Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Conference Paper
Grid Code Requirements for Wind Power Integration in Europe
Constantinos Sourkounis and Pavlos Tourou
Institute for Power System Technology and Power Mechatronics, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Correspondence should be addressed to Pavlos Tourou; tourou@enesys.rub.de
Received 11 December 2012; Accepted 14 March 2013
Academic Editors: Y. Al-Assaf, P. Demokritou, and A. Poullikkas
This Conference Paper is based on a presentation given by Pavlos Tourou at Power Options for the Eastern Mediterranean Region
held from 19 November 2012 to 21 November 2012 in Limassol, Cyprus.
Copyright 2013 C. Sourkounis and P. Tourou. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
As the capacity of wind power continues to increase globally, stricter requirements regarding grid connection of wind generators
are introduced by system operators. The development of wind turbine technology is inevitably affected by the new grid codes, and
wind power plants are expected to support the grid and provide ancillary services much like conventional power plants. The most
demanding regulations are found in Europe where wind penetration levels are higher. This paper presents the main aspects of
current grid code requirements for the integration of wind power in European countries and suggests performance characteristics
in order to satisfy the most demanding requirements. The dynamic behavior of wind turbines with doubly fed induction generators
is investigated and a solution for low voltage ride through compliance is presented.
1. Introduction
WIND power installations continue to increase worldwide,
with a total installed capacity of 238 GW by the end of 2011,
which meets about 3% of the global electricity demand, and
an expected capacity of 500 GW by 2015 [1, 2]. In Europe,
wind power generation is expected to contribute to EUs
2020 targets for reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by
more than 30% and to supply at least 14%16% of Europes
electricity [3]. The penetration of wind power in the electrical
grids increases steadily in many European countries, with
the highest percentage found in Denmark (28%), a country
that has recently set the ambitious target to produce 50%
of its electricity from wind turbines by the end of 2020. In
order to maintain reliable grid performance with increasing
wind penetration, transmission system operators (TSOs)
update their grid connection codes with specific requirements regarding the operation of wind generators and wind
farms. In general, wind farms are expected to support the
grid and to provide ancillary services much like conventional
power plants (e.g., active power control, frequency regulation
and dynamic voltage control, and low voltage ride through
(LVRT)).
The requirements vary between countries and their severity usually depends on the wind power penetration level as
well as on the robustness of the national or regional power
network. Grid code requirements have been a drive for the
development of wind turbine technology. Manufacturers in
the wind energy sector are constantly trying to improve wind
turbines, mainly in the area of wind turbine control and
electrical system design, in order to meet the new grid code
requirements. This can often imply higher costs, as more
advanced power electronic designs and more complex control
systems have to be utilized.
This paper discusses the influence of wind power on
the operation of existing power systems and presents the
main aspects of the latest grid code requirements for the
integration of wind power in several European countries.
The different requirements are analyzed and compared, and
the most demanding are highlighted. The ability of different
wind turbine technologies to meet these requirements is
also discussed. The low voltage ride through, one of the
most important requirements for the dynamic performance
of wind turbines during network failures, is considered in
detail. Simulation studies are conducted to study the behavior of wind turbines equipped with doubly-fed induction
2
generators (DFIGs) during severe voltage dips caused by
grid faults. Control strategies and hardware that improve the
LVRT capability of the wind turbines during the fault are
presented.
3
Nordic
Frequency
53.5
53
52.5
52
51.5
51
50.5
50
49.5
49
48.5
48
47.5
47
46.5
46
Frequency
Romania
Max 5% linear
active power
reduction
Full power
30 min, linear reduction from
2% active power
reduction per Hz
Max 5% linear
active power
reduction
100% to 85%
20 s
Disconnection
within 1 s
Cyprus
Germany
20 s, 80% power
Belgium
Fast automatic
disconnection
Time by
agreement
30 min
60 min
60 min
60 min
60 min
5s
Italy
20 s
20 s, 80%100% power
Poland
30 min at reduced
power output
Time by
agreement
Sweden
Disconnection within
300 ms
30 min
20 min
10 min
Denmark
frequency deviation
20 s
Spain
Ireland
Disconnection
within 1 s
Continuous
France
53.5
53
52.5
52
51.5
51
50.5
50
49.5
49
48.5
48
47.5
47
46.5
46
Scotland
Nominal power
Nominal power
30 min <5% power
reduction
Fast automatic
disconnection
53
>30 min
no
restriction
51
50.3
49.7
Continuous
50
1 hour
= 90%
Frequency (Hz)
52
operation
=
49
Continuous
operation
P > 80%
48
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1
P > 80% PN
for >20 s
47
85
115.8
115
90 95
105110
100
/ (%)
Spinning
reserve
Activation of gradient
production constraint
P/PN (p.u.)
Active power
Power
factor = 0.38
Power
factor = 0.44
0.2
0
0.41
Time
Power
factor = 0.9
Power
factor = 0.925
Inductive
0.1 0 0.1
Q/PN (p.u.)
0.48
Capacitive
4.2. Grid Code Requirements. The reactive power requirements are usually expressed with - diagrams (available
active power versus available reactive power). The required
amount of reactive power compensation varies with different
power system configurations. The effect of injected/absorbed
reactive power on the PCC voltage level depends on the
grid impedance, grid short-circuit capacity, as well as on any
connected load near the point of connection [4]. The different
reactive power requirements are summarized in Figure 4.
4.3. Comparison and Capability to Fulfill All Requirements.
The widest ranges are found in Germany where one of the
three variants must be chosen in agreement with the grid
operator. In order to fulfill all grid code requirements in terms
of reactive power capability, a wind turbine or farm must
operate in the whole area shown in the / profile of Figure 5.
At full active power the wind turbine must be capable of
supplying reactive power in the range 0.41 p.u. inductive
U/UN (%)
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200
Time (ms)
Germany
Germany/Greece STI
Greece
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
France 400 kV
France 63225 kV
Ireland/Romania
Italy
Poland
Cyprus
UK
Turkey
Finland, Sweden
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
100
U/UN (%)
80
Disconnection
is not permitted
39.5
Disconnection
possible
15
6.6
0
250 375
625
Time (ms)
1500
3000
Wind rotor
DFIG
Grid
transformer
Gearbox
Wind
nr
RSC
GSC
Filter
=
=
VRSC
IRSC
nr
Pitch angle
Wind speed
RSC
control
PS
QS
VDC
3
VGSC
IGSC
GSC
control
VDC
QGSC I
grid
Operation
management
Control system
Pgrid
Vgrid
Qgrid
TSO
Crowbar
Rcb
1
RSC currents (p.u.)
4
2
0
2
4
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
DC-link
Rotor-side
converter
2
1
0
1
Reactive current (p.u.)
0
2
4
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Time (s)
4
2
0
2
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
2
1
0
1
2
1
0
1
2
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Time (s)
8. Conclusion
The main aspects of current grid code requirements regarding wind power integration in European grids have been
presented. Performance characteristics in order to satisfy all
the grid codes examined have also been suggested. As wind
penetration increases, wind turbines and wind farms are
expected to be more tolerant to abnormal conditions and
to contribute to grid stability during normal operation, as
well as during and after grid faults. The behavior of DFIGbased wind turbines during grid faults was investigated and
a low cost solution for fulfilling the LVRT requirements was
presented. Complying with grid code regulations is vital for
grid stability and the improved wind turbine performance
will allow for larger wind power penetration in electrical
power grids.
References
[1] World Wind Energy Association, World wind energy report
2011, May 2012, http://www.wwindea.org/webimages/WorldWindEnergyReport2011.pdf.
[2] Global Wind Energy Council, Global Wind Report: Annual
market update 2011, March 2012, http://gwec.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Annual report 2011 lowres.pdf.
[3] European Wind Energy Association, Wind energy and EU
climate policy, October 2011, http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea documents/documents/publications/reports/20110
909 ClimateReport.pdf.
[4] T. Ackermann, Wind Power in Power Systems, John Wiley &
Sons, 2005.
[5] I. Erlich, W. Winter, and A. Dittrich, Advanced grid requirements for the integration of wind turbines into the German
transmission system, in Proceedings of the IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting (PES 06), p. 7, June 2006.
[6] M. Molinas, J. A. Suul, and T. Undeland, Low voltage ride
through of wind farms with cage generators: STATCOM versus
SVC, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp.
11041117, 2008.
[7] S. Muller, M. Deicke, and R. W. De Doncker, Doubly fed
induction generator systems for wind turbines, IEEE Industry
Applications Magazine, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 2633, 2002.
[8] C. Sourkounis and B. Ni, Influence of wind-energy-converter
control methods on the output frequency components, IEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 2116
2122, 2009.
9
[9] J. Lopez, P. Sanchis, X. Roboam, and L. Marroyo, Dynamic
behavior of the doubly fed induction generator during threephase voltage dips, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion,
vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 709717, 2007.
[10] G. Pannell, D. J. Atkinson, and B. Zahawi, Minimum-threshold
crowbar for a fault-ride-through grid-code-compliant DFIG
wind turbine, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol. 25,
no. 3, pp. 750759, 2010.
Journal of
Journal of
Wind Energy
Journal of
Energy
The Scientific
World Journal
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
Solar Energy
Advances in
Mechanical
Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
Journal of
Volume 2013
Nuclear
Installations
Renewable Energy
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
Number 1
International Journal of
Nuclear Energy
Power
Electronics
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
Journal of
Combustion
Volume 2013
ISRN
Renewable Energy
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Journal of
Engineering
Journal of
Advances in
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
ISRN
High Energy Physics
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
ISRN
Mechanical
Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Fuels
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Photoenergy
International Journal of
Volume 2013
ISRN
Chemical
Engineering
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
ISRN
Biotechnology
Volume 2013
Volume 2013
Journal of
Wind Energy
Journal of
International Journal of
Rotating
Machinery
The Scientific
World Journal
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Energy
Advances in
Mechanical
Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Journal of
Journal of
Industrial Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Journal of
Solar Energy
Engineering
Journal of
Advances in
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Journal of
Structures
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
Volume 2014
International Journal of
Volume 2014
Advances in
Advances in
Volume 2014
Tribology
Renewable Energy
Power Electronics
Volume 2014
Journal of
Nuclear Energy
Photoenergy
Fuels
Combustion
Volume 2014
InternationalJournalof
Journal of
Journal of
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Nuclear Installations
Volume 2014
Volume 2014
Volume 2014