A Review of the State of the Art of Power Electronics for Wind Turbines
TL;DR: The possible methods of using the power electronic technology for improving wind turbine performance in power systems to meet the main grid connection requirements are discussed.
Abstract: This paper reviews the power electronic applications for wind energy systems. Various wind turbine systems with different generators and power electronic converters are described, and different technical features are compared. The electrical topologies of wind farms with different wind turbines are summarized and the possible uses of power electronic converters with wind farms are shown. Finally, the possible methods of using the power electronic technology for improving wind turbine performance in power systems to meet the main grid connection requirements are discussed.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a systematical technology review essential for the development and application of SST in the distribution system, including high-voltage power devices, high-power and high-frequency transformers, ac/ac converter topologies, and future research directions.
Abstract: The solid-state transformer (SST), which has been regarded as one of the 10 most emerging technologies by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review in 2010, has gained increasing importance in the future power distribution system. This paper presents a systematical technology review essential for the development and application of SST in the distribution system. The state-of-the-art technologies of four critical areas are reviewed, including high-voltage power devices, high-power and high-frequency transformers, ac/ac converter topologies, and applications of SST in the distribution system. In addition, future research directions are presented. It is concluded that the SST is an emerging technology for the future distribution system.
897 citations
Cites background from "A Review of the State of the Art of..."
...and others [2], and renewable energy systems, especially in large penetration of renewable resources, such as solar and wind [3], [4]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, power converters are classified into single and multicell topologies, with attention to series connection and parallel connection either electrical or magnetic ones (multiphase/windings machines/transformers).
Abstract: The steady growth of installed wind power together with the upscaling of the single wind turbine power capability has pushed the research and development of power converters toward full-scale power conversion, lowered cost pr kW, increased power density, and also the need for higher reliability. In this paper, power converter technologies are reviewed with focus on existing ones and on those that have potential for higher power but which have not been yet adopted due to the important risk associated with the high-power industry. The power converters are classified into single- and multicell topologies, in the latter case with attention to series connection and parallel connection either electrical or magnetic ones (multiphase/windings machines/transformers). It is concluded that as the power level increases in wind turbines, medium-voltage power converters will be a dominant power converter configuration, but continuously cost and reliability are important issues to be addressed.
797 citations
Cites background from "A Review of the State of the Art of..."
...Today multi-MW size wind turbines are being installed [1], [10], [13]....
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...reduced power for DFIG, then in full power [10], [11], [13]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors give an overview and discuss some development trends in the technologies used for wind power systems, and several state-of-the-art wind turbine concepts, as well as the corresponding power electronic converters and control structures are reviewed, respectively.
Abstract: Wind power is still the most promising renewable energy in the year of 2013. The wind turbine system (WTS) started with a few tens of kilowatt power in the 1980s. Now, multimegawatt wind turbines are widely installed even up to 6-8 MW. There is a widespread use of wind turbines in the distribution networks and more and more wind power stations, acting as power plants, are connected directly to the transmission networks. As the grid penetration and power level of the wind turbines increase steadily, the wind power starts to have significant impacts to the power grid system. Therefore, more advanced generators, power electronic systems, and control solutions have to be introduced to improve the characteristics of the wind power plant and make it more suitable to be integrated into the power grid. Meanwhile, there are also some emerging technology challenges, which need to be further clarified and investigated. This paper gives an overview and discusses some development trends in the technologies used for wind power systems. First, the developments of technology and market are generally discussed. Next, several state-of-the-art wind turbine concepts, as well as the corresponding power electronic converters and control structures, are reviewed, respectively. Furthermore, grid requirements and the technology challenges for the future WTS are also addressed.
736 citations
Cites background from "A Review of the State of the Art of..."
...need to carry the power continuously [2]....
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...Power electronics gradually become more and more advanced and bring in significant performance improvements for the wind turbines—not only reducing the mechanical stress and increase the energy yield, but also enable the whole WTS to act like a completely controllable generation unit being able to much better integrate the wind power into the power grid [2]–[6], [34]–[37]....
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18 May 2015
TL;DR: The most successful generator-converter configurations are addressed along with few promising topologies available in the literature from the market based survey, and the past, present and future trends in megawatt WECS are reviewed in terms of mechanical and electrical technologies, integration to power systems, and control theory.
Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive study on the state-of-the-art and emerging wind energy technologies from the electrical engineering perspective. In an attempt to decrease cost of energy, increase the wind energy conversion efficiency, reliability, power density, and comply with the stringent grid codes, the electric generators and power electronic converters have emerged in a rigorous manner. From the market based survey, the most successful generator-converter configurations are addressed along with few promising topologies available in the literature. The back-to-back connected converters, passive generator-side converters, converters for multiphase generators, and converters without intermediate dc-link are investigated for high-power wind energy conversion systems (WECS), and presented in low and medium voltage category. The onshore and offshore wind farm configurations are analyzed with respect to the series/parallel connection of wind turbine ac/dc output terminals, and high voltage ac/dc transmission. The fault-ride through compliance methods used in the induction and synchronous generator based WECS are also discussed. The past, present and future trends in megawatt WECS are reviewed in terms of mechanical and electrical technologies, integration to power systems, and control theory. The important survey results, and technical merits and demerits of various WECS electrical systems are summarized by tables. The list of current and future wind turbines are also provided along with technical details.
694 citations
Cites background or methods from "A Review of the State of the Art of..."
...The surplus power in the rotor circuit is dissipated through the ac crowbar resistors [16], [138]....
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...of grid-connected operation in 1980s, various combinations of electric generators and power electronic converters have been developed in commercial wind turbines to achieve fixed-speed, semi-variable-speed and fullvariable-speed operation [15], [16]....
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...methods include optimal tip-speed-ratio control, power signal feedback control, hill climbing searching control, optimal torque control, and optimal power control [16], [114], [115], [264]....
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...This configuration requires a large number of capacitors and each of them requires precharging circuit [16], [69]....
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...To improve the transmission efficiency, additional reactive power compensators such as static compensator (STATCOM) or static VAr compensator (SVC) should be connected at both-sides of HVAC transmission lines [16], [22]....
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TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of the performance of different MPPT algorithms on the basis of various speed responses and ability to achieve the maximum energy yield is made, and the optimal torque control (OTC) is found to be the best MPPT method for wind energy systems due to its simplicity.
Abstract: This paper reviews state of the art maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms for wind energy systems. Due to the instantaneous changing nature of the wind, it is desirable to determine the one optimal generator speed that ensures maximum energy yield. Therefore, it is essential to include a controller that can track the maximum peak regardless of wind speed. The available MPPT algorithms can be classified as either with or without sensors, as well as according to the techniques used to locate the maximum peak. A comparison has been made between the performance of different MPPT algorithms on the basis of various speed responses and ability to achieve the maximum energy yield. Based on simulation results available in the literature, the optimal torque control (OTC) has been found to be the best MPPT method for wind energy systems due to its simplicity. On the other hand, the perturbation and observation (P&O) method is flexible and simple in implementation, but is less efficient and has difficulties determining the optimum step-size.
645 citations
Cites background from "A Review of the State of the Art of..."
...Researchers [10,14,15] have discussed the different possible configurations of power converters and electrical generators for variable-speed wind turbine systems....
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References
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01 May 1996
TL;DR: The paper describes the engineering and design of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), using back-to-back PWM voltage-source converters in the rotor circuit, which results in independent control of active and reactive power drawn the supply, while ensuring sinusoidal supply currents.
Abstract: The paper describes the engineering and design of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), using back-to-back PWM voltage-source converters in the rotor circuit. A vector-control scheme for the supply-side PWM converter results in independent control of active and reactive power drawn the supply, while ensuring sinusoidal supply currents. Vector control of the rotor-connected converter provides for wide speed-range operation; the vector scheme is embedded in control loops which enable optimal speed tracking for maximum energy capture from the wind. An experimental rig, which represents a 7.5 kW variable speed wind-energy generation system is described, and experimental results are given that illustrate the excellent performance characteristics of the system. The paper considers a grid-connected system; a further paper will describe a stand-alone system.
2,618 citations
"A Review of the State of the Art of..." refers background in this paper
...This solution still needs a soft-starter [7], [8]....
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TL;DR: In this article, power electronics, the technology of efficiently processing electric power, play an essential part in the integration of the dispersed generation units for good efficiency and high performance of the power systems.
Abstract: The global electrical energy consumption is rising and there is a steady increase of the demand on the power capacity, efficient production, distribution and utilization of energy. The traditional power systems are changing globally, a large number of dispersed generation (DG) units, including both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources such as wind turbines, photovoltaic (PV) generators, fuel cells, small hydro, wave generators, and gas/steam powered combined heat and power stations, are being integrated into power systems at the distribution level. Power electronics, the technology of efficiently processing electric power, play an essential part in the integration of the dispersed generation units for good efficiency and high performance of the power systems. This paper reviews the applications of power electronics in the integration of DG units, in particular, wind power, fuel cells and PV generators.
2,296 citations
"A Review of the State of the Art of..." refers background in this paper
...The “Danish concept” [1] of directly connecting a wind turbine to the grid is widely used in early wind turbine systems....
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Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, power electronics, the technology of efficiently processing electric power, play an essential part in the integration of the dispersed generation units for good efficiency and high performance of the power systems.
Abstract: The global electrical energy consumption is rising and there is a steady increase of the demand on the power capacity, efficient production, distribution and utilization of energy. The traditional power systems are changing globally, a large number of dispersed generation (DG) units, including both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources such as wind turbines, photovoltaic (PV) generators, fuel cells, small hydro, wave generators, and gas/steam powered combined heat and power stations, are being integrated into power systems at the distribution level. Power electronics, the technology of efficiently processing electric power, play an essential part in the integration of the dispersed generation units for good efficiency and high performance of the power systems. This paper reviews the applications of power electronics in the integration of DG units, in particular, wind power, fuel cells and PV generators.
2,076 citations
TL;DR: An overview of different wind generator systems and their comparisons are presented in this article, where the quantitative comparison and market penetration of different WG systems are presented. And the developing trends of wind generator system and appropriate comparison criteria are discussed.
Abstract: With rapid development of wind power technologies and significant growth of wind power capacity installed worldwide, various wind turbine concepts have been developed. The wind energy conversion system is demanded to be more cost-competitive, so that comparisons of different wind generator systems are necessary. An overview of different wind generator systems and their comparisons are presented. First, the contemporary wind turbines are classified with respect to both their control features and drive train types, and their strengths and weaknesses are described. The promising permanent magnet generator types are also investigated. Then, the quantitative comparison and market penetration of different wind generator systems are presented. Finally, the developing trends of wind generator systems and appropriate comparison criteria are discussed. It is shown that variable speed concepts with power electronics will continue to dominate and be very promising technologies for large wind farms. The future success of different wind turbine concepts may strongly depend on their ability of complying with both market expectations and the requirements of grid utility companies.
1,023 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2002TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comparison of Torque Control Strategies based on the Constant Power Loss Control System for PMSM for three-phase PWM rectifiers and motors.
Abstract: Part I: PWM Converters: Topologies and Control 1 Power Electronic Converters 2 Resonant dc Link Converters 3 Fundamentals of the Matrix Converter Technology 4 Pulse Width Modulation Techniques for Three-Phase Voltage Source Converters Part II: Motor Control 5 Control of PWM Inverter-Fed Induction Motors 6 Energy Optimal Control of Induction Motor Drives 7 Comparison of Torque Control Strategies Based on the Constant Power Loss Control System for PMSM 8 Modeling and Control of Synchronous Reluctance Machines 9 Direct Torque and Flux Control (DTFC) of ac Drives 10 Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic Control in Power Electronics Part III: Utilities Interface and Wind Turbine Systems 11 Control of Three-Phase PWM Rectifiers 12 Power Quality and Adjustable Speed Drives 13 Wind Turbine Systems Index
727 citations