Simulation of Low Voltage Ride Through Capability of Wind

Turbines with Doubly Fed Induction Generator

G. Tsourakis and C. D. Vournas
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
National Technical University of Athens
Athens, Zografou 15780 Greece
e-mail: {tsouraki, vournas}@power.ece.ntua.gr

Abstract Between 0.15 and 0.6 pu, the wind turbines must pro-
vide maximum possible reactive power.
In this paper the behaviour of the Doubly Fed Induction
wind Generator (DFIG) is investigated, when an active
1
crowbar is used to provide low voltage ride through ca-
pability by short-circuiting the rotor temporarily. The
detailed models of the machine and associated con- 0.8
Terminal Voltage (pu)

trollers used in the computer simulation are presented

and the ride through capability of the DFIG with crow- 0.6

bar and pitch control is confirmed. Control strategies

that fully utilize the reactive power support available 0.4

from the DFIG, when it is on voltage regulating mode,

during and immediately after low-voltage faults are de- 0.2

rived and their performance is investigated using simu-

lation. 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Time (s)

1 Introduction Figure 1: EON grid code curve.

In new wind park installations, variable speed wind

It has been shown in the literature [3]-[4], that the
turbines are used, which are controlled through power
most sensitive part of the DFIG is the power electronic
electronic converters and are thus able to regulate their
converter. A solution for the LVRT capability of DFIG
own reactive power, usually so as to operate at unity
proposed by manufacturers is the use of an active crow-
power factor. One of the most common types of gener-
bar, which short-circuits the rotor temporarily, in order
ators used for this purpose is the Doubly Fed Induction
to protect the converter, while the generator remains
Generator (DFIG). It has been shown that the reactive
connected to the grid throughout the fault [5].
power control of DFIG is beneficial for voltage stability
In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of the
[1].
DFIG when an active crowbar is used to provide LVRT
Following the achievement of very high wind pene-
capability. A transient model of the DFIG is used, i.e.
tration in some electric power systems (e.g. Denmark,
the rotor flux dynamics are explicitly represented. For
Germany, the island of Crete in Greece) new guide-
this reason, the rotor side inverter is modelled as a volt-
lines for the connection of wind parks have been estab-
age source. The grid-side inverter is modelled as a cur-
lished by Transmission System Operators (TSOs). In
rent source. When the fault occurs, the crowbar is ac-
contrast to the past, the wind turbines are not allowed
tivated and short-circuits the rotor to protect the power
any more to disconnect when a normally cleared fault
electronics converter. As the stator remains connected
occurs. They must thus be equipped with low voltage
to the grid, the machine experiences transient flux re-
ride through (LVRT) capability. A typical low voltage
duction. After a transient period, the rotor-side inverter
curve that wind generators are required to withstand is
may be reactivated. Due to the mismatch between me-
the one proposed by E.ON. [2] and shown in Fig. 1.
chanical and electromagnetic torque, the rotor acceler-
Supported by a scholarship from the State Scholarships Founda- ates, but the pitch controller reduces the aerodynamic
tion of Greece (IKY) efficiency and thus, the accelerating mechanical torque.
 The simulations are performed using a d
qr = b (Rr iqr sdr + vqr ) (4)
Simulink/MATLAB software package to which dt
the DFIG models have been added [6]. where is the base angular frequency in electrical r/s,
s is the stator angular frequency and s is the slip de-
fined as:
2 DFIG Wind Turbine Modeling s r
s= (5)
b
2.1 Layout where r is the rotor electrical angular frequency. The
electromagnetic torque is given by:
The DFIG is a wound-rotor induction generator whose
stator is directly connected to the grid, while the three- Te = qr idr dr iqr = ds iqs qs ids (6)
phase rotor windings are connected through slip rings
to the grid via a partially rated power electronic fre- and the motion equation is:
quency converter. The converter consists of two voltage
source converters connected back-to-back and enables 2H dr
= Te Tm (7)
variable speed operation of the wind turbine by decou- b dt
pling the power system electrical frequency and the ro-
tor mechanical frequency. A typical configuration of a 2.3 Mechanical Torque Calculation and
DFIG is shown schematically in Fig. 2 where motor
Pitch Control
convention is used for the currents.
The wind speed is considered an input to the model.
Is , Ps , Qs Vs , s The mechanical torque is then calculated by use of the
I, P, Q well-known static equation which provides the mechan-
ical power produced by the wind turbine:
Idc1 Idc2
Ir 1
Zf Pm = AVw3 Cp (8)
Vdc
2
I
is , Pis , Qis
Rc Pr, Qr
where: Pm is the mechanical power output (W )
PWM PWM
is the air density (1,225 kg/m3 )
A is the rotor area (m2 )
Figure 2: Basic configuration of a DFIG. Vw is the wind speed (m/s)
Cp is the aerodynamic power coefficient.
The parameters of the wind turbine used are given in
The impedance Zf in Fig. 2 corresponds to a filter Table 2.
and/or a transformer connected between the grid side
From the wind speed, the wind turbine mechanical
converter and the machine stator.
rotor speed m and the pitch angle , the aerodynamic
power coefficient Cp can be calculated from the charac-
2.2 Induction Machine Equations teristic curves Cp (, ), where is the tip speed ratio
defined as
Neglecting the stator transients, the machine equations m R
=
are the following in the synchronous reference frame Vw
[7] (in pu on machine rating): where R is the wind turbine rotor radius.
The analytical relation used for the calculation of Cp
vds = Rs ids X 0 iqs + Ed0 (1) is the following [8]:
vqs = X 0 ids + Rs iqs + Eq0 (2)  
116 12,5

2 Cp (, ) = 0, 22 0, 4 5 e i (9)
where X 0 = s XM i
b (Xss Xrr ) is the transient reactance
and 1 1 0, 035
= 3 (10)
i + 0, 08 + 1
s XM s XM
Ed0 = qr Eq0 = dr
b Xrr b Xrr While constant speed wind turbines with induction
generator are usually stall-controlled, i.e. the pitch an-
are emfs proportional to the rotor fluxes on the d and q gle is constant, variable speed wind turbines with DFIG
axis. The electrical state equations are: are usually pitch-controlled. Below rated wind speeds,
d the pitch angle is kept at its minimum so that the turbine
dr = b (Rr idr + sqr + vdr ) (3) can operate at maximum Cp At higher wind speeds, the
dt
pitch angle is modified, so that Cp and thus the mechan- Nominal Power
1
ical torque is reduced and the rotor speed and power
generation are kept at rated value.
0.8
For modeling the pitch controller a proportional-
integral controller is used (Fig. 3), which keeps the rotor

Power (pu)
0.6
speed at its nominal value [3]. The limited rate at which
the pitch angle may be varied is taken into account, as Rated
0.4 Speed
well as the time constant of the servomechanism.
max d max 0.2
dt max
d
r 1 dt 1
PI TS s
0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
min d
dt max min
Rotor Speed (RPM)

Figure 5: Speed control characteristic.

Figure 3: Pitch controller model.
P
PF* Q

Vs
1
2.4 Converter Representation Ka 1
Ta s

According to the typical vector control strategy de- Vs

scribed in [9], the reference frame for the vector control

of the rotor side converter is oriented along the stator
i
dr vdr
Vs b Xss Qs Ki
flux vector position. Neglecting the stator resistance XM s

XM Vs Kp +
s

this is equivalent to setting the q-axis on the terminal idr

Vs
voltage phasor. This results to:
Xss Te
iqr = (11) Figure 6: Reactive power controller.
XM Vs
Thus by regulating iqr , one can control the electromag-
netic torque and therefore the rotor speed. The speed Usually, this feature of the DFIG wind turbine is used
controller is modeled as shown in Fig. 4. From the ro- to keep the machine at unity power factor [8]. The con-
tor speed measurement, the power and the torque that troller implemented in the model is shown in Fig. 6.
correspond to optimal operation are deduced from the The desirable value for idr is deduced from the machine
speed control characteristic curve shown in Fig. 5. power factor reference (PF*). However, as wind power
penetration in power systems is increasing, it becomes
speed control desirable for wind turbines to provide active voltage
characteristic
control.
r speed

rated Te T
Xss e
i
qr Ki
vqr The reactive power controller depicted in Fig. 6 op-
XM Vs Kp +
s
erates either in constant power factor mode or in Auto-
iqr matic Voltage Regulator (AVR) mode.
Vs
The reference values idr and iqr are limited so that
the resulting rotor current magnitude does not exceed
the converter rating. In case this limit is reached, prior-
Figure 4: Speed controller modeling. ity is given to torque control. The voltages vdr and vqr
are also limited so that the rotor voltage magnitude Vr
This curve stems from (8) by setting Cp = Cpmax for produced by the rotor side converter does not exceed its
all wind speeds up to nominal (solid curve in Fig. 5). maximum value Vrmax .
However, in order to have a one-to-one relation between Assuming that the PWM converter operates in its lin-
rotor speed and power, the curve which is actually im- ear region, the AC voltage is proportional to the DC
plemented is the dotted curve of Fig. 5. voltage [10]. In physical units:
On the other hand, idr is used to control the reactive
power Qs that enters the machine stator: LL 3
Vr = m1 Vdc (13)
2 2
Vs b Xss Qs
idr = (12)
XM s XM Vs where VrLL is the rms line-to-line rotor voltage and m1
is the modulation depth (0 m1 1). In pu, we have: 3 Initial Conditions and Converter
Vr = k m1 Vdc (14) Dimensioning
where k = 2 1 VB
dc B
and Vdc and VBr are the bases of For the initialization of the model, it is assumed that
3 VBr the terminal voltage and total active and reactive power
the DC voltage and the rotor AC phase voltage respec-
generated are known (e.g. from a load flow solution).
tively. Vrmax is computed from (14) taking m1 = 1.
In order to find an equilibrium point of the DFIG
Note that Vrmax depends linearly on the DC voltage.
model, the following set of 7 nonlinear algebraic equa-
For the control of the grid side converter a syn- tions needs to be solved:
chronous reference frame is used with the q-axis placed
on the stator voltage vector Vs . Thus the following vds = Rs ids (Xss iqs + XM iqr ) (20)
equations hold for the active and reactive power ex- vqs = Rs iqs + (Xss ids + XM idr ) (21)
changed with the grid:
vdr = Rr idr (1 r ) (XM iqs + Xrr iqr ) (22)
Pis = vqs iqis (15) vqr = Rr iqr + (1 r ) (XM ids + Xrr idr ) (23)
Qis = vqs idis (16) P = vds ids + vqs iqs + vdr idr + vqr iqr (24)
Vs b Xss Qs
idr = XM sX M Vs
(25)
Usually, the grid side converter keeps its reactive power
Xss Te
Qis = 0 [8]. Therefore: iqr = XM Vs
(26)

idis = 0 (17) where Te is a piecewise function of r , according to the

speed control characteristic of Fig. 5. The vector of the
By control of iqis the active power flow through the 7 unknown variables is
grid side converter is regulated to keep the DC volt-
age Vdc at nominal value (1 pu). The capacitor voltage x = [ids iqs idr iqr vdr vqr r ]T
equation is the following:
An initial condition to solve (20)-(26) numerically,
dVdc Pis Pr can be obtained as follows:
C = (18)
dt Vdc
1. The mechanical power is assumed equal to the to-
where C is the normalized capacitance (in s). The ac- tal active power out of the machine and thus the
tive power Pr that flows from the rotor side converter rotor speed can be deduced from the speed control
to the rotor is: characteristic curve of Fig. 5

Pr = vdr idr + vqr iqr (19) 2. iqr and idr are calculated from (11) and (12) re-
spectively.
The DC voltage PI controller is shown in Fig. 7. Be-
cause of (17), iqis may reach the rated converter current 3. The stator voltage equations are solved to find ids
rated
Iis . and iqs :

vds = Rs ids (Xss iqs + XM iqr ) (27)

I rated
is vqs = Rs iqs + (Xss ids + XM idr ) (28)

Vdc iqis
Kp
Note that the q-axis of the synchronous reference
I rated
is I rated
frame of the model is placed on the stator voltage
is
and therefore, vqs = Vs and vds = 0.
Vdc
1
Ki s 4. The rotor voltages are calculated in a straightfor-
ward way:
I rated
is
vdr = Rr idr (1 r ) (XM iqs + Xrr iqr )
vqr = Rr iqr + (1 r ) (XM ids + Xrr idr )
Figure 7: DC voltage controller.

The mechanical power of the wind turbine is given

As the machine stator transients are neglected, it is by the equilibrium condition of (7) and the rotor speed.
consistent to model the grid side converter as a current Finally, the wind speed is calculated numerically from
source. (8).
 Number of Poles 4 4 Active crowbar modeling
Mutual reactance XM 3.0 pu
Stator leakage reactance Xls 0.10 pu A practical solution to provide low-voltage-ride-
Rotor leakage reactanceXlr 0.08 pu through capability to DFIG-based wind turbines is the
Stator resistance Rs 0.01 pu active crowbar, briefly presented in [5]. For the im-
Rotor resistance Rr 0.01 pu plementation of active crowbar in the DFIG transient
Min. capacitive p.f. 0.98 model it is assumed that if either the rotor current or the
Sbase 2.25 MVA DC voltage reaches the instantaneous limit Irmax and
max
Vdc respectively (examples of these limits are given
Table 1: DFIG parameters. in Table 3), the rotor is disconnected from the rotor side
converter and is short-circuited through an external re-
sistance Rc (also shown in Table 3). While the crowbar
Nominal power 2 MW is activated, vdr and vqr are set to zero, and Rc is added
Diameter 75 m to the rotor resistance, in (3)-(4) .
Nominal wind speed 12 m/s
Rotational speed 9-21 RPM Irmax max
Vdc Rc
Gear box ratio 1 : 100 1.5 Irrated 1.5 pu 0.01 pu
Total moment of inertia 5, 9 106 kgm2
Air density 1.225kg/m2 Table 3: Active crowbar parameters.

Table 2: Wind turbine parameters

To obtain the rotor converter rating, the above ini-
tialization routine is executed assuming maximum ac-
tive and reactive power production under nominal volt-
age to find IrmaxP Q and VrmaxP Q . With the data of
Tables 1 and 2 this results to IrmaxP Q = 0.93 pu
and VrmaxP Q = 0.21 pu. The corresponding active
power that enters the rotor side converter is PrmaxP Q =
0.1425 pu. The rated values of the rotor converter cur-
rent and voltage are taken as follows:
Irrated = IrmaxP Q
Vrrated = 1.5 VrmaxP Q
It follows that the rated power of the rotor side con-
verter is approximately 30% of the machine rating, as
expected.
Referring to (14), we assume that Vr equals its rated
value Vrrated for m1 = 1 and Vdc = 1 pu. It follows
that k = Vrrated (in pu).
Using a suitable transformer, the two converters can
be identical. In the model, the rated voltage of the grid
side converter, Visrated , is taken equal to 1.1 pu. The
rated current is then:
rated
Iis = Srrated /Visrated (29)
For dimensioning the capacitor of the DC-link, it is
assumed that the energy it contains when the DC volt-
age equals 1 pu, is equal to PrmaxP Q flowing for 0.01 s.
For the generator of Table 1 this corresponds to a capac-
itor normalized value C = 0.0014 s. To get an idea of
the actual value, this corresponds to 4500 F for 1200
V DC.
During crowbar operation, the rotor current is moni-
tored and when it falls below Irmax while the DC volt-
age is also below its limit, the crowbar is deactivated
and the rotor current is directed to the rotor-side con-
verter again. The transistors of this converter are still
blocked, but the current passes through the diodes that
are parallel to the transistors. In other words, the rotor
side converter operates as a three-phase diode rectifier.
Therefore, during this period the following linear re-
lation holds for the DC voltage and the line-line rms
voltage Vr (in volts):
3 2 LL
Vdc = V (30)
r
In pu we have:
3 3 1
Vdc = Vr (31)
2k
where k was defined in (14). The two components of
the rotor voltage in the d and q axis are easily deduced
by taking into account that the power factor in the AC
side of a diode rectifier equals unity when commutation
is neglected. Since Vdc is a state variable, (31) is used
to provide vdr and vqr . Under this mode of operation,
the rotor current quickly decreases. When it reaches
zero, the machine can resume normal operation, i.e. vdr
and vqr are provided by the speed and reactive power
controllers.
5 Simulation Results
In this Section the DFIG with the data presented in Ta-
bles 1 and 2 and the controller parameters shown in Ta-
bles 3 to 5 is simulated using the software developed.
 d
dt max TS Kpp Kip In Fig. 9 we see that the rotor accelerates as the large
o
3 /s 0.25 s 200 60 voltage drop causes a decrease of the machine flux and
thus, of the electromagnetic torque. As the rotor speed
Table 4: Pitch controller parameters. exceeds the rated value, the pitch control increases the
pitch angle so that less power is extracted from the wind
and rotor overspeed is prevented.
Kp Ki Ka Ta C
50 5 100 0.01 s 0.0014 s (a) (b)
1.22 3.5

Table 5: Controllers parameters. 1.215 3

Rotor Speed (pu)

Pitch Angle (o)

2.5
1.21
2
1.205
1.5
1.2 1
In all figures, the solid line refers to power factor con-
1.195 0.5
trol operation and the dashed line to voltage control op- 0 5 10
Time (s)
15 20 0 5 10
Time (s)
15 20

eration. The profile of the low voltage disturbance ap-

plied to the generator terminals is shown together with Figure 9: Long-term speed-pitch response of DFIG
the simulation results. Note that the grid voltage does with active crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop.
not fully restore to 1 pu.
Figure 8 depicts the simulation results of a severe
Figure 10 depicts the short term response to the same
voltage drop to 0.2 pu for 0.2 s. The machine is ini-
0.8 pu voltage drop, but with the machine initially pro-
tially producing nominal active power with 0.995 ca-
ducing half the nominal power. Note that in the case of
pacitive power factor (P=-2 MW, Q=-0.2 MVar). Right
voltage control operation there is a large reactive power
after the fault occurs, the crowbar is activated because
production. Because of the lower active power produc-
of the high rotor current. As long as the rotor is short-
tion, there is more rotor current availble for reactive
circuited through the crowbar, the machine behaves as
power production.
a simple induction generator and thus it consumes re-
active power. Because of the high slip, this reactive
(a) (b)
power consumption is very high. When the rotor cur- 1
5
Terminal Voltage (pu)

rent falls below its maximum value at about 80 ms af-

Rotor Current (pu)
4
0.8
ter the fault, the crowbar is deactivated and the rotor- 0.6
3

side converter behaves as a three-phase rectifier. The 0.4

2 Imax
r

rotor current goes quickly to zero and then the machine 0.2 1

switches back to normal operation. Note that during the 0 0

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
extinguishing phase of rotor current (rectifier operation Time (s) Time (s)
(c) (d)
of the converter) , the DC voltage increases rapidly. Af-
Reactive Power Consumed (pu)

0.4 1.3

ter the machine has turned back to normal operation, 0.2 1.25
DC Voltage (pu)

0 1.2
the DC voltage returns to its nominal value through the 0.2 1.15
action of the PI controller. 0.4 1.1

0.6 1.05

(a) (b) 0.8 1

5
1 0.95
1 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Terminal Voltage (pu)

Time (s) Time (s)

Rotor Current (pu)

4
0.8
3
0.6

0.4
2 Figure 10: Short term response of DFIG with active
0.2 1 crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop. Initial power con-
0 0
sumption: P=-1 MW, Q=-0.2 MVar.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Time (s) Time (s)
Reactive Power Consumption (pu)

(c) (d)
0.5 1.3 Figure 11 shows the response of the machine in case
1.25
of a less severe voltage drop to 0.6 pu for 0.2 s. In
DC Voltage (pu)

1.2
0
1.15 this case, during crowbar operation the rotor current re-
0.5
1.1 mains above its maximum value until fault clearing and
1.05

1
thus the machine operates for about 1 s with the crow-
1 0.95 bar activated.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Time (s) Time (s) Even though the machine remains connected to the
grid provided that the transient rotor current is not
Figure 8: Short-term response of DFIG with active enough to overheat the rotor, this behaviour is still not
crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop. desirable because it prevents the machine to control its
 1.1 5 1.1 5

1 1

Terminal Voltage (pu)

Terminal Voltage (pu)

4 4

Rotor Current (pu)

Rotor Current (pu)
0.9 0.9
3 3
0.8 0.8
2 2
0.7 0.7

1 0.6 1
0.6

0.5 0 0.5 0
1 1.5 2 1 1.5 2 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

5 1.15 3 1.6

Reactive Power Consumed (pu)

Reactive Power Consumed (pu)

4 1.5
2
1.1

DC Voltage (pu)
1.4
DC Voltage (pu)

3
1 1.3
2
1.05
1 0 1.2

0 1.1
1
1
1 1

2 0.95 2 0.9
1 1.5 2 1 1.5 2 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
Time (s) Time (s) Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 11: Short-term response of DFIG with active Figure 13: Short term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop. crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop. Crowbar deactivation
with constant time delay (70 ms).
reactive power exchange with the grid, when this ability
is needed by the system. Therefore, the crowbar is re-activated, the rotor is short-
Two ways to circumvent this drawback are simulated circuited again, the capacitor is discharged, and when
next. The first one is to increase crowbar resistance. the DC voltage returns to its reference value, another at-
Increasing the crowbar resistance, the deactivation of tempt to switch off the rotor current begins. After three
the crowbar can be achieved very quickly, like in the attempts, the machine can resume normal operation.
case of the severe voltage drop. Figure 12 shows the Multiple crowbar switchings can be avoided, if more
simulation results, assuming Rc = 0.07 pu. capacitance is available in the DC link. Figure 14 de-
picts the simulation results if a capacitance 4 times the
1.1 3
original one is assumed.
1 2.5
Terminal Voltage (pu)

Rotor Current (pu)

0.9 2
1.1 5
0.8 1.5
1
Terminal Voltage (pu)

4
Rotor Current (pu)

0.7 1
0.9
3
0.6 0.5
0.8
0.5 0 2 Imax
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 0.7 r
Time (s) Time (s)
0.6 1

0.5 1.25
0.5 0
Reactive Power Consumed (pu)

1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
1.2 Time (s) Time (s)
0
DC Voltage (pu)

1.15
3 1.4
Reactive Power Consumed (pu)

0.5 1.1
2 1.3
1.05
1
1 1 1.2

1.5 0.95 0 1.1

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Time (s) Time (s)
1 1

2 0.9
Figure 12: Short-term response of DFIG with active 1 1.05 1.1 1.15
Time (s)
1.2 1.25 1 1.05 1.1 1.15
Time (s)
1.2 1.25

crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop (assuming Rc = 0.07

pu). Figure 14: Short term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop (assuming 4 times
The second control method examined in this paper higher capacitance).
for crowbar deactivation is to use a fixed time delay be-
fore attempting to switch back to converter operation.
Assuming that the crowbar is automatically switched
back 70 ms after its activation and that the converter 6 Conclusions
diodes can support the transiently high value of current,
we obtain the short-term response of Fig. 13. In this paper the low-voltage ride through capability of
In this case when the rotor side converter switches a DFIG wind generator equipped with a switching ac-
to the diode rectifier mode, the DC voltage reaches tive crowbar and pitch controller was confirmed using
its maximum value before the rotor current dies out. a computer simulation program developed in NTUA.
The crowbar bypasses the rotor side converter when the [5] Niiranen J. Voltage dip ride through of a doubly-
rotor current exceeds its emergency rating, thus effi- fed generator equipped with an active crowbar. Pro-
ciently protecting the converters. The switching back ceedings of Nordic Wind Power Conference; March
from crowbar mode to diode rectifier operation of the 2004.
converter until rotor current is extinguished and normal
operation can resume was also successfully simulated. [6] Vournas CD, Potamianakis EG, Moors C, Van Cut-
This LVRT capability of the DFIG allows also the sem T. An Educational Simulation Tool for Power
reactive support to the network even during the fault- System Control and Stability. IEEE Transactions
on conditions. It was shown that this support is larger on Power Systems; February 2004, Vol. 19, No. 1.
when a voltage regulator is used instead of constant [7] Krause PC, Wasynczuk O, Sudhoff SD. Analysis of
power factor control of the DFIG. The support is larger, Electric Machinery, IEEE Press, New York, 2000.
when the wind generator is lightly loaded.
It was noted that for faults of medium severity it [8] Slootweg JG, Polinder H, Kling WL. Dynamic
is possible during crowbar operation to have high ro- modelling of a wind turbine with doubly fed induc-
tor current lasting throughout the duration of the fault. tion generator. Proceedings of the IEEE PES Sum-
Even when these transient currents are considered ac- mer Meeting 2001.
ceptable for the machine winding, the resulting opera-
[9] Pena R, Clare JC, Asher GM. Doubly fed induction
tion blocks the reactive support capability of the DFIG
generator using back-to-back PWM converters and
during and shortly after the fault. As was shown, this
its application to variable-speed wind-energy gen-
problem can be overcome either by increasing crowbar
eration. IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl.; May 1996,
resistance, or by using a larger DC capacitor in con-
Vol. 143, No. 3.
junction with a higher transient current capability of the
converter diodes. [10] Mohan N, Undeland TM, Robbins WP. Power
Electronics: Converters, Applications and Design,
Wiley, 1989.
Acknowledgment
The research presented in this paper is partly supported
by the European integrated FP6 Project SES6-CT-2003-
503516 The birth of a European Distributed Energy
Partnership that will help the large scale implementa-
tion of distributed energy resources in Europe (EU-
DEEP).

References
[1] Tsourakis G, Potamianakis E, Vournas C. Eliminat-
ing Voltage Instability Problems in Wind Parks by
Using Doubly Fed Induction Generators. EWEC
2004, London, November 2004.

[2] E.ON Netz GmbH, Supplementary Grid Connec-

tion Regulations for Wind Energy Converters, De-
cember 2001.

[3] Akhmatov V. Modelling of variable-speed wind

turbines with doubly-fed induction generators in
short-term stability investigations. Proceedings of
the 3rd Int. Workshop on Transmission Networks
for Offshore Wind Farms, April 11-12, 2002.

[4] Ekanayake JB, Holdsworth L, Wu X, Jenkins N.

Dynamic Modeling of Doubly Fed Induction Gen-
erator Wind Turbines. IEEE Transactions on Power
Systems. Vol. 18, No. 2, May 2003.
 Simulation of Low Voltage Ride Through Capability of Wind Turbines
with Doubly Fed Induction Generator
G. Tsourakis C. Vournas
National Technical University of Athens

Abstract
Following the achievement of very high wind penetration in some electric power systems, new guidelines for the connection of wind parks have been
established by Transmission System Operators. In contrast to the past, the wind turbines are not allowed to disconnect when a normally cleared fault occurs.
They must be equipped with low voltage ride through (LVRT) capability. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator
(DFIG) when an active crowbar is used to provide LVRT capability by short-circuiting the rotor temporarily.

Modeling of a pitch-
pitch-controlled wind turbine with DFIG for Power system stability
DFIG: Wound rotor connected to the grid via back-to- Vector control of grid Vector control of Speed controller
back PWM voltage source inverters side inverter (modeled rotor side
as a current source): converter
(modeled as a
1. Reactive power
voltage source):
control: Qis=0 idis=0
1. Speed control:
2. Active power control
determination of
Pis via iqis to keep the
electromagnetic
DC voltage constant
torque
2. Reactive power Reactive power controller
control: a)
Pitch control Pitch controller DC voltage controller Constant Power
limits power Factor (PF) or
and speed b) Automatic
when wind Voltage
speed is Regulation
higher than (AVR)
nominal

Active crowbar modeling

A. Crowbar activation
Condition: Ir>Ir,max or Vdc>Vdc,max. The rotor side converter is open, the rotor is short-circuited through external resistance Rc. The machine becomes a
simple induction generator.
B. Crowbar deactivation
When Ir falls back below Ir,max the crowbar is switched off and the rotor current is directed to the rotor side converter again. The transistors are still blocked,
but the parallel diodes conduct. The rotor side converter operates thus as a three-phase diode rectifier. The rotor current rapidly decreases. When the
rotor current reaches zero, the machine switches back to normal operation.
Simulation results depict the DFIG response to a voltage drop. Note that the terminal voltage is not fully restored to 1 pu. The blue line refers to power
factor control operation and the red line to voltage control (AVR) operation.
Case 1 Case 2
Voltage drops to 20% for Voltage drops to 60% for
200 ms 200 ms
The machine resumes Large steady state rotor
normal operation in current with fault on (due
about 60 ms. to larger voltage)
With AVR operation the Rotor current decreases
DFIG produces only after speed
maximum possible decrease
reactive power. The crowbar is
Q limit due to rotor deactivated ~1 s after
converter current rating the beginning of the
voltage drop
Can be corrected by
increasing Rc
Case 3 Case 4
Voltage drops to 60% for Voltage drops to 60% for
200 ms 200 ms
Crowbar is deactivated Crowbar is deactivated
after a fixed time delay. after a fixed time delay.
Assuming diodes can Assuming diodes can
support the high current. support the high current.
DC overvoltage DFIG DC overvoltage is
resumes normal avoided, assuming
operation after three higher capacitance.
attempts.

Conclusions
A DFIG wind turbine can obtain Low-Voltage-Ride-Through capability by
adding active crowbar.
With active crowbar not only the DFIG remains connected to the grid, but
it resumes normal operation before the voltage is restored.
AVR increases reactive support to the network.
For less severe voltage drops, increased external resistance may be
needed for full exploitation of crowbar.
Alternatively, early crowbar deactivation can be used if the converter can
support the transient high current through the diodes and multiple spikes on
the capacitor (unless increased capacitance is used).