Feasibility Study of Wind Farm Grid-Connected Project in Algeria under Grid Fault Conditions Using D-Facts Devices

Abstract

The use of renewable energy such as wind power is one of the most affordable solutions to meet the basic demand for electricity because it is the cleanest and most efficient resource. In Algeria, the highland region has considerable wind potential. However, the electrical power system located is this region is generally not powerful enough to solve the problems of voltage instability during grid fault conditions. These problems can make the connection with the eventual installation of a wind farm very difficult and inefficient. Therefore, a wind farm project in this region may require dynamic compensation devices, such as a distributed-flexible AC transmission system (D-FACTS) to improve its fault ride through (FRT) capability. This paper investigates the implementation of shunt D-FACTS, under grid fault conditions, considering the grid requirements over FRT performance and the voltage stability issue for a wind farm connected to the distribution network in the Algerian highland region. Two types of D-FACTSs considered in this paper are the distribution static VAr compensator (D-SVC) and the distribution static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM). Some simulation results show a comparative study between the D-SVC and D-STATCOM devices connected at the point of common coupling (PCC) to support a wind farm based on a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) under grid fault conditions. Finally, an appropriate solution to this problem is presented by sizing and giving the suitable choice of D-FACTS, while offering a feasibility study of this wind farm project by economic analysis.

Electricity production and comparative analysis for wind availability power potential assessment at four sites in Egypt

“…However, the good natural resources in most cases will be affected by many external factors such as the geography, the traffic, the mineral resources, the meteorological disaster, the power grid access and so on. Therefore, the success in selecting the suitable location for building wind power stations depends on the following two factors (Wang et al, 2018):…”

Special Issue on ‘Large Grid-Connected Wind Turbines’

“…In [15], Bin Li, Junyu Liu, Xin Wang and Lili Zhao discussed the protection issues of wind turbines using the doubly fed induction generator. Feasibility and economic studies of wind farm using FACTS devices in a distribution network have been conducted in [16] by Lina Wang, Kamel Djamel Eddine Kerrouche, Abdelkader Mezouar, Alex Van Den Bossche, Azzedine Draou and Larbi Boumediene.…”

Providing Fault Ride-Through Capability of Turbo-Expander in a Thermal Power Plant

“…Shunt flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices, such as STATCOM and static var compensator (SVC), have been extensively used to provide reactive power compensation and support voltage control issues [10]. Since the STATCOM has many benefits, such as a quick response time and better support of voltage instead of other shunt FACTS devices, it was selected for this study [12,27,28]. Moreover, the output reactive power of STATCOM is more than SVC in voltage sag conditions [29].…”

“…Available FRT strategies have been proposed for doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbines, and are divided into three categories of protection circuit configurations, reactive power injecting-device installation, and modified converter control structures [7,8]. Among these strategies, the reactive power injecting-devices have been widely applied to provide FRT capability (especially DVR and STATCOM) [9][10][11][12], and can support other power quality problems [13,14]. This could also be considered the most appropriate choice for this study.…”