> System inertia declines as wind generation displaces
synchronous generators (which are de-committed)
> Result is deeper frequency excursions for system disturbances
> Increased risk of
– Under-frequency load shedding (UFLS)
– Cascading outages

Inertial response will increase system

security and aid large scale integration
of wind power

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Example: Germany 4th
November 2006

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An Example:
14GW,
60.5
mostly hydro system, for trip of a large
generator
1000 MW Synchronous Machine
1000 MW Wind without WindINERTIA
60.0
1000 MW Wind with WindINERTIA
Wind Plant POI Bus Frequency (Hz)

59.5

With WindINERTIA
59.0 frequency
excursion is ~9%
better
58.5 Reference Case

58.0
0 10 20
Time (Seconds) Without30WindINERTIA
frequency excursion is ~4%
worse

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WindCONTROL…Making a Wind
Plant “Grid Friendly”
 Regulates Plant Voltage and Power
 Reactive power regulation to meet grid needs
… Dynamic VAR Control
 Limits the Rate of Change of Power from
Variations in Wind Speed … Ramp Rate Control
 Reacts to Changes in Grid Frequency …
Frequency Droop, Inertial Response
 Controls the Insertion and Removal of Large
Power Blocks … Startup and Shutdown Control
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GE Energy

Thank you
for your attention
What makes a Wind Plant “Grid
Friendly”?
 Does not trip during Faults and other System
Disturbances … ride through capability
Grid Fault Ride-Through
Requirements 140
Challenge:
• Requirements vary
120
considerably by
100
country/utility/voltage level
• Does not often distinguish
between single phase vs
Voltage (%)

80

three phase faults

60

• Voltage level specified at

40 France Umax
France HVA
France HVB1
NGET
Point of Interconnection (POI)
NGET HVRT
Spain
Portugal
Ireland >110 KV
… levels at each at turbine
20 Ireland<110 KV
Italy
Ireland Umax
Italy HVRT
terminals is different
Poland eon
depending upon plant design
0
0.1 1
Time (s)
10
• Assumes single fault events
followed by recovery
OEM Response: Standard Ride-Through
Requirement That Covers Most Cases
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Ride-Thru Capabilities
• Remain on-line and feed reactive
power through system
disturbances
• Meets present and emerging grid
requirement with Low/Zero
Voltage Ride Through (LVRT/ZVRT)
capability
• Meets transmission reliability
standards similar to thermal
generators

Fault Recovery
• Voltage recovery better than Zero
Voltage
conventional generator Voltage
Event Active Power
Synchronous
generator swings
dramatically Apparent Power

Reactive Power

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Testing & Validation Results
3-Phase, 200ms, Zero Voltage
Fault Voltage Level

Medium voltage
bus drops to
0.0
Power recovers to pre-
disturbance level in
<200ms

Active Power (delivered to Medium Voltage bus)

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GE Renewable Energy
GE Company 2/19/2009
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What makes a Wind Plant “Grid
Friendly”?
 Does not trip during Faults and other System
Disturbances … ride through capability
 Regulates Plant Voltage and Power
 Limits the Rate of Change of Power from
Variations in Wind Speed … Ramp Rate
Control
 Reacts to Changes in Grid Frequency …
Frequency Droop Control
Voltage Regulation
Actual measurements from
a 162MW wind plant
• Regulates Grid Voltage Average Wind Speed
Voltage at POI
at Point of
Interconnection

• Minimizes Grid Voltage Wind Plant Volta

Fluctuations Even Under
Varying Wind Conditions Wind Plant Power Outpu
Wind Substation
Turbine kW
Generator Main POI
kVAR Transformer
72 km
34.5kV 230kV

Converter
Transformer Average Wind Speed
Control WFMS

Voltage Regulation
Like A Conventional Power Plant
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Active Power Controls Curtailment Example
1.200

1.000

Typical Grid 0.800

Requirements
0.600

0.400 Available Power

> Ramp rates 0.200 Actual Power

0.000
> Power curtailment
> Power droop w/ frequency

Power Ramp Rates Power Droop Test

Pa va il 2% Frequency Increase

Frequency (Hz)
Power (kW)
Pout
Power

Ramp Rate

50% Power Reduction

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GE Renewable Energy
GE Company 2/19/2009
proprietary
What makes a Wind Plant “Grid
Friendly”?
 Does not trip during Faults and other System
Disturbances … ride through capability
 Regulates Plant Voltage and Power
 Limits the Rate of Change of Power from
Variations in Wind Speed … Ramp Rate
Control
 Reacts to Changes in Grid Frequency …
Frequency Droop
 Controls the Insertion and Removal of Large
Power Blocks … Startup and Shutdown Control
Wind Plant Startup
Wind Plant Power
Ramping at less than 3MW/Min
Settings:

Number of Turbines Online

1 Minute
Turbines Average Turbines
Ramp Rate
Sequenced On at (kW/sec)
transitioning
Online
20 second
Power (kW)
Intervals

Desired Ramp
Rate Limit
3MW/Min

Wind Plant Output Controlled During Startup

Conditions
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Wind Plant Shutdown
Settings:

Number of Turbines Online

Shutdown Interval Turbines
Set to 5 Minutes transitioni

Power (kW)
ng Off-line

Wind Plant
Power
Ramping to
Zero in 5
Mins

Wind Plant Output Controlled During Shutdown

Conditions
20 /
GE Renewable Energy
GE Company 2/19/2009
proprietary
What makes a Wind Plant “Grid
Friendly”?
 Does not trip during Faults and other System
Disturbances … ride through capability
 Regulates Plant Voltage and Power
 Limits the Rate of Change of Power from
Variations in Wind Speed … Ramp Rate
Control
 Reacts to Changes in Grid Frequency …
Frequency Droop
 Controls the Insertion and Removal of Large
Power Blocks … Startup and Shutdown Control
 Provides Reactive Power When Needed …
Wind Free Reactive Power
WindFREE Reactive Power

• Wind Turbine converter can deliver

reactive power (kVAR) without wind
(kW)

• Benefits weak grids and systems

with high wind penetration

• Voltage support continues without

active power generation…even
following trips
Reactive Power - even without wind

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2.5 WTG Reactive Power
Capability
WindFREE
Reactive
Power

Cos
0.90

Cos
0.95

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GE Renewable Energy
GE Company 2/19/2009
proprietary
What makes a Wind Plant “Grid
Friendly”?
 Does not trip during Faults and other System
Disturbances … ride through capability
 Regulates Plant Voltage and Power
 Limits the Rate of Change of Power from Variations in
Wind Speed … Ramp Rate Control
 Reacts to Changes in Grid Frequency … Frequency
Droop
 Controls the Insertion and Removal of Large Power
Blocks … Startup and Shutdown Control
 Provides Reactive Power When Needed … Wind Free
Reactive Power
 Provides inertial response to address under-frequency
events … WindINERTIA