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Grid Integration of Wind Energy Systems

Chapter · September 2008

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-84800-318-7_11

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BULLETIN OF THE POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
TECHNICAL SCIENCES
Vol. 57, No. 4, 2009

Improved grid integration of wind energy systems

D. SCHULZ∗
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Helmut-Schmidt-University, 85 Holstenhofweg St., 22043 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract. The contribution describes the German situation of grid integration of wind energy. Due to a new edition of the renewable energy
law some technical requirements must be fulfilled by the wind turbines. These demands and the possibilities and efforts of the technical
realization are described based on the existing technology. Then the necessary steps towards an increased power share of wind energy are
introduced. This includes the energy storage in power systems and the retrofit of the existing transmission system.
Key words: wind energy, grid integration, energy storage, transmission system, grid impedance measurement.

1. Introduction consumed energy has to be ensured also with distributed and

fluctuating energy conversion. Therefore the accuracy of the
Renewable energy sources contribute with over 15% to the
forecasted amount of energy which influences the generation
electrical energy consumption in Germany. Among them wind
load profile has to be improved. Secondly, the distributed en-
energy has the highest share with over 6%, see Table 1 [1].
ergy must participate in the grid services, such as voltage and
This energy share corresponds to 28% of the world-wide wind
frequency control. This is hindered by the undefined distance
energy. In 2007 the European governments declared the aim of
between distributed energy supply and consumers which is
20% energy generation from renewable sources in 2020 [2].
determined by preferred installation places and weather con-
At the same time, the national aim of the German govern-
ditions.
ment was agreed to a share of 30% of the electrical energy in
2020 [3]. This can be fulfilled only by an extensive increase of
the wind energy. Therefore, in addition to the existing onshore 2. German renewable energy law
wind parks with a total power of 23.9 GW, in 2009 more than The renewable energy law (REL) regulates the grid connec-
30 offshore wind parks with a total power of 27 GW are in tion rights of renewable sources and the compensation for the
planning. The pre-investigations of the first German offshore generated energy [4]. It is revised every four years to readjust
wind park “Alpha Ventus” are finished. This year the first 12 the balance between technical progress and economical con-
wind turbines (WTs) – each with a nominal power of 5 MW ditions. In the 2008 edition technical requirements are added
– will be installed, 200 devices with 5 MW are foreseen in in order to be prepared for the expected high power share of
a second project phase. WTs in future. WT deliver their energy discontinuously, de-
pending on weather conditions. To avoid problems with the
Table 1 necessary grid services, the REL describes technical require-
Share of the renewable sources on the electrical energy consumption ments, based on grid connection guidelines [5–7]:
in Germany 2008, Source: BEE after Ref. 1

Energy source Energy share in TWh Energy share in %

• frequency control (power reduction during over frequency
Wind energy 40.3 6.4
and only low power reduction during under frequency),
Biomass 28.7 4.6
• voltage control and reactive power supply,
Hydropower 21.8 3.5
• behaviour during grid failure events (low voltage fault-ride-
Photovoltaic 4.3 0.7
through capability),
Geothermal 0.04 0.1 • power system reconstruction after blackout.
Total 95.1 15.3 These required properties must be confirmed by a tech-
nical certificate from an independent institute. New installed
This means, in some years the energy contribution from WTs must perform these capabilities to get the prior grid
renewable energies will displace a part of the conventional connection. They obtain the additional “grid service bonus”
power plants. Generation units will be more distributed. Also of 0.5 ACCent/kWh if the commissioning is before 2014. Ex-
big wind park installations work highly distributed, compared isting WTs which are installed between 2001 and 2009 can
to conventional coal or nuclear power plants. Such develop- refit fault-ride-through and frequency control capabilities to
ments will cause an essential change in the technical structure obtain a five-year bonus of additional 0.7 A CCent/kWh. All
of the energy supply which has consequences for the power technical details are mentioned in an edict to the REL, which
system operation. Firstly, the balance between produced and describes also the organizational rules for the certification [8].
∗ e-mail: [email protected]

311
 D. Schulz

All requested properties which are required to get the prior determined by the distance to the fault event and the grid
grid connection and the grid service bonus have to be offered structure. To assist the grid voltage in case of such faults,
to the transmission system operator, but will be accepted only a low voltage fault-ride-trough (LVFRT) capability is neces-
depending on the local demands. The requested grid service sary. Figure 2b and c show the demanded reaction to grid
capabilities will come into operation step by step with the faults for all kind of power plants. In Fig. 2b boundary 1 de-
increasing installation numbers of WTs. scribes voltage drops that must not result in instability of the
grid connected system; boundary 2 describes voltage drops
3. Demanded grid services that must be ridden through.
In the guidelines [5–7] the technical details for the required
WT grid connection are described. These demands are valid
for all grid connected systems, not only for WTs. Figure 1a
shows the power curve over frequency, which describes the
controlled power reduction during over frequency and the con-
trolled power reduction during under frequency. In case of
power unbalances WTs must not disconnect from the grid in
the frequency range between 47.5 Hz and 51 Hz in order to
assist the grid frequency. The demanded time of supply du-
ration is shown in Fig. 1b. Figure 1c defines the supply of
reactive power, which has to be fulfilled by WTs.

Fig. 2. German low voltage fault-ride-through guidelines for: a) low

frequency; b) low-voltage after Ref. 5; c) short-circuit close to gen-
erator after Ref. 6

4. Possible grid service capabilities

4.1. Existing wind turbine technology. Depending on their
technology, WTs can contribute to the required grid services.
Figure 3 shows the generator types as used in WTs. The direct
connected induction machine, see Fig. 3a, cannot control ac-
tive or reactive power and therefore no grid service demands
can be fulfilled. It is not possible to realize a low voltage
fault-ride-through (LVFRT) with a direct grid connection of
the generator. If the induction machine is grid coupled with
Fig. 1. Grid connection requirements for WTs in Germany after a full-size voltage-source inverter (VSI), see Fig. 3b, an in-
Ref. 5: a) power curve; b) supply duration; c) reactive power supply dependent control of active and reactive power as well as
LVFRT is possible. These services can also be provided by
In case of a short-time overload, the frequency drops the double-fed induction machine, see Fig. 3c. Because of its
down, see Fig. 2a. Then the power has to be halted above direct stator grid connection some additional effort is neces-
the curve to support the frequency stability. If a grid fault sary, e.g. a crowbar control to avoid over voltage in the rotor
arises, the voltage drops. The height of the voltage drop is circuit during grid voltage drops.

312 Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech. 57(4) 2009

 Improved grid integration of wind energy systems

A voltage control and reactive power supply, as depicted in

Fig. 1c, requires:

• adapted voltage protection relays,

• adapted grid side inverter control,
• independent control of active and reactive power of the grid
side inverter.

This results in additional current load. Therefore the grid in-

Fig. 3. Generator types: a) direct coupled induction machine; b) in- verter must be rated for the nominal active current plus the
duction machine with full-size VSI; c) double-fed induction machine; necessary reactive current for the control of the grid voltage.
d) electrical excited synchronous generator with VSI; e) Synchronous A main problem is that the wind park devices must compen-
Generator (SG) with permanent magnet excitation sate also the reactive power of the transformers and cables to
the PCC. If the PCC is on higher voltage levels, this means
Electrical or permanent excited synchronous generators a compensation of some transformers, see Fig. 4. Former-
with full-size VSI, see Fig. 3d, and Fig. 3e, can fulfill all ly installed WTs will have such inverter rating reserve only
demanded grid services because of their sophisticated power accidentally. Generally it is possible to generate the reactive
control properties. power with additional equipment such as central compensa-
tion units. The reactive power management of wind parks was
4.2. Realization of the grid services. Grid services are addi-
described earlier [18].
tional tasks for WTs, which were originally designed to deliv-
er active power in the rated operation range. Therefore their
realization is a different item for new and existing devices.
We can consider the demanded grid service properties step
by step.
Frequency control. A frequency control includes power re-
duction during over frequency and only low power reduction
during under frequency, see Fig. 1a and Fig. 2a. Participation
on the frequency control hinders frequency instability due
Fig. 4. Grid connection of WTs in a wind park
to unbalance between generated and consumed power. In the
UCTE grid a static of ∆P /∆f = 18000 MW/Hz is defined.
If for example a power plant with a power PPP of 2000 MW Behaviour during failure events. The behaviour during grid
drops out, the frequency decreases: failure events (low voltage fault-ride-trough capability), see
Fig. 2b and 2c, is applicable for all WTs with inverter grid
PPP 2000 MW
∆f = = = 0.11 Hz (1) connection. This property is important to avoid the switch-off
∆P/∆f 18000 MW/Hz of WTs within big areas after short voltage drops. A realiza-
In the literature the complete realization of such control cir- tion means in detail:
cuits is described in detail [9]. The frequency control capa-
bility of WTs requires: • adapted voltage protection relays,
• adapted frequency protection relays, • new control circuits on the grid side inverter,
• adapted grid side inverter control, • modified control of the generator inverter,
• adapted generator control, • a chopper unit is necessary in the dc link,
• modified pitch-control for power reduction, • double-fed induction generators need a crowbar.
• a chopper unit is necessary in the dc link.
Over voltage generation in double-fed induction generators
The control of WTs is detailed explained in the literature
due to supply voltage sags was described earlier [19]. The
[10–13], the sophisticated power control of power electronic
LVFRT retrofit is feasible only for new WTs and maybe for
converters was investigated earlier [14–17].
some existing systems with inverters, if the equipment cost
Voltage control. An increase of the reactive power will in-
are below the additional compensation by the grid service
crease the grid voltage. If the reactive current ir is defined
bonus.
to
ir = −Ir · cos(ω · t + ϕV,G ) Power system reconstruction after blackout. The request-
ed power system reconstruction after blackout can be realised
an additional voltage difference is generated over the grid in- with a synchronisation to the grid voltage after blackout. Fur-
ductance LG : ther requests like black start capability can be realised only
dir with additional energy storage. Energy storage is a main prob-
∆ur = LG = Ir · ω · sin(ω · t + ϕV,G )
dt (2) lem in the power system, which is discussed in more detail in
= ur · sin(ω · t + ϕV,G ). the next section.

Bull. Pol. Ac.: Tech. 57(4) 2009 313

 D. Schulz

5. Needs for further grid integration 5.2. Grid retrofitting and construction. Even if storage de-
vices may be developed, the transmission capacity for the
5.1. Storage needs. In 2005 a German study was published,
transport of the energy to the consumers is furthermore im-
which investigated the need for energy storage as well as en-
portant. With increasing cost and time effort, the following
hancement of the transmission system and the grid capacity
retrofit measures can be applied to increase the transmission
for penetration with renewable energies [20]. Two main results
capacity:
of this study were:
• use of temperature monitoring systems to take advantage of
• An increase of renewable energies in Germany up to 20% external wind cooling during time intervals of increasing
until 2015 works without additional energy storage in the feed-in from wind parks; the transmission capacity increas-
grid. es up to 50%,
• Wind power can be integrated in the grid up to a power of • installation of high-temperature compound conductors with
48 GW. a composite core; the transmission capacity increases up to
The last result of the study was concluded without considering 100%,
the new technical capabilities of WTs as described in Sec. 3 • increasing of transmission voltage, a raise from 220 kV to
and the technical potential of new power control techniques 400 kV increases the power per system from 400 MVA to
such as smart grids and grid control with WTs [21–24]. To 1600 MVA.
consider the newest technical developments, a second study In the first two cases the transmission losses increase, too.
for grid integration of distributed systems was started, that Due to the n-1-reliability at least two parallel systems must
is not finished yet. Storage technologies are well-known and be retrofitted. The new building of transmission lines is a
were analysed in detail in the literature [25]. In a VDE-study long-term procedure because of the necessary permissions.
the storage capability of different technologies for the power Also the grid connection points (points of common coupling
system was investigated with the result that only pumped hy- – PCC) must be utilized fully according to the existing grid
dropower, compressed air storage and sophisticated hydrogen capacity. This is possible with the exact determination of the
storage are feasible solutions [26]. grid impedance. Equipment for the measurement of the fre-
For energy storage in the power system some demands are quency depending grid impedance exist only for the low volt-
important: age level. In our institute a device for measurements on the
medium voltage level is in development.
• Sufficient storage capacity,
• Economical acceptable installation costs,
6. Conclusions
• Acceptable efficiencies.
Increasing unit powers up to 6 MW and increasing installa-
Pumped hydropower costs ca 1000 A C/kW and has generally tion numbers of WTs require a systematic methodology for
no high potential for an extended capacity. Compressed air the grid integration of onshore and offshore wind parks. The
storage cost ca 700 A C/kW and needs natural cavities. From main tasks are the system stability and reliability of the pow-
technical and economical point of view it is a long way to a er supply. This requires the participation on grid services of
feasible hydrogen storage management. WTs and other distributed resources. In the new German Re-
In Germany some problems arise due to a high lo- newable Energy Law technical properties for grid services are
cal penetration of the grid with wind energy. Some federal demanded. Depending on the wind turbine technology differ-
states have very high per capita percentages of wind power, ent expenses are necessary for their implementation.
such as Saxony-Anhalt (39%), Mecklenburg-Western Pomera- In addition to the technical adaptation of the WTs to the
nia (36.5%), Schleswig-Holstein (35.98%) and Brandenburg grid demands with further increasing wind energy share also
(30%). For some of these power hot spots local solutions for new energy storage devices are requested. The possibilities
energy storage are required. One proposal is the use of future for a technical realisation of units with high storage capaci-
mining lakes in open cast mining as new pumped hydropower ty are limited to pumped hydropower, compressed air storage
plants. This solution is currently under study, technical pos- and maybe later hydrogen storage. Therefore the use of min-
sibilities are in development [27]. ing lakes of open cast mining might be a solution in future.
An alternative to the conventional used storage concept As a temporary solution the customer control should be ap-
is the demand response, which means the use of controllable plied. But also the transmission system must be retrofitted.
consumers. In this control non-critical processes are switched This can happen with temperature monitoring, use of high-
off and on. This works for electrical storage heating, electrical temperature conductors and the increase of the transmission
water heating, cooling and heating devices, air conditioning voltage.
devices, circular pumps, exhausters, air compressing pumps
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