Frequency and voltage control of a high-penetration, no-storage wind-diesel system

Studies have shown that the integration of wind turbines into an autonomous diesel- electric system (i.e., wind-diesel) can be economically viable, and that the potential market for wind-diesel is considerable. High-penetration, no-storage wind-diesel (HPNSWD) is considered to be the most economical approach to implementing wind-diesel. A HPNSWD system requires a fast-acting dump load controller to maintain the system frequency stability and quality, and, under some applications, additional voltage control is needed to maintain the voltage quality. -- In this thesis a detailed comprehensive dynamic model of a HPNSWD system is presented. The model is implemented in the software packages Matlab and Simulink, and is based on the wind-diesel test-bed at the Atlantic Wind Test Site (AWRS) in PEL Canada. Simulations using 1st 2nd and 3rd-order electric machine models are compared with simulations using the full-order electric machine models. Wherever possible, components of the model are validated with available measurements from the AWTS system. -- Three different frequency transducers (one phase detector and two frequency detectors) are modelled and incorporated into the design of a PID dump load frequency controller. The fast frequency detector (360 Hz pulse rate) outperforms the phase detector of the same speed. The slow frequency detector (36 Hz pulse rate) is unable to sufficiently dampen the swing of the system against the wind turbine's rotor. -- The simulated voltage transients that result from the disconnection of the wind turbine are found to be well above the specified limit When a capacitor bank is added to the wind turbine these voltage transients are reduced, but the susceptibility of the system to flicker emissions due to wind turbulence remains high and unchanged. -- In this thesis, a static VAR compensator (SVC) is uniquely applied to the wind-diesel system to improve its voltage stability. With the SVC configured to compensate the reactive power of the wind turbine, the wind turbine disconnections yield similar responses as with the capacitor bank, but the flicker emissions due to wind turbulence are virtually eliminated. Adding a novel voltage control loop to the SVC reduces the voltage transients from the wind turbine disconnections to well within the specifications. In addition, the voltage stability of the entire system is improved