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Short-Circuit Calculations Considering Converter-Controlled Generation Components

Si Chen, Torsten Lund, Martin Hgdahl Zamastil, Vladislav Akhmatov, Hans Abildgaard, Member, IEEE and Bjarne Christian Gellert
contribution from such converter-controlled and converterinterfaced units. Denmark has a political goal of wind power covering 50% of the electric energy consumption by 2020. This means that a large part of the power supply from conventional thermal generation units with synchronous machines will be substituted by wind power units with converter-interfaced generators [2]. It also requires the converter-controlled WTs to support the power system, e.g. during voltage dips. The short-circuit contribution from such converter-interfaced units is voltage-dip dependent and additionally restricted by the equipment's current rating [3], which cannot be disregarded any longer in system planning and operation. The development of the power system infrastructures will influence the methods and results of the (static) SCCs. TSOs also have an interest in the initial subtransient SCCs due to relevance for the protection settings and equipment design. In the synchronous machine dominated power system, the subtransient time period lasts for a few cycles after a short-circuit fault has occurred. This is also a part of the time period considered as relevant in this paper. But it should be kept in mind that the interpretation and definition of subtransient period and short-circuit current contribution of the converter-controlled units can be different from those of the conventional synchronous machines. This paper utilizes the Danish Grid Code for WTs [4] during abnormal operation conditions so to say symmetrical short-circuit fault conditions for quantification of the faultcurrent contribution. An alternative method for static SCCs combining the Grid Code requirement for the voltage-dip dependent, reactive current injection and sufficient manufacturer's information for individual convertercontrolled equipment is proposed and applied in this paper. The proposed method is to be commonplace and strives to ensure sufficient accuracy for static SCCs without requiring manufacturer-specific, detailed information on control functions or equipment protection. Implementation of the proposed method will be illustrated using the DIgSILENT PowerFactory simulation program, which the Danish TSO, Energinet.dk, applies for system investigations. This paper is organized as follows: Section II. introduces the classical SCCs and the proposed methods; Section III. presents a test grid model to perform the three methods; Section IV. shows the results achieved from the three methods and the interpretations of the differences. Section V. concludes the study.

Abstract--Converter connected units are to a large extent replacing conventional synchronous machines. Most grid codes require reactive current injection from converter-controlled equipment in the power system during fault condition. At present, there is no standardized way of calculating the short circuit level in a system with a high penetration of power electronic converters. In this paper, three different methods (IEC60909, superposition and iterative) have been tested on a grid model of the West Danish power system, which has a high wind power penetration. The short-circuit currents at the short-circuit location calculated by means of these three methods show the results with a negligible difference based on the present-stage system model. However, this is because the converter-controlled wind turbines (WTs) at present constitute 7% of the installed capacity in the model. It is foreseen that the total contributed short-circuit current will be larger as the share of the converter-controlled WTs increases. The result achieved using the iterative method is more reasonable because the grid-voltage support from the converter-controlled WTs is represented in the iterative method but not in the IEC60909 or the superposition method. Keywords--static short-circuit calculations, controlled wind turbines, iterative method converter

I. INTRODUCTION

TATIC short-circuit calculations (SCCs) are a procedure commonly performed by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) for network planning as well as operation purposes. In network planning, the studies primarily focus on the maximum short-circuit current, which determines the capacity and rating of the electrical equipment, and the minimum short-circuit current, which determines the settings of the protection devices. Also, the minimum shortcircuit power is used for assessing potential multi-infeed problems with Line Commutated Converter (LCC) HVDC systems. For operation purposes, static SCCs are used in situations where a fast assessment of the grid state is needed and full dynamic simulations cannot be performed. The IEC60909 method is generally accepted in Western Europe based on the synchronous machine dominated area [1]. This standardized method considers the fixed short-circuit contribution from the converter-controlled and converterinterfaced units. With the increasing penetration of such converter-controlled and converter-interfaced equipment, such as wind turbines and Voltage Source Converter (VSC) HVDC connections, there is an increased need for revising methods for SCC in order to account for the short-circuit

S. Chen, T. Lund, M. H. Zamastil, V. Akhmatov, H. Abildgaard and B. C. Gellert are with Energinet.dk, Tonne Kjrsvej 65, DK-7000 Fredericia, Denmark. E-mail: sic@energinet.dk, tld@energinet.dk, mhz@energinet.dk, vla@energinet.dk, hab@energinet.dk, bcg@energinet.dk.

II. METHODOLOGY A. Classical short-circuit calculation methods The SCCs are mainly carried out using two classical methods in the synchronous machines dominated power systems: Equivalent voltage source with correction factor (IEC60909) Superposition method with pre-defined load flow solution The IEC60909 standard assumes unloaded network conditions, which do not require the specified, pre-fault operation condition. Hence, a load-flow solution for the network is not a prerequisite of this method for calculating SCCs. The correction factor, c-factor, for the maximum SCCs is defined as c max U n = U m , where U m is the maximum operational voltage for network components and U n is the nominal voltage. The c-factor for the minimum SCCs is defined as cmin U n = 0.9 U m . The different cfactors for the maximum and the minimum SCCs yield conservative results. The IEC60909 method takes the parameters of the worst case scenario for lines, transformers, synchronous machines and asynchronous machines into account. The converter-controlled or converter-interfaced equipment is not included by default in the IEC60909 standard, but the standard prescribes the use of a reactance of 0.33 p.u. to calculate the initial symmetrical short-circuit current Ik'' and the peak short-circuit current ip [1]. Figure 1 shows a small example to illustrate the principles.

Figure 2 Calculation of short-circuit current using IEC 60909

Figure 3 illustrates the SCCs using the superposition method. Now, the initial load flow currents are added to the currents generated by the voltage source.

Figure 3 Calculation of short-circuit current using the superposition method

With the complete method there is still no guarantee that the current contributed from the converter-controlled equipments matches the real value. The accuracy can be improved by using an iterative method which numerically adjusts the internal impedance of the converter-controlled equipment [5]. B. Iterative method The idea of the iterative method is to adjust the shortcircuit contributions from the converter-controlled units to include the impact of voltage reinforcements on the voltage dip as required by the Grid Code. The short-circuit current is obtained by iteratively adjusting the equivalent impedance of the converter-controlled units until the current contribution and the residual terminal voltage match. According to the Danish practice, all the WTs built after 2004 remain connected during a short-circuit fault and, according to the present Grid Code [4], support the system voltage by delivering a required amount of reactive current. The supply of the reactive current takes priority over the active current during the low-voltage fault-ride-through sequence. The magnitude of the reactive current injection as a function of the voltage dip is defined in the Grid Code [4]. In addition, the active current component must be constrained in accordance with the converter current rating, . The reactive current injection is normally limited to the converter nominal current, i.e. 1.00 p.u. The converter maximum current, , will normally be between 1.151.2 p.u. of the nominal current. The characteristic of the required reactive current, residual voltage, , is given by equation (1). and

Figure 1 Small example network

The SCCs at Bus D using the IEC60909 method with an equivalent representation of the wind turbine is illustrated in Figure 2. The currents are calculated by shortening all sources and applying the negative pre-fault voltage and multiplying by a relevant c-factor at the fault location, Bus D. The current of the load is disregarded in the calculations. The superposition method in PowerFactory is known as the complete method. It is based on the linear calculation, but requires a pre-fault load-flow result. This method considers the impedances, power supply feeders and node loads of the active elements. It is a more accurate method which takes account of the difference in angle due to the load-flow solution. Because of the dependency of a loadflow solution, the results are, however, more difficult and time-consuming to obtain and reproduce than results obtained using the IEC60909 method in similar conditions.

0 u 1 I Q = 2 2 u I 1 Q

TABLE 1 LOOK-UP TABLE OF SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT VERSUS RESIDUAL

(1)
Residual voltage[pu] 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.02

TERMINAL VOLTAGE

Then, based on the converter's maximum current, I rated , the active current, I P , can be calculated by equation (2).
2 2 I P = I rated IQ IP 1

(2)

Equation (2) implies that the Grid Code requirement for the active current injection in the short-circuit situation is likely a manufacturer-specific value. This statement is illustrated in Figure 4.
1,2
Iq Ip_1.15 Ip_1.2

I rated = 1.15 Magnitude Angle Isc[pu] ui[deg] 1 0 1.02 11.31 1.08 21.80 1.15 31.45 1.15 44.08 1.15 60.41 1.15 60.41 1.15 60.41 1.15 60.41 1.15 60.41 1.15 60.41

I rated = 1.2 Magnitude Angle Isc[pu] ui[deg] 1 0 1.02 11.31 1.08 21.80 1.17 30.96 1.2 41.81 1.2 56.44 1.2 56.44 1.2 56.44 1.2 56.44 1.2 56.44 1.2 56.44

0,8
I [p.u]

0,6

0,4

0,2

0 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1

u (point of connection) [p.u]

Figure 4 Active and reactive current versus residual terminal voltage of wind turbines with two different values for maximum converter current.

The standardized representation of the convertercontrolled equipment in PowerFactory uses the static generator model. The static generator model applies a fixed subtransient impedance; a similar standardized representation is found in other grid simulation programs. The short-circuit current contribution from convertercontrolled WTs required in the Grid Code [4] cannot be achieved using such models and conventional SCC procedures. To obtain the required short-circuit current, the subtransient impedance should be numerically adjusted according to the residual voltage at the converter point of connection. Due to the nonlinear relation between the subtransient impedance and the residual terminal voltage, an iterative method must be used. C. Algorithms When a short circuit occurs in the transmission system, it will cause a voltage drop in the point of connection of a wind power plant. The Danish Grid Code [4] specifies that a wind power plant must withstand a voltage drop down to 20% of the nominal voltage in the point of connection over a period of minimum 0.5 s without disconnection. The reactive current injection must follow the control characteristic shown in Figure 5 with a tolerance of 20% after 100 ms as specified in the current Grid Code. However, the modern wind turbines can control the reactive current according to the residual voltage on the terminal in a few milliseconds. It is therefore assumed that the convertercontrolled WTs inject the reactive current according to the residual voltage on the terminals immediately after the short circuit occurs. This is a conservative solution for obtaining the maximum short-circuit current. The iterative procedure will obtain the appropriate values under such assumption. From the static SCCs perspective, this means that the subtransient short-circuit current magnitude and angle of a wind power plant must be calculated using the actual terminal voltage at its point of connection. Using the static generator model as a wind power plant representation in PowerFactory, the static SCCs with the linear superposition method, i.e. the complete method, cannot produce the required and voltage-dip dependent current injection. Thus, it is necessary that the SCCs be performed iteratively by adjusting the impedance magnitude and phase of the static generator model. In practice, this is implemented by adjusting the subtransient short-circuit level

The Grid Code requirements can be transferred to the voltage-dip dependent magnitude, I S , and angle, ui , of the short-circuit current, I SC .
2 2 IS = IP + IQ

(3)

ui = tan 1 (

IQ IP

(4)

The magnitude and angle of short circuit current versus residual voltage are shown in Table 1 with the maximum converter current as a parameter. Using Table 1, the magnitude and angle of the shortcircuit current vary until the terminal voltage of the converter remains above 70% at which point it is stabilized to the maximum converter current, , with a corresponding angle when the terminal voltage of the converter drops below 70%. Since the short-circuit fault occurs at transmission system level (HV), the fault will not necessarily lead to a significant voltage drop on the medium-voltage (MV) terminals where the wind turbines are connected through their MV/LV transformers. Therefore, the differences in manufacturer-specific maximum current, e.g. in a range between 1.15 and 1.20 p.u., will not have a significant effect on the SCCs at the HV system level. This consideration contributes in providing the common, generic definition of the short-circuit current contribution from converter-interfaced wind turbines.

S kss and the R to X" ratio. Figure 6 shows the principle of impedance magnitudes are reached.
the adjustment applied.

Figure 5 Required reactive current contribution versus residual terminal voltage [4]

Figure 7 Flow chart of the algorithm for SSCs

III. CALCULATION PRECONDITIONS

Figure 6 Calculation of short-circuit current using iterative adjustment of the static generator impedance

The iterative algorithm begins with the static SCCs yielding the initial voltage dip at the measured terminals. This initial voltage dip is the largest one because the model does not inject the required reactive current value yet, hence this is the worst-case precondition. In the iterative algorithm, the reactive current injection is calculated according to the voltage dip from the prior iteration. Using Table 1, the calculation method and the target short-circuit substation are assigned. The target short-circuit substation is not necessarily the point of connection of the wind power plant. The first sequence of the iterative algorithm successfully ends when the magnitude of the subtransient short-circuit current contribution I kss from each static generator model is within a tolerance of 0.005 p.u.. When the subtransient impedance magnitude is numerically adjusted, the may not exceed the numerical six times of the initial nominal power to comply with the physical limitation of the converter rating. In order to produce the required reactive power injection, the phase angles of the short-circuit currents will get the required values - this is due to the second sequence of the iterative algorithm. Figure 7 shows the flow chart of the iterative algorithm applied. The Danish TSO, Energinet.dk, has implemented the iterative algorithm described in PowerFactory using the DIgSILENT Programming Language (DPL). The outer loop must check that the results from all static generator models stay within the tolerance after each iteration. The iterations stop and the calculation results are delivered when all static generator models fulfil the short-circuit current injection requirements and the tolerances or the limiting values of the

This paper focuses on the SCCs for the West Danish transmission system (DK1) model with its present share of converter-controlled and converter-interfaced equipment: The present (2011) share of converter-controlled WTs is 7% of the total installed capacity, according to Table 2. The large offshore Horns Rev II wind power farm has a capacity of 209 MW and converter-interfaced WTs.
TABLE 2 SHARE OF WIND ENERGY IN DK1 Total installed capacity Capacity [MW] Percentag e [%] 7,970 100% WTs' total installed capacity 2,839 36% Converterinterfaced WTs' installed capacity 589 7%

In order to illustrate the iterative algorithm, the minimum SCCs, e.g. disregarding the contribution from the onshore wind turbines, will be performed. This will yield a conservative estimate of the short-circuit contribution in the DK1 system. Inclusion of the converter-interfaced onshore wind turbines, together with all other relevant grid components, corresponds to the maximum SCCs. All relevant -onverter controlled components are modelled using the static generator models. The complete method is applied for the SCCs, which requires a converged, pre-fault load-flow solution. The subtransient short-circuit current is the superposition of the pre-fault current, e.g. that from the load-flow solution and the fault current. The prefault operation scenario shown in Table 3 has been used to estimate the short-circuit contribution. The highest shortcircuit power occurs when the synchronous machines are highly excited and power is exported out of the area.

5 TABLE 3 PRE-FAULT LOAD FLOW CONDITION OF DK1 SYSTEM IN 2011 PRODUCING THE HIGHEST PRE-FAULT CURRENT Summary P [MW] Generation(DK1) 7,832 Load(DK1) 3,720 Grid losses(DK1) 221 Exports to Sweden 740 Exports to Norway 1,050 Exports to Germany 1,500 Exports to East Denmark(DK2) 600

from a physical WT.

Tjele 400KV 9300 9250 9200 9150 9100 9050 9000 IEC60909 Complete Iterative

IV. SIMULATION RESULTS The short-circuit location is in the Tjele 400 kV substation. Since the Tjele substation is in the middle of the DK1 system, the fault causes a relatively wide range of significant voltage dips in the HV and MV systems. The fault impedance is set to zero, e.g. a bolted 3-phase shortcircuit fault. The evaluation of the short-circuit current contributions is given for the different methods. The methods compared are: IEC60909 method using a voltage c-factor of 1.05 for the 400 kV level, corresponding to the maximum operational voltage of 420 kV; Complete method with the load-flow yielding the highest pre-fault current; The iterative method described above with implemented DPL script. With the methods utilizing the pre-fault load-flow solution of the system model, the scenarios with the highest pre-fault current through the system will also give the highest short-circuit contribution in the fault location in comparison to other possible and realistic operation scenarios. In this context the influence of the excitation current on the synchronous machine is not considered. With the standard methods such as IEC60909, a pre-fault load-flow solution is not used and so specific operation scenarios are not relevant for the short-circuit contribution. The highest short-circuit contribution is expected for the grid scenarios with the largest number of generators and transmission system components in service. Figure 8 shows the maximum short-circuit contribution in the Tjele 400 kV substation with contributions from the converter-controlled WTs by the three different methods. The magnitude of the short-circuit power is only shown for the Tjele area, i.e. in the vicinity of the fault location. The difference between the calculation methods applied gives an idea of the short-circuit contribution resource, especially from the converter controlled WTs. In the calculations, the initial fixed static-generator impedance is 0.33 p.u. both for IEC60909 and for the complete method. In a conventional energy conversion system such as a synchronous generator, IEC60909 will lead to a more conservative, e.g. higher, value for the shortcircuit contribution because the method uses a specific voltage c-factor (greater than 1) for the short-circuit location and a specific impedance correction factor for the shortcircuit current resource. The converter-controlled WTs are represented by static generator models. IEC60909 will not result in a conservative estimate of the short-circuit contribution from such units. In fact, the short-circuit contribution estimated by IEC60909 can be lower than that

Figure 8 Maximum short circuit powers in the Tjele 400 kV substation in the DK1 system computed using different methods

Compared to IEC60909, the complete method gives a more accurate result of the short-circuit contribution from such converter-controlled WTs. The iterative algorithm using the complete SCCs and the DPL script procedure described above yields an additional possibility of adjusting the subtransient impedance of the static generator models of converter-controlled WTs. The impedance adjustment is performed to achieve the relation between the residual voltage and injected current at the wind turbine terminals. Hence, the result corresponds to the Grid Code requirements associated with the reactive-current versus voltage-dip characteristics of such converter-controlled WTs. Using the iterative method, the magnitude of the short-circuit current becomes higher than if the complete method were used without iterations. The iterative method gives a more accurate result due to such additional impedance adjustments. The iterative method also produces the highest short-circuit power, ie the most conservative result. The extra short-circuit power contribution with the iterative method stems from the converter-controlled WTs. In the DK1 system model, the decentralized onshore WTs are considered as aggregated models under the 150/60 kV substations and connected through the wind turbine stepup transformers at the 690 V level. Normally, a bolted 3phase short-circuit on the HV (400 kV and 150 kV) substation will not result in a less than 20% residual voltage dip on the wind turbine terminals at the 690 V level. Figure 9 presents the voltage contour map of the 690 V aggregated substations of the converter-controlled WTs, both for the complete method shown to the left and the iterative method shown on the right-hand part of the map. When the iterative method is used, the wind turbines which are in the vicinity of the fault location increase their shortcircuit power contribution and thus the residual voltage due to detected low-voltage operation conditions. The wind turbines, which are electrically far from the fault location, maintain the same short-circuit power contribution because the residual voltages on their terminals are above the faultride-through activation level, e.g. higher than 90% of the nominal voltage. Thus, the iterative method detects the lowvoltage conditions and selectively activates the fault-ridethrough sequence comprising the reactive-current injection to support the voltage at the wind turbine terminals. This is also in agreement with the Grid Code requirement that the wind turbines remain connected and support the grid voltage in fault conditions.

Short circuit power[MVA]

Figure 9 DK1 voltage contour map of all converter-controlled WTs' 690V aggregated substations when comparing the complete and the iterative method.
0,35 Internal impedance[p.u] 0,30 0,25 0,20 0,15 0,10 0,05 0,00 HRB_033H LOL_060W MOSV060W RAM_060W

Complete method

Iterative method

Figure 10 Internal impedance changes by the iterative method for different converter-connected wind power plants.

Figure 10 shows internal impedance adjustments in some of the static generator models representing the (aggregated) converter-controlled WTs. Such adjustments are present in the iterative method due to the detection of a voltage dip in the grid fault. For the four wind power plant locations, the iterative method has increased their short-circuit current and power contributions by adjusting their internal model impedance. V. CONCLUSIONS The methods of static SCCs considering appropriate contributions from the converter-controlled and converterinterfaced equipment, such as the converter-interfaced WTs, have been discussed in this paper. Such converter-controlled equipment will gain a significant share in present and future transmission systems, replacing conventional power plants based on synchronous generators. The conventional, standardized SCCs methods, for instance IEC60909, must be adapted for sufficient and accurate representations of such converter-controlled equipment. The methods must be implemented in the commercially-available simulation programs for power system investigations.

The short-circuit current (and power) contribution of such converter-controlled equipment differs from that of synchronous generators. The difference is due to the fact that the reactive current injection is specified and controlled according to the voltage-dip value with a characteristic time in a range of tens of milliseconds. Some active current is injected as well. This control targeting the required reactive current injection introduces a nonlinear coupling between the subtransient impedance of the equipment model and the residual voltage at the equipment terminals. Due to this nonlinearity and a common assumption in the present simulation programs that the subtransient impedance is a fixed value for generator models, an iterative analysis associated with the complete method of static SCCs is proposed, implemented as a user-model approach in the commercially-available PowerFactory simulation program and evaluated by simulations. Using the recommendations and available resources of PowerFactory, the convertercontrolled units are modelled as static generators. The iterative method adjusts the impedance of the relevant static generator models in order to achieve the required current injection into the grid as a function of the voltage dip. The required current injection is tuned to meet the Grid Code for WTs, which makes the proposed algorithm general and independent from manufacturer-specific control and protection features. The proposed iterative method requires, however, modest modification of the existing simulation programs with the number of iterations and calculation time are kept within reasonable limits. Comparison of the methods applied have yielded an estimate as to how much additional short-circuit power can be expected from the static generator models using the proposed iterative method. The results show that the iterative method predicts a more conservative result, e.g. a larger short-circuit contribution and better grid-voltage support capability of the converter-connected equipment than the IEC60909 and complete method. VI. REFERENCES
[1] [2] IEC 60909-0:2001 Short-circuit currents in three-phase a.c. systems, DS/EN, 2002. V. Akhmatov, N. Qin, T. Lund, H. Abildgaard, and K. Johansen, "Grid code requirements in Denmark: towards wind turbines supporting power grid", SARI/Energy executetive exchange to EWEC 2011 wind energy conference, Brussels, Belgium, March, 2011. J. N. Nielsen, V. Akhmatov, J. Thisted, E. Grndahl, P. Egedal, M.N. Frydensbjerg, K.H. Jensen, "Modelling and fault-ride-through tests of Siemens Wind Power 3.6 MW variable-speed wind turbines", Wind Engineering, vol. 31, no. 6, 2007, pp 441-452. Energinet.dk, "Technical regulation 3.2.5 for wind power plants with a power output greater than 11 kW", Fredericia, Denmark, September 2011. R. Walling, E. Gursoy, "A Universal methodogy for specification and modeling of wind turbine short circuit current contribution characteristics", International workshop on large-scale integration of wind power into power system as well as on transmission networks for offshore wind power plants, Aarhus, Denmark, October, 2011. DIgSILENT PowerFactory 14.1 User's Manual.

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