STATCOM integration into a DFIG-based wind park for reactive power compensation and its impact on wind park high voltage ride-through capability

This paper presents static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) integration into a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind park (WP), analyses the impact of STATCOM on the WP high voltage ride-through (HVRT) capability, and proposes a transient function for the STATCOM to improve the WP HVRT capability. An actual WP is adopted as a test system. The STATCOM size is selected considering the grid code requirement for power factor control, and various wind turbine (WT) and medium voltage (MV) feeder outage scenarios. The WP HVRT capability is assessed with electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations by analyzing the responses to a parametric voltage waveform. The external system is represented by a Thevenin equivalent. The pre-described voltage waveforms are applied to the Thevenin source in order to assess the conformity of the HVRT capability to Hydro-Quebec specifications. The WP simulation model includes all details regarding collector grid and overvoltage protection. The simulation results demonstrate that, STATCOM usage provides a noticeable improvement in HVRT capability of the WP, especially with the proposed transient function.