Power Quality Comparison of grid connected wind
energy system with STATCOM and UPQC
Amita
Assistant Professor
School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Lovely Professional University
Phagwara, Punjab, India
E-mail: amita.3618@gmail.com
Abstract: Generation of power from conventional energy sources
has increased in the last thirty years and among all, the wind energy
is mostly considered to be used where the required solar energy is not
available. The main advantages of using wind as energy source are
reduction in consumption of fossil fuels, reduction in the energy
production cost, minimization of greenhouse gas emissions and thus
clean and natural source of energy. We know that wind speed is very
fluctuating in nature due to which implementation of wind energy
into power system has many technical challenges such as security,
reliability, availability and quality related to power to be supplied,
either to the grid or to the load center. In this work the circuit model
for the UPQC has been developed to improve power quality in grid
connected wind system and results have been compared with
STATCOM by simulating the model in MATLAB/Simulink software.
The output of WECS with and without controller is observed through
simulations.
Keywords: Power Quality (PQ) improvement, wind energy
conversion system (WECS), UPQC (Unified power quality
controller), DVR (Dynamic voltage regulator), D-STATCOM,
voltage fluctuations, voltage sag and swell, voltage and current
fluctuations, STATCOM.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the power demand has increased which led
to power quality issues. The reason of increase in demand is
mainly due to rise in population and the new trend of technology.
The conventional methods that we used are not capable to meet
the increased demand because they are dependent on
conventional energy resources which are in limited amount.
Conventional energy sources are fossil fuels such as oil, coal,
crude oil and natural gas. So, to meet the upcoming demand we
need to integrate the conventional method with non-
conventional energy sources such as solar, wind, water, biogas,
tidal, geothermal etc. The use of Wind as a renewable energy
sources increasing significantly as it reduces the dependence on
fossil fuels, decreases the environmental pollution, reduce the
energy production cost and do not produce any green gas
emission. Since wind speed is not constant, the implementation
is very complex and we need to consider each and every factor.
For proper operation of wind energy conversion system, many
techniques can be used such as PWM technique, genetic
Abhishek Kumar Sinha
Assistant Professor
School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering
Lovely Professional University
Phagwara, Punjab, India
E-mail: erabhi.sinha2008@gmail.com
algorithm, fuzzy logic, artificial neural network method etc. To
improve the power quality of the wind energy conversion system
many devices can be used which provide real and reactive power
compensation such as STATCOM (Static Synchronous
Compensator), UPFC (Unified Power flow controller), and
UPQC etc. The performance of wind energy conversion system
(WECS) mainly depends upon type of wind turbine, wind speed,
generator and gear box. The amount of power generated depends
upon the size and rating of turbine. The amount of power
extracted from wind turbine is given by,
1
𝑃𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑 = 𝐶 𝜌𝐴𝑣 3 (1)
2 𝑝
where,
ρ is the air density, Cp is the Beltz limit whose value is 0.599
A is the area swept by blade, v is the speed of wind. From given
expression it is cleared that power output is cubic proportional
to the wind speed [1].
II. INDUCTION GENERATOR
Induction generator (IG) is a type of AC generator to produce
power to the system. When induction motor runs more than
synchronous speed (Ns) i.e. negative slip acts as an IG [2]. In
rotor operation stator flux induces the rotor current which creates
the rotor with polarity opposite to stator. The slip of rotor and
stator becomes equal. The configuration of grid connected wind
system is shown in Figure 1.
 Figure 1. Grid Connected Wind System
In generating mode, the prime mover and engine drives the rotor
above the Ns. The opposing rotor flux is cutting the stator coils
as stator still induces currents in the rotor that’s how active
current is generated in stator and motor operate as generator. In
standalone IG, the magnetizing flux is provided by the capacitor
bank connected in parallel with induction generator and it draw
magnetizing current from the grid in grid connected induction
generator. The value of frequency and voltage of the machine in
standalone system is very small compared to the grid connected
system. Two schemes are developed for the operation of WECS
with IG:
• Fixed speed drive scheme -the shaft speed is kept
constant for whole range of wind speed by pitch control
mechanism. This type of schemes is limited for low
rating machines. SCIG is the example of fixed speed
drive scheme.
• Variable speed drive scheme- variable speed is
maintained by use of power electronics devices. Variable
V & variable F output from generator is first rectified and
then converted to fixed V and F by use of an inverter [3].
WRIG, DFIG are examples of variable speed drive.
III. POWER QUALITY ISSUES
Power quality (PQ) is the major issue in the Power System.
Since poor power quality results in terms of economic loss to
industry and also causes damages to the equipment. The main
PQ problems are voltage sags, small interruptions, long
interruptions, voltage spikes, harmonic distortion, voltage
fluctuations, voltage flickering and voltage swells [4]. Since
wind flow is not constant, the integration of wind with grid is
very complex and we need to maintain the PQ of system without
affecting the efficiency of the system. Facts devices, reactive
power compensation methods and UPQC controllers can be
used for the mitigation of PQ issues in WECS.
• VOLTAGE VARIATIONS/ VOLTAGE FLICKERING
Voltage variation is directly proportional to the P and Q power
of the system. Difference in voltage is result from the varying
wind speed and generator torque output. Switching ON/OFF of
wind turbine generator also causes variation in the system
voltage [5]. Induction generator also starts consuming reactive
power from the grid during any fault instead of supplying power
which leads to PQ problems. Voltage sag/Voltage dips are
defined as decreased in the supposed voltage level at the system
power frequency for 1/2 of the cycle. Causes of voltage sags are
sudden change in load interruption in operation of turbines,
faults on transmission and distribution networks. Causes of
voltage swells are sudden change of heavy loads, faults on the
network, deregulated transformer Operation. Both voltage sags
and swells cause damage of sensitive equipment, mal-operation
of relays and circuit breakers, flickering of light and screen etc.
In grid connected wind system main reasons for voltage
flickering are repeated switching actions, power variations and
poor performance of sensitive electronic components.
• HARMONICS
These are sinusoidal current or voltages with frequencies
which are multiples of the actual frequency (fundamental). It
results from the operation of power electronics converters,
use of non- linear loads, outage of waveform of current and
voltage, mismatching of system and equipment frequency
etc. Harmonics have degraded effect on operation of
protective equipment, mal-operation of transformer,
increases losses in the system; reduce efficiency of the
system, overheating of motors and capacitor bank etc.
• TRANSIENTS
Transients are mainly due to the two reasons, one of them is
internal faults and other is external faults. Internal faults
consist of switching operation of devices like ON/OFF of
circuit breakers, relays, power electronic devices etc.
External faults include lightning faults which results a peaky
current flow on the system. The protection of equipment
from lightning is done by the use of lightning arrestor before
the equipment.
IV. STATCOM IN POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
TOPOLOGY
STATCOM (Static Compensator) consists of one SVC with
capacitor on dc side and other with transformer [6]. A basic
STATCOM with Voltage Source Converter (VSC) is connected
in shunt to the system through a coupling transformer. The three
phase voltages are in-phase and synchronized with an AC
system which is considered as grid through the reactance of a
coupling transformer. The adjustment of phase and magnitude
of these voltages at the output of the STATCOM allows to
effectively controlling the exchange of active and reactive
power between the STATCOM and the grid. STATCOM acts
as interlink between renewable resources and grid system and
also for real power exchange between them. STATCOM is an
electronic device having no inertia so it is better than
synchronous condenser. When load requires Q power
STATCOM takes active part in delivering the Q power to the
load. When Q current component of the STATCOM is lags by
90º, it’s in absorbing mode when it is leads by 90º, and it’s in
delivering mode. STATCOM operates in dual mode which
gives both inductive and capacitive compensation. The
inductive compensation is more important as it provides
compensation when over compensation occurs due to capacitor
banks. Reactive current control scheme is used in STATCOM.
The three phase line voltage is used to compute the reference
angle. Quadrature component is compared with reference
which is desired. The error obtained is amplified through error
amplifier which produces angle α. Quadrature component of
converter is either positive or negative. Positive when
STATCOM acts as inductive reactance and negative when
STATCOM acts as capacitive reactance. The control system
shows inner the reactive current flow through STATCOM
leaving line voltage. Q power is compensated by injecting
current. The current injected is from the capacitor bank which It would act as a controlled current generator that
is produced by absorbing P power by AC system. compensates the load current to power the source currents
exhausted from the system to be unbiased which is in phase
and sinusoidal with the positive sequence system voltage.

𝑈𝑡 − 𝑈𝑒𝑞 VI. SIMULATION MODEL OF GRID CONNECTED WIND ENERGY

𝐼𝑞 = (2) SYSTEM WITH STATCOM
𝑋𝑒𝑞
where Ueq is the equivalent Thevenin voltage ,Iq is the reactive Figure 3 shows the internal structure of STATCOM.
current injected by the STATCOM, Xeq is the equivalent STATCOM connected in parallel with the system and injects
Thevenin reactance. current in it to compensate for reactive power. Hysteresis
control technique is used which gives correct switching for
STATCOM. The control system shows inner the reactive
V. UPQC IN POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT current flow through STATCOM leaving line voltage. Q power
is compensated by injecting current. The current injected by
In recent years, UPQC is employed to produce sensible quality
STATCOM which is produced by absorbing P power by AC
of power to the shoppers. UPQC could be a combination of
system. STACOM is designed with the help of IGBT/diode
series and shunt compensator through a typical dc link electrical
power electronics devices.
capacitor to limit the harmonics content within limit obligatory
by IEEE-519 normal. The series a part of UPQC is referred as
Dynamic Voltage refinisher (DVR), which is employed to take
care of balanced, distortion less nominal voltage at the load end.
DSTATCOM is shunt part of UPQC which is employed to
compensate load Q power, harmonics and balance the load I by
maintain the supply current balanced and harmonic free with
unity power. General diagram of UPQC is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3 Internal Structure of STATCOM

Figure 4 shows complete model of grid connected wind system

Figure 2: General block diagram of UPQC
using STATCOM. Here STATCOM is connected with the grid
They inject series voltage and shunt currents to the system. connected wind energy system. The STATCOM controlled
These devices atone for power quality (PQ) disturbance scheme is used for improving the power factor, voltage and
like current harmonics and voltage sag and swell to guard current. Here the input value is set for wind i.e. 10 as there will
sensitive load moreover on improve service be any change in the wind speed the feedback is given to the
dependableness. There are several strategies to alleviate STATCOM which will compensate the desired voltage or
voltage sags and swells; however, the employment of current required by the system which improves the power factor
custom power (CP) device is taken into account to be the the system.
foremost economical methodology to serve for different
purposes. CP devices are planned for enhancing the
standard and reliability of the electrical power. Custom
Power suggests that no power interruptions, low harmonic
distortion in load voltage, acceptance of fluctuations
underneath voltage among such as limits, low section
unbalance, low flicker at the section voltage, magnitude
and period of over voltage and poor power issue hundreds
while not vital error on the terminal voltage. In series
control scheme the active series filter is providing for the
voltage recompense. It generates the recompense voltage
i.e. made by the PWM converter and insert in sequence
with the provide voltage to force the voltage of Point of
Common Coupling (PCC) to suit fair and sinusoidal. In
shunt control scheme the active shunt power filter provides
current and Q power (if the system requires) compensation. Figure 4 Complete model of grid connected wind system using STATCOM
VII. SIMULATION MODEL OF GRID CONNECTED WIND ENERGY VIII. SIMULATION RESULTS OF GRID CONNECTED WIND ENERGY
SYSTEM WITH UPQC SYSTEM WITH STATCOM AND UPQC
Figure 5 and figure 6 show the internal structure of UPQC and • Simulation results of grid connected wind energy
complete model of grid connected wind system using UPQC system with STATCOM
respectively. It is a combination of series and shunt APF
(active power filter). Both series and shunt APF are consist of
6-thyristors configured together in each module & a dc link is
used in between series & shunt APF. Thyristors are fired
sequentially at fixed interval to control the electrical
parameters. To further improve the power quality of the system,
UPQC is used here in place of STATCOM. UPQC compensates
for power quality disturbances to protect sensitive loads as well
as to improve the reliability of the system. Figure 6 shows
complete model of grid connected wind system using UPQC.

Figure 7 Output Voltage waveform with STATCOM

Figure 5. Internal Structure of UPQC

Figure 8 Output Current waveform with STATCOM

Figure 9 Output Real power with STATCOM

Figure 6 Complete model of grid connected wind system using UPQC

Figure 10 Output Real power of WECS

Figure 11 Graph showing the THD value of grid connected WECS with
STATCOM
• Simulation results of grid connected wind energy
system with UPQC
Figure 12 Output Voltage waveform with UPQC
Figure 13 Output Current waveform with UPQC
Figure 14 Output Real Power waveform with UPQC
Figure 15 Graph showing the THD value of grid connected WECS
with UPQC
IX. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this work, the renewable energy that is wind energy is used
for power production. By using UPQC the PQ of grid connected
wind system is improved having nonlinear load. The power
quality issues are described briefly which is to be improved.
Compensation of reactive power is most important for the
power quality improvement. STATCOM and UPQC are used
in proposed work for PQ improvement in grid connected
WECS. STATCOM maintain the source voltage and current in
phase. STATCOM provides control of reactive power only
whereas UPQC provides control of both real and reactive
power. Here the input value is set for wind i.e. 10 as there will
be any change in the wind speed the feedback is given to the
controller which will compensate the desired voltage or current
required by the system which improves the power factor the
system without any losses. Therefore, the overall efficiency of
the system will increase. The STATCOM and UPQC connected
wind system is designed in MATLAB/SIMULINK for
improving the system power factor. Based on analysis of
simulation results, it is verified that system shows an excellent
performance using UPQC as compared to STATCOM. The
system fulfills the requirement of power quality and it maintains
the system from any distortion of voltage and harmonics.
TABLE 1. Total harmonics distortion values of grid connected wind system
With STATCOM 4.16%
With UPQC 0.52%
From this table, it can be concluded that THD value of grid
connected system to the UPQC is much lesser than the system
connected to the STATCOM. From the result, it is verified
that system shows an excellent performance using UPQC as
compared to STATCOM.
REFERENCES
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