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In wind turbine systems, pitch angle controllers are employed to reduce the aerodynamic power gained during high wind speeds. On the other hand, passive filters are usually used to mitigate disturbances in grid-connected voltage source converters (VSCs). To avoid the risk of instability in the grid-connected VSC, as a result of resonance in the capacitive and inductive components, it is necessary to consider damping. In this study, the low pass filter timing constant of the pitch angle controller of the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbine was varied considering different time constants. The best timing response of the low pass filter was further used to analyse different filter topologies, in addition to a new control strategy that uses two trap passive filters with shunt resistor–capacitor as an active damper, in augmenting the DFIG wind turbine during grid fault. Simulation studies in PSCAD/EMTDC were carried out to compare the performance of the proposed scheme with some other conventional filter solutions for the DFIG wind generator, during a severe bolted three-phase to ground fault. The simulation results demonstrate the improved performance and faster recovery of the wind generator variables after the fault considering the proposed filter scheme.

This chapter investigates the effect of wind energy penetration on the frequency response of a multi-machine power network, with different time constants of a low pass filter (LPF) in the DC chopper of an energy capacitor system (ECS). The power network is made up of wind farms composed of fixed-speed induction generators interconnected to steam and hydro synchronous power plants. Heavy and light loads were connected in the system. The ECS is connected at the terminal of the wind turbine. The LPF time constant parameter was varied for different cases, using the same wind speed for the wind turbine. Scenarios with and without the synergy of a series dynamic braking resistor (SDBR) connected to the stator of the wind turbine and the ECS were investigated. The results obtained were compared to a case where no frequency control was employed in the power network. Simulations were carried out in Power System Computer Aided Design and Electromagnetic Transient Including DC. The results show that a higher time constant of the LPF effectively damps the oscillations of the grid variables and quickly restores the system during network disturbance. The SDBR was used to further enhance the performance of the ECS.

Transient operations are very crucial for high power insulated-gate bipolar transistor modules, because high current and voltage are applied during this period for several microseconds. Therefore, the ability for doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) variable speed wind turbine power converters to withstand abnormal conditions is strictly imperative in order to achieve its lifetime specifications and also fulfil the grid codes. This study presents a new control scheme for DFIG wind turbine having parallel interleaved converters (PIC) configuration and a series dynamic braking resistor (SDBR) connected at its stator side. Interleaving the wind turbine converters in parallel configuration could help to increase the current capability, while the SDBR helps in post fault recovery of the wind turbine. The coordinated control analysis of the scheme was implemented in power system computer aided design and electromagnetic transient including DC simulation environment for a severe three-phase to ground fault. Results obtained were compared with the conventional DC chopper and crowbar rotor circuit protection scheme for the wind turbine. A better performance of the wind turbine variables were achieved using the proposed control scheme of the PIC and SDBR because the space vector modulation of the PIC results in maximum value of the change in common mode voltage, leading to improved switched output voltage of the voltage source converter leg.