Improving The Capability Curves of A Grid-Connected Wind Farm: Gabel El-Zeit, Egypt
Improving The Capability Curves of A Grid-Connected Wind Farm: Gabel El-Zeit, Egypt
Improving The Capability Curves of A Grid-Connected Wind Farm: Gabel El-Zeit, Egypt
Abstract— The use of wind energy is rapidly expanding due to by 2022, meaning that approximately 600 MW of wind farm
technological developments and increased global energy capacity is expected to be connected to the Egyptian grid
demands. Therefore, large-scale wind farms are being connected annually [3].
directly to power grids. However, the integration of wind farms
into power systems presents various challenges. One of these With the development of wind turbine performance, many
challenges is the reactive power capability, which has a wind farms have been integrated into the power system in
particular influence on wind farm operations. Another challenge developed countries [4]. The penetration levels of wind power
is the Low-Voltage Ride Through (LVRT) capability, which is in the power grid could be high. Many countries have
one of the most serious challenges in designing wind turbines established new grid codes with technical rules to facilitate the
and their manufacturing technology. This paper explains the operation of new wind farms. These requirements are often
modern wind power systems and discusses the requirements of specified at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) between
connecting wind farms to power grids. In addition, the various the Wind Farm (WF) and the power grid [5]. These new grid
operation and control methods needed for wind turbines to meet codes include the so-called wind turbine Low-Voltage Ride
these requirements are investigated. To analyse the impacts of Through (LVRT) capability and the reactive power capability
wind energy integration on the Egyptian power grid, we utilize of the WF [6]. Presently, Double-Fed Induction Generators
DIgSILENT PowerFactory programming to illustrate the (DFIGs) and synchronous generators are used for large wind
present scenario and the challenges of the reactive power and
turbines because they have high efficiencies, are more flexible
LVRT capabilities of the Gabel El-Zeit wind farm. The results
for the control of active and reactive power during LVRT and
show that adding a Static Synchronous Compensator
(STATCOM) to the system allows the higher reactive power
are low cost [7], [8]. Research [9] showed that the impact of
injection needed to support the system performance. the optimal power-tracking constraints and various operational
variables on the reactive power capability of DFIGs.
Index Terms--DIgSILENT PowerFactory, LVRT Capability, Reference [10] presented the integration of wind turbines
Grid-Connected Wind Farms, PQ & QV Capability Curves. with power grids. The responses of the reactive power support
during voltage decreases and increases of 5% were discussed.
I. INTRODUCTION Additionally, supplemental FACTS devices should be used to
In recent years, wind energy has been considered one of ensure the grid code requirements. The sizing and type of the
the most cost-effective renewable energy technologies and has required reactive power compensators for both onshore and
continued to be the largest renewable energy sector in any offshore grid connected wind farms considering various
country in terms of its installed capacity due to its economic, transmission technologies High Voltage AC and High Voltage
environmental and social advantages. The wind power DC alternatives are investigated in [11].
industry has rapidly developed over the past 20-30 years, with Reference [12] discussed the impact of wind energy
growth rates ranging from 10 to 40% per year [1]. The end of integration on the reactive power reserve in the Western
2015 witnessed an increase in the global installed wind power Danish Power system. The intelligent use of local resources
capacity, with over 432,883 MW of wind power installed such as WFs connected at the transmission voltage level and
globally, which is more than two-times the 197,946 MW Decentralized Combined Heat and Power Plants (DCHPs)
installed in 2010. At the end of 2015, China had the greatest have been shown to be alternative solutions for reactive power
installed wind power capacity at over 145,362 MW, with the reserves. Although various methods of reactive power control
US coming in second with over 74,471 MW and Germany have been reported in the literature, [13] mainly focuses on
coming in third at 44,947 MW [2]. At the end of 2016, Egypt tap-changing transformers, switched capacitors, SVCs,
produced 750 MW of power from wind. The target for the STATCOMs, and the generators themselves. In [14], the
installed wind power capacity in Egypt is to exceed 7200 MW voltage stability with increasing penetration levels of wind
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This paper evaluates the EGCs compliance of the reactive TABLE I. DETAILS OF GABEL EL-ZEIT WF
power and voltage at the PCC of the WF. The evaluation of
the mentioned requirements is performed for the power Parameter Value
Voltage of WTG 0.69kV
operation ranges specified in the EGCs applicable to the Gabel Medium voltage 22 kV
El-Zeit WF. The Gabel El-Zeit WF is located along the coast Export Voltage 220 kV
of the Red Sea in Egypt. Frequency 50 HZ
Turbine power 2 MW
III. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EGYPTIAN POWER No. of turbines 100
SYSTEM & THE GABEL EL-ZEIT WF Installed power 200 MW
Power factor 0.95
The power system in Egypt has many types of
components, including thermal power plants and transmission
and distribution networks. The power plants generate TABLE II. CASE DETAILS OF GABEL EL-ZEIT WF PROJECTS
electrical power at different voltage levels and then the voltage
Case Transformer Feeder Power (MW)
levels are boosted to the transmission voltage levels of 500 101 No.1 (125 MVA)W1 C8,C10,C12 42
kV, 220 kV, and 132 kV. The high voltage level of 66 kV is 102 No.1 (125 MVA)W2 C1,C2,C5,C6 54
used to transmit electricity from the substations to the demand 103 No.2 (125 MVA)W1 C3,C4,C7,C14 52
locations. The distribution transformers receive the Medium 104 No.2 (125 MVA)W2 C9,C11,C13,C15 52
Voltage (MV) from the distribution network to supply
scattered loads at the low distribution voltage level. The reactive power is calculated to meet the reactive
The total installed power capacity in Egypt in 2015/2016 power required by the grid code, as shown in Fig. 1.
was 38857 MW, while wind power accounted for only 750 DIgSILENT programming is used to simulate the effect of the
MW (approximately 1.9%). Egypt’s wind farms are located in Gabel El-Zeit WF on the power grid. This method has a
three regions along the coast of the Red Sea: the biggest one is library of models of the electrical components of network
the 545 MW Zafarana WF, consisting of 700 turbines. systems, such as generators, transformers, motors, and
Additionally, the 200 MW Gabel El-Zeit WF was opened in controllers. This library also includes predefined model
November 2015, and the 5 MW Hurghada WF is the third WF templates (e.g., double-fed induction WTGs, fully rated
[16]. The strategy for renewable energy in Egypt projects is converter WTGs, and photovoltaic systems). Therefore, in the
covering twenty percent of the total electricity generation with present work, the electrical components of the WTG model
renewable energy by 2022, including a twelve percent are standard components of the existing library.
contribution from wind energy [3]. To verify the feasibility of The models of the WTGs and the control systems of the
the integration of wind energy with the electric grid, computer WTGs are written in the Dynamic Simulation Language
simulations have been carried out on a 2 MW Wind Turbine (DSL) of DIgSILENT, while the DIgSILENT Programming
Generators (WTGs) Gamesa G-80 DFIG system with a Language (DPL) is used to produce the PQ and QV curves
transmission network equivalent to that at the Gabel El-Zeit [19]. The DSL language is used to program the models of the
transformer station. electrical controllers and other components used in electrical
The Egyptian transmission grid is considered as an infinite power systems. The DPL script uses a simple syntax that is
bus. The resistive elements of the transmission line are quite similar to the C++ programming language to perform
neglected; which is an acceptable assumption given that the iterative or repetitive calculations on target systems and to
X/R ratio of the transmission line is of high value which is post-process the results. The DPL scripts may include variable
assumed 10. The minimum short circuit power is 10000 definitions, program flow commands (i.e., ’if-else’ and ’do-
MVA. As it can be observed in Table I, Gabel El-Zeit WF has while’), PowerFactory commands such as load-flow or short-
a rated capacity of 200 MW (total of 100 X 2MW WTGs). circuit commands, mathematical expressions and subroutine
Each WTG is connected to a separate transformer. This calls [20]. The flow chart of the DPL script used in this paper
transformer raises the voltage level of WTG (0.69 kV) to the is shown in Fig. 7.
MV line (22 kV). The WF is connected to the grid through
two 3-winding transformers (220kV/22kV/22kV) 125MVA. IV. SIMULATION SCENARIOS
Gabel El-Zeit WF aggregated models are shown in Fig.5. In the simulations, different scenarios were tested in
DIgSILENT PowerFactory to determine the effects of voltage
There are four main connections (where the DFIG are
deviations at the PCC on the active and reactive power (P-Q)
connected) that are connected to four MV buses. These buses
diagram. These scenarios are listed in Table III.
are connected to the PCC through two 3-winding
transformers. The PCC is the boundary between the WF and
the grid at 220 kV. Table II illustrates that each case has a TABLE III. VOLTAGE DEVIATION SCENARIOS AT PCC.
number of circuits (C). The WF in this study has 15 circuits,
and the total active powers in each case are 42 MW, 54 MW, Scenarios Voltage at PCC (p.u) Voltage at PCC (kV)
1 0.9 198
52 MW, and 52 MW. The PQ diagram of the DFIG is shown
2 0.95 209
in Fig. 6, illustrating the reactive power capability of the DFIG 3 1.0 220
at the 7 voltages used in the simulations. The active power P is 4 1.05 231
the power supplied by the wind power and depends on the 5 1.1 242
natural wind speed.
302
Figure 5. Gabel El-Zeit WF Aggregated Model
303
A. Scenario 1 voltage at PCC =198kV (0.9 P.U)
Fig. 8 shows the resulting PQ curve when the WTGs are
all absorbing/injecting Q according to their maximum
capabilities. The results of Fig. 8 show that the reactive power
supply of the WTGs is not enough to fulfil the grid code
requirement at 0.9 Un. The required amount of capacitive
reactive power (A power factor of 0.95 overexcited) cannot be
supplied by the exclusive use of the WTGs. The inductive
reactive power (power factor of 0.95 underexcited)
requirements at nominal active power are fulfilled. Therefore,
no inductive reactive power compensation is needed (red line).
The value of capacitive reactive power compensation used to
improve the reactive power capability curve (blue line) is 45
MVAr.
B. Scenario 2 voltage at PCC =209 kV (0.95P.U) Figure 9. PQ diagram for voltage at PCC = 0.95 p.u with and without
Fig. 9 shows the resulting PQ curve when the WTGs STATCOM (scenario 2)
are all absorbing/injecting Q according to their maximum
capabilities. The same results are observed in Scenario 1,
except that in this Scenario, the value of the capacitive
reactive power compensation must be increased to 70 MVAr.
This is a consequence of the change in voltage, which requires
a higher value of the reactive power compensation.
Figure 11. PQ diagram for voltage at PCC = 1.05 p.u with and without
STATCOM (scenario 4)
Figure 8. PQ diagram for voltage at PCC = 0.9 p.u with and without
STATCOM (scenario 1)
304
study, two fault scenarios are applied to the grid. The
following fault scenarios are simulated at the PCC:
• A 3-phase short circuit with a 150 ms clearing time
(0% remaining voltage).
• A 3-phase short circuit with a 1100 ms clearing time
(30% remaining voltage).
Fig. 14 illustrates a block diagram of the STATCOM
controller. This diagram consists of a PI (Proportional-
Integral) controller and a first order delay. There are different
blocks used in the model which is shown in Fig. 15. Some of
these blocks are measuring blocks and others are DSL models.
The blocks showing “StaVmea, StaVmea*, Stapqmea*”
represent the measuring blocks and the blocks showing
Figure 12. PQ diagram for voltage at PCC = 1.1 p.u with and without “ElmDsl*” require DSL modelling. The PLL block is used to
STATCOM (scenario 5)
measure the angle and the frequency of the grid voltage and to
send the corresponding signal to the converter and the
F. QV capability curve frequency controller. Typically, wind turbines have to inject
Fig. 13 indicates the QV capability curve of the WF at the additional reactive current according to the voltage deviation
PCC. Without adding a STATCOM, the value of the reactive multiplied by a k factor (grid code requirement).
power at V= 0.9 PU is larger than its value at V=0.95 PU. The
value of reactive power decreases with the increased voltage.
After adding a STATCOM, the value of the reactive power at
different voltages are fixed.
305
Figure 17. PCC Reactive Current with and without STATCOM (0% Un)
Figure 16. Voltage at PCC bus with and without STATCOM (0% Un)
Figure 20. Voltage at PCC bus with and without STATCOM (30% Un)
306
Furthermore, the reactive power compensation support of
using the reactive power compensation devices has been
demonstrated to effectively improve the behaviour of the WF
during its steady state operation and also effectively improve
the behaviour of the WF during its disturbed state. The
additional voltage support provided by the reactive power
compensation devices can significantly improve the ability of
wind turbines to ride out voltage dips through their ability to
more quickly restore voltage characteristics, allowing the
studied wind power plant to stay connected to the grid during
a voltage dip and consequently fulfilling the EGCs
Figure 21. PCC Reactive Current with and without STATCOM (30% Un) requirement.
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