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Response of a fixed-seep wind generator under

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 2012, SAAEI’12, 19th Annual seminar on automation, industrial electronics and instrumentation

Response of a fixed-speed wind generators under

Low Voltage Ride Through requirements
C. Carrillo, A.F. Obando Montaño, J. Cidrás and E. Díaz-Dorado
when they are running under the LVRT conditions. So, this
Abstract—. Nowadays a matter of concern related to wind paper is focused in analyzing the behavior of FSWG against
energy penetration is the fulfillment of national grid codes. One
of the most demanding requirements is the low voltage ride the grid codes requirements and the effects of the capacitor
through (LVRT). In this context, the fixed-speed wind generators bank in the WG response.
(FSWG) behavior under LVRT conditions is an important issue In the section II, grid codes of some of the countries that are
due to big amount of wind turbines based on this technology presenting worldwide trends in the wind energy area are
installed around the world (e.g. a 20% in Spain at the end of summarized in order to establish the criteria to analyze the
2009). behavior of the FSWG. Section III presents the modeling of
In this paper an analysis of the LVRT requirements of some of
the WG and in Section IV the simulation of the FSWG under
countries (Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Spain and UK) that
represents worldwide trend in this area are analysed. Following the different grid codes with and without capacitor bank is
this analysis, a simulation of FSWG under the LVRT exigencies presented. Finally in Section V, main results are summarized.
is also presented. The importance of the capacitor bank, usually
installed for power factor correction purposes, is studied. II. COMMON REQUIREMENTS IN GRID CODES

Index Terms—Wind energy, wind turbine, grid code, FSWG,

Every country has established their minimum requirements
LVRT. that a WG have to accomplish in order to allow its connection
to the grid [3]. These requirements have to be fulfilled for both
I. INTRODUCTION normal and under grid disturbances. This paper is focused in
analyzing LVRT behavior of FSWG’s because this is typically
The large wind penetration is forcing all the countries and
a matter of discussion in countries that are developing its
the transmission system operators (TSO) to improve their
energy potential. The countries to be studied are Brazil,
requirements in order to obtain a reliable and stable grid that
Denmark, Germany, Spain and UK.
will be capable of withstand grid disturbances in the form of
1. Brazil.
voltage dips. The most common requirements under these
The requirements established by the grid code of the
disturbances are low voltage ride through (LVRT) which
Brazilian transmission operator ONS only demands that the
usually implies: voltage profile immunity, reactive current
WG shall remain connected to the grid following the
injection, active and reactive power limitation under fault and
characteristic shown in the Fig. 1. A WG is allowed to be
recovery and limitation in reactive energy consumption [1] [2]
disconnected only when the grid voltage is under the curve.
[3] [4].
ONS does not stipulate yet the need of reactive power
The conventional generation is based in synchronous
injection during faults in the electric grid. [4]
generators capable of respond to the demands that the grid
codes imposes. However, in wind energy the most used
generators type are the asynchronous (induction) generators,
double feed induction generators and synchronous generators
with AC/AC converter [5] [6]. These types of generators have
some technical difficulties when trying to fulfill the LVRT
requirements [6].
Nowadays, wind turbine market is dominated by variable
speed wind generators. Nevertheless, fixed-speed wind
generators (FSWG), where the asynchronous generator is
directly connected to the network, have an important presence
in countries where wind energy started to be developed more
than a decade ago. In this type of WG, the LVRT fulfillment is
usually accomplished with the installation of specific
Fig. 1. LVRT requirements in the Brazilian grid code
equipment (STATCOM,…). If those devices are planned to be
2. Denmark
installed, it is necessary to analyse the behavior of FSWGs
The Danish grid code has two separate requirements for the
__________________________________________________________ connection of WG’s to the grid; these are for voltages below
This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and above 100kV. In this paper are going to be take into
under contracts ENE 2007-67473 and ENE 2009-13074. account the LVRT requirements regarding the voltages above
100kV [7] due to is the most demanding one. The Fig. 2
shows the voltage profile that the WG has to accomplish  For all generating facilities which are not disconnected
without disconnection, this curve is valid only for three-phase from the network during fault, active power supply must be
short circuits. continued immediately after fault clearance and increased to
the original value with a gradient of at least 20% of the
nominal capacity per second.
 The generating facilities must support the network voltage
during a voltage dip by means of additional current. For this
purpose a voltage control according to Fig. 4 shall be activated
in the event of a voltage dip of more than 10% of the effective
value of the generator voltage. This voltage control must
ensure the supply of a reactive current at the low-voltage side
or the generator transformer with a contribution of at least 2%
of the rated current for each percent of the voltage dip. The
facilities must be capable of feeding the required current
within 20ms in to the grid. A reactive power output of at least
100% of the rated current must be possible if necessary.
Fig. 2. LVRT requirements in the Danish grid code
The wind farm shall produce the rated power no later than
10 seconds after the voltage recovers the 0.9 p.u. During the
voltage dip the active power in the Point of Common
Coupling (PCC) shall meet the following condition:
2
U 
Pactual  kp  Pt 0   actual  (1)
 t 0 
U
Where:
 Pactual: Actual active power measured in the connection
point.
 Pt=0: Power measured in the connection point immediately
before de voltage dip
 Ut=0: The voltage in the connection point immediately Fig. 3 . LVRT requirements in the German grid code
before the voltage dip
 Uactual: Actual voltage measured in the connection point
 Kp=0.4: Reduction factor considering any voltage dips to
the generator terminals.
During the voltage dip the wind farm must as a maximum
take a reactive current measured in the PCC corresponding to
1.0 times the nominal current of the wind farm.
The Danish TSO also demand that the simulation model shall
be based on the Thevenin equivalent of the power system
where the grid impedance is characterized by a short-circuit
power ten times higher that the wind turbine’s rated power and
an impedance ratio of 0.1 [7].
Fig. 4 . Reactive output current under disturbances according to the German
3. Germany grid code (Un: nominal voltage; U: Instantaneous voltage during the
The LVRT restrictions given by the German grid code [2] disturbance; In: nominal current; Ir: reactive current)
establish two border lines that the wind turbine has to 4. Spain
accomplish in order to interconnect with the grid, as shown in The LVRT requirements that a WG has to withstand in
Fig. 3 This paper will study the behavior of the profile given order to interconnect with the Spanish grid under disturbances
by borderline 2 due to is the most demanding one. The are summarized in the P.O 12.3 [1]. The Fig. 5 shows the
conditions for this kind of voltage dips are: voltage profile that the WG has to accomplish without
 Above the borderline 2 all generating facilities must pass disconnection and the reactive current response during the
through the fault without being disconnected from the voltage dip.
network. There are other requirements demanded by the Spanish
 Below the borderline 2 short –time disconnections is TSO in order to support the grid, these are described in [8]
always permitted, the resynchronization must take place after where the LVRT curve is divided in three zones:
2 seconds. Active power feed-in must be increased with a  Zone 1 starts after the fault and last 150ms.
gradient of at least 10% of the nominal generator capacity per  Zone 2 is during the fault, between Zone1 and Zone3.
second to the original value.

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 Zone 3 starts when the fault is cleared and the voltage power output shall be restored to at least 90% of the level
begins to recover its pre-fault value. available before the fault.
Certain active and reactive power consumption is allowed, During the period of the fault each generating unit shall
as shown in Table 1. generate maximum reactive current without exceeding the
Like the Danish grid code, the Spanish grid code also transient rating limit of the generating unit.
demands that the test of the wind turbines has to be done
following an equivalent electrical grid described in the
procedure for verification and validations (PVVC) of the P.O
12.3 on the response of wind farms and photovoltaic plants in
the event of voltage dips [9].

Fig. 6. Short circuit faults up to 140 ms

III. MODELING AND SIMULATIONS

A. Modeling
This study is focused on the behavior of a FSWG under the
requirements of the different grid codes. For this purpose the
WG that have been modeled is the MADE AE-61 which is a
wind turbine composed of a non-synchronous generator
directly connected to the grid through a transformer.
The technical specifications of the wind turbine are shown
in the Table 2 and the power coefficient (Cp) curve given by
the manufacturers is shown in appendix VI.A
TABLE 2 . TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WIND TURBINE
Fig. 5. LVRT requirements in the Spanish grid code MADE AE 61
TABLE 1. ACTIVE AND REACTIVE CONSUMPTIONS LIMITS DURING A FAULT Rated power 1320 kW
Active and reactive consumption Diameter 61 m
Spanish grid code
Three-phase faults Swept area 2922.5 m2
limits
Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Rated Speed 16 m/s
Active power (P) No limit <-10%×Pn No limit Number of blades 3
Reactive Power (Q) <-60%×Pn < 0%×Pn No limit Max hub height 55 m
Reactive Energy (Er) No limit No limit <-60%× Pn×150ms Gearbox ratio 1:80.8
Reactive Current (Ir) No limit Ir/It>0.9 (aver.) <-150%×In Inertia constant 5 s
Pn: WG nominal power; In: WG nominal current; Ir: reactive current; Self damping 0.01
It: actual current during the fault Power limitation stall
5. UK The main parameters to obtain the behavior of the induction
LVRT requirements of Great Britain are divided in two machine are shown in the appendix VI.B.
types: short circuit faults up to 140 ms in duration and voltage
dips greater than 140 ms in duration [10]. This paper will B. Simulations
study the behavior following the profile given by the Fig. 6 In order to simulate the behavior of a FSWG under a
where the voltage dip is cleared in less than 140 ms in order to voltage dip the PSCAD has been used [11]. Two simulations
have a LVRT profile similar to the other countries are considered to obtain the response of the WG under voltage
For short circuit faults up to 140 ms, each generating unit dips. The first one consists in the WG directly connected to
shall remain transiently stable and connected to the system the grid with capacitor bank for reactive power compensation
without tripping for a close-up solid three-phase short circuit (the capacitor bank is selected to obtain a power factor of
fault or any unbalanced short circuit fault for a total fault 0.958) and the second one is the WG connected to the grid
clearance time of up to 140 ms. Following fault clearance, without the reactive power compensation. All simulations
recovery of the grid voltage to 90% may take longer than 140 where made using the nominal wind speed (16m/s).
ms as illustrated in Fig. 6. Also the generating unit shall be In order to understand the figures that shown the simulation
designed such that after the fault clearance and within 0.5 results is necessary to use the following nomenclature:
seconds of the restoration of the voltage in the PCC, active  Lim P Zx: Limit of Active Power in zone x.

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 P Zx: Active power in Zone x including the capacitor the original value and within 20ms the WG must feed-in the
bank. required reactive current following the characteristic presented
 P NC Zx: Active power in zone x without the capacitor in Fig. 4. To observe these requirements the response of the
bank. WG is divided in three zones:
1. Brazil  Zone 1: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 9.
As mentioned before the Brazilian grid code does not have E.ON
Reactive Current Ir consumption Zone 1
requirements in active and reactive power consumption or in 6
Lim Ir Z1
reactive current injection. The simulations of the Brazilian 4 Ir Z1
grid code are not presented because there are no limits to

Ir (pu)
Ir NC Z1
2
compare the performance of the WG and the LVRT profile
0
given is similar to the Spanish grid code so this does not
represent a big difference in the simulations. -2
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
2. Denmark time (ms)

The requirements of the Danish grid code are that the WG Fig. 9. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 1 (Germany)
shall produce active power following the equation (1) and as  Zone 2: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 10.
E.ON
maximum take 1 times its nominal current. Following these Reactive Current Ir consumption Zone 2
Lim Ir Z2
2 Ir Z2
requirements the response of the WG is divided in two zones Ir NC Z2
(see Fig. 2): 0
 Zone 1: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 7 .

Ir (pu)
ELTRA -2
Active Power P consumption Zone 1
1.5
-4
Lim P Z1 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
1 P Z1 time (ms)
P (pu)

P NC Z1 Fig. 10. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 2 (Germany)

0.5  Zone 3: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 11.
E.ON
0 Active P consumption Zone 3 Lim P Z3
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2
Ppos Z3
ELTRA Ppos NC Z3
Reactive Current Ir consumption Zone 1 1
P (pu)

3
Lim Ir Z1
2 0
Ir Z1
Ir (pu)

1 Ir NC Z1
-1
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0
time (ms)
-1 Fig. 11. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 3 (Germany)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
time (ms) 4. Spain
Fig. 7 . WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 1 (Denmark) The requirements of the Spanish grid code are simulated as
 Zone 2: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 8. it was summarized in Table 1. Unlike the other grid codes the
ELTRA Spanish grid code demands that the WG have to withstand the
Active Power P consumption Zone 2 Lim P Z2
1.5 P Z2
profile given in Fig. 5 but it also says that the test has to be
P NC Z2 done using the equivalent electrical grid shown in PVVC [9].
1 There are presented two simulations, one using the equivalent
P (pu)

0.5
electrical grid where it is simulated a three-phase fault that last
150ms and the second one following the profile presented in
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
the P.O 12.3 shown in Fig. 5. The graphical simulations
presented are the ones corresponding to the P.O 12.3. In
ELTRA
Reactive Current Ir consumption Zone 2 section IV are presented the results of both simulations.
4
Lim Ir Z2
 Zone 1: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 12.
2 PO 12.3
Ir Z2 Reactive Q consumption Zone 1
Ir (pu)

0 Ir NC Z2 2
LimQ Z1
-2 Qpos Z1
1
Q (pu)

Qpos NC Z1
-4
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
time (ms) 0

Fig. 8. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 2 (Denmark)

-1
3. Germany 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
time (ms)
The German grid code demands that the WG after the fault Fig. 12. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 1 (P.O 12.3 Spain)
clearance must produce active power with a gradient of at  Zone 2: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 13.
least 20% of the nominal capacity per second until it reaches

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 PO 12.3 FERC, WECC
Active P consumption Zone 2 Active Power P consumption Zone 2
1.1 Lim P Z2
0.1
P Z2
LimP Z2
P (pu)

1.05 P NC Z2
0 Ppos Z2

P (pu)
Ppos NC Z2 1
-0.1
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0.95
Reactive Q consumption Zone 2
0 LimQ Z2
0.9
Qpos Z2 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
Q (pu)

-0.02 Qpos NC Z2 time (ms)

-0.04
Fig. 16. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 2 (UK)
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Reactive current Ir consumption Zone 2 IV. ANALYSIS OF THE SIMULATIONS
LimIr Z2
1
Ir/Itot Z2 The figures presented in III.B presents the behavior of the
Ir/Itot (pu)

Ir/Itot NC Z2
0 FSWG under the requirements of all the grid codes proposed
in this study. In order to analyze if the WG is fulfilling those
-1
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 requirements the minimum values of each of the zones are
time (ms)
presented in the Table 4. It can be seen that the most
Fig. 13. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 2 (P.O 12.3 Spain)
demanding requirement is the reactive current, in almost all
 Zone 3: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 14.
PO 12.3
the cases is the one that the WG is unable to fulfill. It is
Reactive Energy Er consumption Zone 3 important to notice that in the case of Spain when the
0
LimEr Z3 simulation is done using the profile in the P.O 12.3 the FSWG
-0.2 Er Z3 is able to fulfill requirements. However, it is not capable to
Er (pu)

Er NC Z3
-0.4 accomplish it if the simulation is done using the equivalent
-0.6 electrical grid presented in the PVVC.
-0.8
Normally the capacitor banks are used to keep the power
0 50 100 150
factor at unit in WG’s. Although the capacitor bank is not
Reactive current Ir consumption Zone 3 meant to make the WG accomplish the grid codes, it can be
0
LimIr Z3
seen in Table 4 that when it is used, the amount of intervention
-0.5 Ir Z3 for the especial equipment like the STATCOM is reduced, e.g.
Ir (pu)

Ir NC Z3 in the German simulation in the Zone 2 the amount of

-1 consumed reactive current is reduced in a 10%. In the Spanish
grid code using the profile in the P.O 12.3 the reactive power
-1.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 consumption is reduced a 15% meanwhile in the simulation
time(ms)
with the profile of the PVVC it is reduced a 25%. There are
Fig. 14. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 3 (P.O 12.3 Spain) also big improvements, like in the case of the UK’s
5. UK simulation, where the reactive current consumption is reduced
The UK requirements for the generating units demands that almost a 44%.
after the fault clearance and within 0.5 seconds, active power Finally, the German grid code seems to be the most
output shall be restored to at least 90% of the level available demanding one due to is the one where none of the
before the fault (in this case nominal power). Also during the requirements are fulfilled.
period of the fault the WG unit shall generate maximum
reactive current, which in this case is considered to be the V. CONCLUSIONS
nominal current. In order to observe this requirements the
reponse of the WG is divided in two zones: In this paper were analyzed and presented the most common
LVRT requirements in the grid codes of the countries that are
 Zone 1: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 15.
FERC, WECC presenting worldwide trends in the wind energy area. The
Reactive Current Ir consumption Zone 1 more demanding appear to be the German and the UK code
6
Lim Ir Z1 since they demand that the WG has to withstand a fault of zero
4
Ir Z1
volts and they do not allow any reactive energy consumption
Ir (pu)

2 Ir NC Z1
during the voltage dip.
0 Simulation results show that FSWG is unable to fulfill the
-2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
requirements of the grid codes, as can be seen in the Table 4.
time (ms) The impact of considering capacitor bank in simulation is also
Fig. 15. WG responses under a voltage dip in Zone 1 (UK) presented.
 Zone 2: the simulation result can be seen in Fig. 16. The simulation study shows that the capacitor bank reduces
the requirements for the dimensioning of the equipment
necessary to achieve the LVRT capability.

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 VI. APPENDIX [2] E.ON Netz GmbH, Verband der Netzbetriiber VND. (2007, August)
Transmision Code 2007. Network and system rules of the German
A. Power efficiency curve transmission system operators. [Online]. www.vdn-berlin.de
[3] Múfit Altin et al., "Overview of Recent Grid Codes for Wind Power
Integration," in Proceedings of the international Conference on
Optimisation of Electrical and Electronic Equipment, OPTIM, art. no.
5510521 , Brasov, 2010, pp. 1152-1160.
[4] ONS. (2010, September) Operador Nacional do sistema Elétrico
Submódulo 3.6 Rev1_1. Requisitos técnicos mínimos para a coneão às
instalações de transmissão (in Potuguese). [Online]. www.ons.org.br
[5] H Li and Z Chen, "Overview of different wind generator systems and
their comparisons," IET Renewable Power Generation, vol. 2, no. 2, pp.
123-138, August 2008.
[6] T. Ackermann, Wind power in power systems. Stockholm, Sweden: John
Fig. 17. Power efficiency coefficient Cp Willley & Sons, 2005.
[7] Energinet. (2004, December) Regulation TF 3.2.5 Wind turbines
B. Wind generator parameters connected to grids with voltages above 100kV. Eltra and Elkraft System.
TABLE 3. INDUCTION GENERATOR PARAMETERS [Online]. www.energinet.dk
Induction Generator [8] C Carrillo, F. Pérez-Sabín, E. Díaz-Dorado, and J. Cidrás, "Flicker
Rated power 1320 kW mitigation and voltage sag ride through of a wind turbine using an
STATCOM," in Flicker mitigation and voltage sag ride through of a
Nominal current 1.273 kA
wind turbine using an STATCOM EWEC'09 , Marsella, 2009.
RMS phase-voltage 0.400 kV
[9] Asociación Empresarial Eólica. (2011, May) Procedure for verification
Poles 4 -
validation and certification of the requirements of the PO 12.3 on the
Synchronous speed 1500 rpm response of wind farms and photovoltaic plants in the event of voltage
Inertia constant 0.7 - dips, Version 9. [Online]. www.aeeolica.org
Self damping 0.1 - [10] National Grid Electricity Transmission plc. (2012, January) The grid
code, issue 4, Revision 10. [Online]. www.nationalgrid.com
VII. REFERENCES [11] Manitoba HVDC Research center. (2005) PSCAD/EMTDC v4.2.0
Power system simulation software manual.
[1] REE. (2006, October) Red Eléctrica de España P.O.12.3 Requisitos de
respuesta frente a huecos de tensión de las instalaciones eólicas (in
Spanish). [Online]. www.ree.es

TABLE 4 . RESULTS AND LIMITS OF THE GRID CODES

With capacitor bank Without capacitor bank
Country Zone Reactive Reactive Reactive Reactive Reactive Reactive
Active power Active power
current Power Energy current Power Energy
Requirement 0,105 -1 No limits No limits 0,105 -1 No limits No limits
1
Response 0,130 -0,408 X X 0,128 -0,727 X X
Denmark
Requirement 0,103 -1 No limits No limits 0,103 -1 No limits No limits
2
Response 0,118 -1,901 X X 0,116 -2,206 X X
Requirement No limits 1 No limits No limits No limits 1 No limits No limits
1
Response X -1,356 X X X -1,503 X X
Requirement No limits 0,425 No limits No limits No limits 0,425 No limits No limits
Germany 2
Response X -2,189 X X X -2,452 X X
Requirement 1,70E-03 No limits No limits No limits 1,70E-03 No limits No limits No limits
3
Response -1,24E-06 X X X -2,7E-06 X X X
Requirement No limits No limits -0,6 No limits No limits No limits -0,6 No limits
1
Response X X -0,295 X X X -0,541 X
Spain Requirement -0,1 0.9 0,000 No limits 0,1 0.9 0,000 No limits
2
PVVC Response 0.073 -0,368 -0,030 X 0,071 -0,473 -0,040 X
Requirement No limits -1,5 No limits -0,6 No limits -1,5 No limits -0,6
3
Response X -2,987 X -0,773 X -3,151 X -0,881
Requirement No limits No limits -0,6 No limits No limits No limits -0,6 No limits
1
Response X X -0,299 X X X -0,523 X
Spain Requirement -0,1 0.9 0,000 No limits 0,1 0.9 0,000 No limits
2
PO12.3 Response 0,063 -0,449 -0,038 X 0,062 -0,522 -0,045 X
Requirement No limits -1,5 No limits -0,6 No limits -1,5 No limits -0,6
3
Response X -0,732 X -0,102 X -0,833 X -0,114
Requirement No limits 1 No limits No limits No limits 1 No limits No limits
1
UK Response X -0,409 X X X -0,728 X X
Requirement 2 0,9 No limits No limits No limits 0,9 No limits No limits No limits

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