Mitigation of Subsynchronous Oscillations in a Series Compensated Wind Farm with Static Var Compensator

Rajiv. K. Varma, Member, IEEE, and Soubhik Auddy, Student Member, IEEE

AbstractSubsynchronous resonance (SSR) is a potential problem in a series compensated power system. A wind farm employing self-excited induction generator (SEIG) connected to the grid through a series compensated transmission line may experience the same problem. This paper presents a study of subsynchronous oscillations resulting from torsional interactions as well as induction generator self-excitation effects in such a wind energy conversion system (WECS). It is shown that these two phenomena may cause system instability if proper preventive measures are not taken. A static var compensator (SVC) with a voltage controller has been employed at the induction generator terminal to damp the subsynchronous oscillations. It is also found that an auxiliary subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) improves the damping of torsional oscillations. Extensive time domain simulations have been carried out using EMTDC/PSCAD to validate the performance of the SVC in preventing SSR. Index TermsWind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS), Selfexcited Induction Generator (SEIG), Subsynchronous Resonance (SSR), Static VAR Compensator (SVC), FACTS, Series Compensation.

I. INTRODUCTION

IND power is the most rapidly growing technology for renewable power generation [1]. It is being predicted that 12% of the total energy demand all over the world will come from wind power at the end of 2020 [2]. With this rapid growth of installed capacity of the wind farms, it is also necessary to transmit the generated power to the grid through the transmission networks. It is a well known fact that series compensation is an effective means of increasing power transfer capability of an existing transmission network. However, in case of series compensated networks supplied by steam turbine driven synchronous generators subsynchronous resonance may become a potential problem [3-4]. Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) can provide an effective solution to mitigate SSR [5-7]. SSR may comprise both torsional interactions and induction machine self excitation effect. Self excitation effect may arise when an Induction Generator
Rajiv K. Varma and Soubhik Auddy are Associate Professor and Ph.D. student, respectively, in Electrical & Computer Engineering Dept., University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A5B9, CANADA (e-mails: rkvarma@uwo.ca; sauddy@uwo.ca).

employed in a wind farm is supplying power to the grid through a series connected transmission line [8]. Also, wind turbine generators exhibit natural mechanical oscillation modes for both tower structure and the turbine [8]. These torsional oscillations are caused by various mechanical masses mounted on the same shaft of the wind turbine such as gear train and turbine modes or sideways oscillations of the tower [9]. Wind turbine torsional systems had been modeled in detail in the past and mechanical oscillations due to those torsional masses were damped using pitch angle controller as well as power system stabilizer (PSS) [10]. In this paper, the interactions of a self-excited induction generator (SEIG), which is normally employed in wind farms, with series compensated transmission line have been studied. SVCs are installed at wind turbine generator terminal to provide dynamic reactive support for voltage control [2, 8]. This paper illustrates a novel application of SVC for damping subsynchronous oscillations caused by both induction machine self excitation effect and torsional interactions in the above system. It is shown that an SVC is able to suppress torsional oscillations as well as IG self-excitation effect when equipped with a proper voltage controller and a subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) with the generator speed deviation as auxiliary input signal. II.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

Fig. 1 shows the configuration of the study system. This is similar to the IEEE First Bench Mark (FBM) System [11]. All the line data and transformer data are same as in [11].

Fig. 1 Wind Generator Study System

The major differences of the above study system from the IEEE FBM model are as follows: The wind farm is represented by a set of coherent

1-4244-0493-2/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE.

induction generators each of 1000 HP (0.746 MW) rating. The total scheduled power transfer from the generating unit varies from 100 MW to 500 MW to simulate a realistically large wind farm [1, 8]. The mechanical system of the wind turbine is represented as a two-mass torsional system. The inertia and spring constants of the torsional systems have been taken from [9]. The entire wind turbine system is modeled to be of one mass of large inertia. On the other hand, the set of coherent induction generators is modeled as another mass where each machine has inertia which is much less than the turbine inertia. Induction generators take reactive power from grid as they do not have an internal excitation system. Additional reactive support is needed to operate the induction generators with a power factor in the range of 0.98-0.99 lagging [8]. To achieve this goal a fixed capacitor of 1500 F per phase has been provided. An SVC is added to the induction generator terminal for the dynamic reactive power support only. The SVC responds when there is a contingency in the system [8]. In all other situations, it remains floating. The rating of the SVC has been decided from a loadflow study. The SVC consists of two stages of thyristor controlled switched capacitor (TSC) and one thyristor controlled reactor (TCR). Various series compensation levels have been studied for the above system. A high series compensation level of XC = 90% with respect to the total line reactance. has been eventually chosen to examine the performance of the SVC to mitigate self excitation effects of IG and also the torsional interactions. In steady state both of these compensations ensure 1.0 p.u. power transfer with 0.989 power factor (lagging) at the generator bus. The contingency shown in Fig. 1 is a three phase fault which is same as described in [11]. III. SYSTEM MODELING Modeling of the study system shown in Fig. 1 has been performed using different commercial grade software. The steady state modeling of the system for loadflow studies has been performed with PSAT of DSA Power Tools [12]. The steady state power flow results have been used to initialize all the dynamic devices in the nonlinear time domain simulations performed with EMTDC/PSCAD [13]. IV. CONTROLLER DESIGN OF SVC SVC is mainly used to regulate the system bus voltage during disturbances in the system. In addition, an auxiliary subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) is designed and

added suitably to enhance the torsional mode damping of the system. The general configuration of an SVC with its voltage regulator and auxiliary controller is shown in Fig. 2.

Vref

Sig

K KP + I s

G(s)

H(s)

Fig. 2. Generalized SVC auxiliary control

In this study the voltage controller is a simple PI controller whose proportional gain is set to zero. The integral gain is varied systematically by hit-and-trial method give the best KI which results in a minimal settling time with acceptable overshoot in generator terminal voltage in response to a step change in the reference voltage Vref. The auxiliary controller H(s) can take many other structures depending on which control design technique is being employed [14]. The structure of the auxiliary subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) is shown in Fig. 3 where Sig is the incremental value of auxiliary signal, also called feedback signal. The different signals generally considered as the input signals to the auxiliary controller are line real power flow, line current magnitude, bus frequency, bus voltage magnitude etc [6]. In this paper, the generator speed deviation ( ) has been used as an auxiliary signal to damp the unstable modes.

Vref

Fig. 3. Structure of SVC Subsynchronous Damping Controller (SSDC)

The SSDC comprises a simple proportional controller through a washout circuit. The purpose of washout circuit is to prevent the auxiliary controller from responding to steady state power flow. The proportional gain of SSDC is determined from systematic hit and trial using the nonlinear time domain simulation using PSCAD software to result in fastest settling time. The output of the SSDC is then fed to SVC voltage regulator as shown in Fig. 3. A 3.0 % slope in SVC control characteristic has been considered in the present study. The entire system data is presented in the Appendix.

V.

TORSIONAL INTERACTIONS AND INDUCTION GENERATOR SELF EXCITATION EFFECT

Torsional interaction is the interplay between the mechanical system (turbine-generator) and a series compensated electrical

Sig

B ref

network [3, 4]. Large disturbances in the system result in simultaneous excitation of all natural modes of electrical and mechanical system. Series compensation in the line results in excitation of subsynchronous currents at electrical frequency
fe = f0 XC XL

reason is that at this low power transfer, the rotor speed is not so much above the synchronous speed that the negative
1 Electromagnetic Torque (p.u.) 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 4 4.5 5 Time (s) 5.5 6

(1)

These currents result in rotor torque at the complementary frequency fr = f0 fe (2) If fr comes in close vicinity or matches with any of the natural frequencies of the torsional system, it results in torsional interaction based subsynchronous resonance. This will eventually produce growing oscillations in generator rotor speed. On the other hand, self excitation of a series capacitor compensated electrical system alone is caused by induction generator effect. As the generator rotor circuits are turning faster than the rotating magnetic field produced by the subsynchronous currents in armature, the rotor resistance to subsynchronous current viewed from the armature terminals is negative. At the resonance frequency, if this negative resistance exceeds the total circuit resistance it leads to self excitation resulting in excessive voltage and current. VI.
SYSTEM STUDIES

Fig. 4 Electromagnetic torque for 100 MW power transfer

1 Machine Terminal Voltage (p.u.) 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 4 4.5 5 Time (s) 5.5 6

Generator Rotor Speed (p.u.)

In this section both the induction generator self excitation and torsional interaction effects in the study system depicted in Fig. 1 are studied. The subsynchronous oscillations caused by both these effects are damped using the designed SVC controllers. The studies are conducted for two cases: 1) when the wind farm supplies 100 MW power and the other when the wind farm provides 500 MW power. The rating of SVC is chosen to be 300 MVA capacitive and 200 MVA inductive for 500 MW power generation case. For 100 MW power generation case, the rating of SVC is halved. A previous study [8] for a 500 MW wind power (5 wind farms each of 100 MW) has reported the use of 70 MVAR SVC for each 100 MW wind farm for providing dynamic voltage support. The SVC acts in conjunction with a fixed shunt capacitor of 1500 F for a 100 MW wind generator and a shunt capacitor of 1950 F per phase for 500 MW wind power generation case. A. Induction Generator Self-excitation Effect It is found that there are two factors which influence the self-excitation phenomenon of an induction generator. These are: Power transfer level. Level of series compensation. These factors are addressed separately. For a power transfer of 100 MW, the induction generator self excitation effect is not seen to seen to be so prominent. The

Fig. 5 Generator terminal voltage for 100 MW power transfer

1.07 1.06 1.05 1.04 1.03 1.02 1.01 1 4

4.5

5.5

Time (s)
Fig. 6. Generator rotor speed for 100 MW power transfer

resistance viewed from the armature terminal of the generator exceeds the resistance of the rest of the network. Even though

Electromagnetic torque (p.u.)

oscillations are visible in the electromagnetic torque, machine terminal voltage and rotor speed, these are seen to decay with time. This is depicted in Fig. 4 - Fig. 6. If the line resistance is decreased, these oscillations become larger and continue for a longer duration which is expected of induction generator self excitation oscillations. However, the line resistance reduction is not a realistic option and is hence not reported here. The generator power output is now increased to 500 MW. At this high power level, the induction generator is operated at a much higher speed over the synchronous speed. This results in a higher slip, an increased apparent negative resistance, and prominent subsynchronous oscillations due to induction generator self excitation. The dominant electrical mode in this case is 20.54 Hz. The series compensation level is varied for 500 MW generator power output. It is observed that with increasing series compensation levels the oscillations due to induction generator self excitations get enhanced making the system eventually unstable. The electromagnetic torque is depicted for 50%, 70% and 90% in Fig. 7, 8 and 9, respectively. It is evident that with the increasing series compensation levels the self excitation oscillations enhanced. The electrical frequencies fe in the electromagnetic torque increases according to (1) and consequently, the rotor torque frequency fr decreases as in (2). Damping of Induction Generator Self Excitation Oscillations by SVC A case of severe IG self excitation with increasing subsynchronous oscillations corresponding to line series compensation of 90% is considered. Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 show the electromagnetic torque, generator rotor speed, generator terminal voltage, and SVC reactive power respectively for this case. The fe for this case is 16.95 Hz. These oscillations are successfully damped by the SVC with the designed voltage regulator (VR).
1 Electromagnetic torque (p.u.) 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 4 4.5 5 Time (s) 5.5 6

1 0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1.5 -2 -2.5 -3 4 4.5 5 Time (s) 5.5 6

Fig. 8 Electromagnetic torque for 70% series compensation

4 Electromagnetic torque (p.u.)

-2

-4

-6 4

4.5

5 Time (s)

5.5

Figure 9 Electromagnetic torque for 90% series compensation

4 Electromagnetic torque (p.u.) Without SVC With SVC VR 2

-2

-4

-6

7 Time (s)

10

Fig. 10 Damping of SSO in the electromagnetic torque

Fig. 7 Electromagnetic torque for 50% series compensation

1.08 Generator rotor speed (p.u.) 1.06 1.04 1.02 1 0.98 0.96 Without SVC With SVC VR

B. Torsional Interactions A very high level of series compensation is typically needed as indicated by (1) and (2) to generate a rotor torque at a frequency in the close vicinity of the resonant frequency of the wind turbine mechanical system (comprising rotor blades and gear train). There are in fact two typical resonant frequencies: 1.1 Hz corresponding to the tower side ways oscillations. 2.5 Hz relating to mechanical system.

7 Time (s)

10

Fig. 11 Damping of SSO in the generator speed

1.6 Generator terminal voltage (p.u.) 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 Without SVC With SVC VR

Since both the frequencies are very close, only one torsional frequency is considered to represent the effect of both these natural frequencies. Mass 1 models the combined tower and wind turbine mechanical system and Mass 2 represents the inertia of the generator. It is observed that with increasing series compensation levels the oscillations due to torsional interactions also get enhanced making the system eventually unstable. The mechanical torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2 is depicted for 50%, 70% and 90% in Fig. 14, 15 and 16 respectively.
2

0.6 0.4 0.2 4 5 6 7 Time (s) 8 9 10 Mechanical torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2 (p.u.) 1.5

Fig. 12 Damping of SSO in the generator terminal voltage

0.5

200 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400

-0.5 0

10 Time (s)

15

20

Qsvc (MVAr)

Fig. 14 Mechanical torque between mass 1 and 2 (T12) for 50% series compensation and fr = 0.8 Hz

7 Time (s)

10

Fig. 13 Variation of SVC reactive power in damping of SSO

3 Mechanical torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2 (p.u.) Mechanical torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2 (p.u.)

4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 5 10 Time (s) 15 20 No SVC With SVC VR With SVC SSRDC

-1

-2

10 Time (s)

15

20

Fig. 15 Mechanical torque between mass 1 and 2 (T12) for 70% series compensation and fn = 0.8 Hz

4 Mechanical Torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2 (p.u.) 3

Fig. 17 Damping of SSO in the mechanical torque between Mass 1 and Mass 2

1.6 Generator rotor speed (p.u.) 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1 0.9 5 10 Time (s) 15 20 Without SVC With SVC VR With SVC SSRDC

2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 5 10 Time (s) 15 20

Fig. 16 Mechanical torque between mass 1 and 2 (T12) for 90% series compensation and fn = 0.8 Hz

Damping of Torsional Oscillations by SVC The influence of SVC voltage controller alone and with the subsynchronous damping controller (SSDC) in damping torsional oscillations for a high series compensation of 90% is now examined. The plots for mechanical torque T12, generator rotor speed and SVC reactive power between Mass 1 and Mass 2 are depicted in Figs. 17-19. It is seen that the SVC voltage regulator can successfully damp the subsynchronous oscillations due to torsional interaction. However, the subsynchronous damping controller SSDC significantly increases the damping of torsional mode.

Fig. 18 Damping of SSO in the rotor speed

100

50 Qsvc (MVAr)

-50

-100 With SVC VR With SVC SSRDC -150 5 10 Time (s) 15 20

Fig. 19 Variation of SVC reactive power in damping of SSO

In the case of synchronous generator feeding a series compensated line, a simple SVC voltage controller provides very little damping [6-7]. As a result an auxiliary SSDC is added which effectively modulates the respective bus voltage and thereby produces a damping torque. In the case of self excited induction generator the SVC voltage regulator exercises limited damping influence. However, this is much improved by an SSDC. VII.
CONCLUSION

C. Torsional System Data: Power Rating = 100 MW; HT = 12.5 p. u; HG = 0.5 p. u; KGT = 0.15 p. u; IX. REFERENCES
[1] J. G. Slootweg, and W. L. King, "Is the Answer Blowing in the Wind? ," IEEE Trans. Power & Energy Magazine, vol. 3, pp. 26-33, Nov./ Dec. 2003. T. Ackerman, Power Wind Power in Power Systems, John Wiley & Sons, 2005 IEEE Working Committee Report, Third Supplement to a Bibliography for the Study of Subsynchronous Resonance between Rotating Machines and Power Systems, IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 830-834, May 1991. IEEE Committee Report, Readers Guide to Subsynchronous Resonance, IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 150-157, February 1992. N. G. Hingorani and L. Gyugyi, Understanding FACTS, IEEE Press, 1996 R.M. Mathur and R.K. Varma, Thyristor-Based FACTS Controllers for Electrical Transmission Systems IEEE Press and Wiley Interscience, New York, USA, Feb. 2002. A. E. Hammad and M. El-Sadek, Application of a Thyristor Controlled VAR Compensator for Damping Subsynchronous Oscillations in Power Systems, IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-1-3, no. 1, pp. 198-212, Jan. 1984. P. Pourbeik, R. J. Koessler, D. L. Dickmander, and W. Wong, Integration of Large Wind Farms into Utility Grids (Part 2 Performance Issues), in Proc. 2003 IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting Conf, pp. 1520-1525. T. Thiringer and J. A. Dahlberg, Periodic Pulsations from a Three-Bladed Wind Turbine, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 128-133, June 2001. E. N. Henrichsen and P. J. Nolan, Dynamics and Stability of Wind Turbine Generators, IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-101, no. 8, pp. 2640-2648, Aug. 1982 IEEE Committee Report, First Benchmark Model for Computer Simulation of Subsynchronous Resonance, IEEE Trans. on Power Apparatus and Systems ,vol. PAS-96, no. 5, pp. 1565-1572, Sept. / Oct. 1977 DSA Power Tools User manual, Power Tech Lab, Surrey, BC, 2005 EMTDC PSCAD User Manual, HVDC Research Center, Manitoba, 2003. P. Kundur, Power Systems Stability and Control: New McGraw-Hill, 1994

Wind energy conversion systems are rapidly penetrating into the electric power systems at an increasing level. The electrical networks may already be series compensated to achieve high power transfer capacities. This paper presents a study of the oscillations that may be caused due to interaction between self excited induction generator based wind farm and the series compensated network. The following conclusions are drawn: 1. A strong potential for subsynchronous oscillations (SSO) exists in series compensated wind farms that may lead to system instability. The SSO will get exacerbated with increasing series compensation levels. The SSO may be caused due to both IG self excitation and due to torsional interactions with the tower and turbine blade gear train assembly. 2. A suitably designed SVC can effectively damp subsynchronous oscillations while providing dynamic voltage support at the self excited IG terminal. 3. A SVC subsynchronous damping controller (SSRDC) based on generator speed achieves an increased damping of the torsional oscillations. A rigorous design of SVC controller is being processed and its performance will be reported in a subsequent paper.

[2] [3]

[4]

[5] [6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

VIII. APPENDIX A. Generator Data: Power Rating = 1000 HP; VLL = 26.0 KV; Rs = 0.015 p. u; XLs = 0.091p.u; Rr1 = 0.0507 p. u; Rr2 = 0.0095 p. u; XL1 = 0.0 p. u; XL2 = 0.0539 p. u; Xm12 = 0.1418; HG = 0.5 B. SVC Data: 100 MW Power Transfer: QC = 150 MVAr; QL = 100 MVAr; 500 MW Power Transfer: QC = 300 MVAr; QL = 200 MVAr. Voltage Regulator: KP = 0.0; KI = 200; Auxiliary Controller Data: Kaux = 100; Kw = 1.0; Tw = 10.0;

[12] [13] [14]