Impact of Wind Power on Power Quality

By
NACINO, Dexter
OMAR, Dawin Jr. M
PACALDO, Jonathan C.
REY, Adrian L.
A Research Proposal Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in
Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Master of Engineering Program
Mapa Institute of Technology

February 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

REFERENCES

10

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In most countries, the amount of wind power integrated in large-scale electrical power
systems covers only a small part of the total power generation. However, the amount of
electricity generated by wind turbines is increasing continuously. Therefore, wind power
contribution in electrical power systems will increase in the future and will start to replace the
output of conventional sources of electricity such as diesel generators. As a result, it may also
begin to influence the overall power system behavior. Thus, the impact of wind power on the
dynamics of power systems should be studied thoroughly in order to identify potential problems
and develop measures to mitigate those problems.
In the last years, the use of wind farms and other renewable energy sources has
drastically increased. The question that needs to be raised is how those new generation systems
will affect to the whole grid. A portion of the answer must be obtained from the impact that they
have on the power quality. In principle, wind energy can be considered as a risky source in terms
of power quality. Moreover, when wind turbines are part of the grid the power quality seems to
be a complex issue which highly depends on the interaction between the grid and the wind
turbines. The causes of power quality problems are generally complex and difficult to detect
when we integrate a wind turbine to the grid. Technically speaking, the ideal AC line supply by
the utility system should be a pure sine wave of fundamental frequency (50/60Hz). Deficiency in
power quality can cause loss of production, damage of equipment or appliances or can even be
detrimental to human health.
The main impact on the grid by the wind turbines, concerning power quality, is related to
voltage changes and uctuations, harmonic content, power peaks and icker. The objective of

this study is to investigate these power quality problems and formulate solutions to prevent
serious complications in the whole electrical power system.
Power quality determines the fitness of electric power to consumer devices. It is an
essential customer-focused measure and is greatly affected by the operation of a distribution and
transmission network. The growing importance of power quality is due to the widespread use of
power electronic equipment such as programmable logic controllers, power electronic converters
and energy-efficient lighting. These loads are sensitive in nature and the major victims of power
quality problems. If the effects of these power quality events can be quantied, then there is
greater potential to compensate for the events. Alleviating power quality concerns would assist in
encouraging further widespread installation of these green power sources.
Although many operational aspects affect wind power plant operation, this paper, focuses
on power quality. Because a wind power plant is connected to the grid, it is very important to
understand the sources of disturbances that affect the power quality.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Power quality relates to factors which describe the variability of the voltage level, as well
as the distortion of voltage and current waveforms. Various power quality parameters fall into
different categories, according to the time scale of the phenomena examined. A great number of
works related to power quality of wind power have been published. Muljadi et al. [1] presented
the power quality aspects in a wind power plant; Stone et. al. [2] discussed the power quality

impact of wind turbine generators on the electrical grid while Gan et al. [3] analyzed the impact
for power quality of wind farms and network operation.
Larsson [4] studied the power quality of wind turbines. His study shows that wind
turbines have an uneven power production following the natural variations in the wind. Uneven
power production is the same for all kinds of wind turbines. Each time a turbine blade passes the
tower, it enters into the tower shadow. If the turbine is operating at fixed-speed, the tower
shadow and wind speed gradients will result in fluctuating power. Both uneven power production
and power fluctuation cause voltage variations. The power fluctuations of the wind turbine may
also cause flicker disturbances.
Apart from possible oscillations between the grid impedance and the shunt capacitor
banks for power factor correction, fixed-speed wind turbines do not produce any harmonics.
When it comes to variable-speed wind turbines, however, the situation is the opposite.
Depending on the type of inverter used, different orders of harmonics are produced.
Transients seem to occur mainly when wind turbines are started and stopped. A large
inrush current and thereby a voltage dip can be avoided if the wind turbine is equipped with a
soft-starter. As the shunt capacitor bank is switched on, a large current peak occurs. The current
peak may substantially affect the voltage on the low-voltage side of the transformer.
In an autonomous grid supplied by diesel engines, the spinning reserve is limited and
gives rise to frequency fluctuations when fast load changes occur. Hence, the frequency of an
autonomous grid is normally not as stable as that of a large grid. When wind power is introduced
to an autonomous grid, a sudden wind rise or wind drop will affect the power balance with
frequency variations as a result.

The power quality of wind turbines can be subdivided into different phenomena.
Examples of published works dealing with different power quality phenomena are; load flow
analysis [5], flicker [6], harmonics [7] and over voltages [8].
Yildiz et al. [9] conducted an investigation on power quality measurement and evaluation
of a wind farm connected to distribution grid. In the paper, the power quality issues of wind
plants at the point of common coupling with the HV transmission network are investigated.
Voltage, current, frequency, active, reactive and apparent power, power factor and harmonics
have been analyzed and evaluated based on IEEE 519-1992. The investigation shows that the
harmonic values of wind plants have a slightly negative impact on the medium level of
transmission network while the other parameters are mainly good.
When it comes to the power quality improvement of wind turbines, only some specific
researches are relevant. Some examples of published works covering this field are; the power
quality improvement in grid connected wind energy system using UPQC [10] and power quality
improvement in wind energy system by using STATCOM on integration to the grid [11].

CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
5

Power injection from grid-connected wind turbines affects substantially the power
quality. The procedures for the measurement and assessment of the main parameters involved in
the power quality characteristics of a wind turbine are described in the IEC 61400-21 standard.
The tests are designed to be as non-site-specic as possible, so that power quality characteristics
measured with the wind turbine connected at a test site can also be considered valid at other sites.
The validity of the measurement procedure is dependent upon the proper establishment of
the test conditions. The wind turbine has to be directly connected to the MV-network and the
measurements of the electrical characteristics have to be made at the wind turbine terminals. It is
necessary to specify the rated data of the wind turbine including rated active power of wind
turbine Pn, rated apparent power Sn, nominal phase-to-phase voltage Un and the rated current In.
Moreover, the location of the wind turbine terminals and the specic conguration of the
assessed wind turbine including the relevant control parameter settings have to be clearly stated
in the test report.
According to the standard there are seven parameters compromising the required power
quality characteristics of a wind turbine: voltage uctuations or icker; harmonics and
interharmonics; voltage drops; active power; reactive power; grid protection and reconnection
time. In the following sections we will describe those parameters and the procedures specied
for their measurement, stressing the most relevant issues affecting the assessment of harmonic
and interharmonic content and icker.

REFERENCES
1.
2.

E. Muljadi, C.P.B., Power Quality Aspects in a Wind Power Plant. 2006.

P. Stone, M.I., Yong-June Shin, Power Quality Impact of Wind Turbine Generators on the

3.

Electrical Grid. 2012.

B. Gan, T.L., Analysis on the Impact for Power Quality of Wind Farms and Network

4.
5.

Operation. MEIC, 2015.

Larsson, A., The Power Quality of Wind Turbines.
P. Srihari, G.S.R., Load Flow Analysis of Distribution System Including Wind Turbine
Generating System Models. International Journal of Computational Engineering

6.

Research. 2(5).
A. H. K. Alaboudy, A.A.D., S. S. Desouky, A. A. Salem, Converter Controls and Flicker
Study of PMSG-based Grid Connected Wind Turbines. Ain Shams Engineering Journal,

7.

2013. 4: p. 75-91.
H. Brantsaeter, L.K., A. R. Ardal, E. Tedeschi, Passive Filter Design and Offshore Wind
Turbine Modelling for System Level Harmonic Studies. Energy Procedia, 2015. 80: p.

8.

401-410.
A. H. Soloot, H.K.H., B. Gustavsen, The Assessment of Overvoltage Protection within

9.

Energization of Offshore Wind Farms. Energy Procedia, 2012. 24: p. 151-158.

C. Yildiz, O.F.K., H. Acikgoz, A. Gani, M. Sekkeli, Power Quality Measurement and
Evaluation of a Wind Farm Connected to Distribution Grid. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 2015. 195: p. 2370-2375.

10.

Rajan, S.R., Power Quality Improvement in Grid Connected Wind Energy System using

11.

UPQC. International Journal of Research in Engineering, 2013. 1(1): p. 13-20.

V. Amarnath Reddy, P.H.R., M. Sudheer Babu, Power Quality Improvement in Wind
Energy System by using STATCOM on Integration to the Grid. International Journal of
Modern Engineering Research, 2012. 2(5).