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High penetration of wind power plants may have an adverse impact on power systems' stability by reducing the inertia, and problems like frequency stability could appear due to total inertia in the system being reduced, making the power system more vulnerable to disturbances. However, most recent grid codes include an emulation inertia requirement for wind power plants, because modern wind turbines are capable of providing virtual inertia through power electronic converter controls to improve frequency stability issues. Because of this, it is necessary that the inertia estimation analyze and quantify the impact of the inertia reduction in power systems. In this paper, an implementation of a methodology for the inertia estimation of wind power plants is presented. It is evaluated through synchrophasor measurements obtained from a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) implementation, using industrial Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). This methodology is based on the swing equation. Furthermore, a comparison of the results obtained between two professional tools RSCAD and DIgSILENT PowerFactory is performed, in order to evaluate the accuracy and the robustness of the methodology. This methodology is applied for the inertia estimation of an equivalent of the southeast zone of the Mexican power system, where there is a large-scale penetration of wind power plants. The results demonstrate that this methodology can be applied in real power systems using PMUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an electric power grid that has a high penetration level of wind, the power fluctuation of a large-scale wind power plant (WPP) caused by varying wind speeds deteriorates the system frequency regulation. This paper proposes a power-smoothing scheme of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) that significantly mitigates the system frequency fluctuation while preventing over-deceleration of the rotor speed. The proposed scheme employs an additional control loop relying on the system frequency deviation that operates in combination with the maximum power point tracking control loop. To improve the power-smoothing capability while preventing over-deceleration of the rotor speed, the gain of the additional loop is modified with the rotor speed and frequency deviation. The gain is set to be high if the rotor speed and/or frequency deviation is large. The simulation results based on the IEEE 14-bus system clearly demonstrate that the proposed scheme significantly lessens the output power fluctuation of a WPP under various scenarios by modifying the gain with the rotor speed and frequency deviation, and thereby it can regulate the frequency deviation within a narrow range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a modeling and analysis methodology for investigating the stochastic harmonics and resonance concerns of wind power plants (WPPs). Wideband harmonics from modern wind turbines (WTs) are observed to be stochastic, associated with real power production, and they may adversely interact with the grid impedance and cause unexpected harmonic resonance, if not comprehensively addressed in the planning and commissioning of the WPPs. These issues should become more critical as wind penetration levels increase. We thus propose a planning study framework comprising the following functional steps: First, the best fitted probability density functions (PDFs) of the harmonic components of interest in the frequency domain are determined. In operations planning, maximum likelihood estimations (MLEs) followed by a chi-square test are used once field measurements or manufacturers' data are available. Second, harmonic currents from the WPP are represented by randomly-generating harmonic components based on their PDFs (frequency spectrum) and then synthesized for time domain simulations via inverse Fourier transform. Finally, we conduct a comprehensive assessment by including the impacts of feeder configurations, harmonic filters and the variability of parameters. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed study approach for a 100-MW offshore WPP consisting of 20 units of 5-MW full converter turbines, a realistic benchmark system adapted from a WPP under development in Korea and discuss lessons learned through this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A self-excited induction generator (SEIG) is very simple and robust, has a reduced unit size, is easy to implement and simple to control, and requires very little maintenance compared to other types of generators. In variable operating conditions, the SEIG requires a power electronics interface to transform from the variable frequency voltage output of the generator to a battery voltage output or the related applications. In our study, we tied the SEIG to the power electronics system comprising a diode rectifier and DC/DC converter, and then a final DC load for fuel cell applications was connected. An example of such an application is an electrolyzer where an equivalent circuit is modeled for use in this study. To accomplish the proposed system, we utilized PSCAD and MATLAB for its simulation, control, and analysis. A new system configuration considering three different wind speeds and breaker conditions is modeled and analyzed. The results show that the suggested strategies in this study would contribute to designing and analyzing a more practical power electronics interface system for a wind turbine generator with a DC load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power harnessed by wave energy converters (WECs) in oceans is highly variable and, therefore, has a high peak-to-average power (PTAP) ratio. To minimize the cost of a WEC power take off (PTO) system, it is desirable to reduce the PTAP ratio while maximizing the mean power extracted by WECs. The important issue of how PTAP ratio reduction measures (such as adding an inertia element) can affect the mean power extracted in a reference model has not been thoroughly addressed in the literature. To investigate this correlation, this study focuses on the integration of the U.S. Department of Energy's Reference Model 3, a two-body point absorber, with a slider-crank WEC for linear-to-rotational conversion. In the first phase of this study, a full-scale numerical model was developed that predicts how PTO system parameters, along with an advanced control algorithm, can potentially affect the proposed WEC's PTAP ratio as well as the mean power extracted. In the second phase, an appropriate scaled-down model was developed, and extracted power results were successfully validated against the full-scale model. Finally, numerical and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations based on the scaled-down model were designed and conducted to optimize or make trade-offs between the operational performance and PTAP ratio. The initial results with numerical and HIL simulations reveal that gear ratio, crank radius, and generator parameters substantially impact the PTAP ratio and mean power extracted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]