Impact of SVC on Small Signal Stability of Induction

Generator Connected Power Systems

LIN Li, Member IEEE, SONG Liangliang, YANG Yihan

MIAO Youzhong, WU Tao

Key Laboratory of Power System Protection and Dynamic

Security Monitoring and Control, Ministry of Education
North China Electric Power University
102206, Beijing, China

North China Electric Power Research Institute Co., Ltd.

100045, Beijing, China

AbstractThe targeted and current development of wind energy

in various countries around the world reveals that wind power is
the fastest growing power generation technology. Squirrel cage
induction generator has been widely used in the wind power
industry. However, with the increment in penetration of these
turbines, power system will experience a change in dynamics and
operational characteristics. Given this assertion, the present
paper holds a research on the small signal stability analysis of
SCIG based wind farm interconnected system. Reactive power
compensation equipment SVC is introduced to enhance wind
farm voltage stability. Eigenvalue analysis of three different
scenarios is performed to give an intuitive understanding of the
wind machine features. The results indicate that damping
performance is detrimental and beneficial under different
circumstance, which is different with synchronous machines. The
SVC equipped case manifest dynamic reactive power
compensation contributes much to the voltage stability. Time
domain simulation conducted at the last part effectively verified
the conclusion received from frequency domain.

however, more than half of the installed wind machines are

equipped with fixed speed generators in china. As we all know,
general asynchronous generators will absorb large amount
reactive power from the system when give an export of active
power. In most cases, reactive power compensation is realized
by fixed capacitor groups proportional to the wind farm
capacity. But it can not give a smooth voltage profile
adjustment, and under fault conditions, it may easily lead to a
voltage collapse.

Keywords- wind power, small signal stability,

generator, SVC

I.

induction

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, with the growing environmental concerns

and attempts to reduce dependency on fossil fuel resources are
bringing renewable energy resources to the mainstream of the
electric power sector. Among the various renewable resources,
wind power is assumed to have the most favorable technical
and economical prospects. Since the increment of wind power
keeps on a high rate, this fact is leading to a significantly
change in power system operation and the potential impact on
the stability of power system has received considerable
attention. Considering the difference of WTG (wind turbine
generators) structure and dynamic performance with thermal
plants, large penetration of wind power may change the load
flow distribution and lead to a re-distribution of the system
damping, which may give a potential affect of the static
stability. Under this circumstance, it is necessary and
imperative to study the properties thoroughly in order to
identify potential problems of wind power interconnection and
to develop measures to mitigate these issues.
There are mainly four types of wind machine generators,
which can be divided into variable speed and fixed speed.
Many studies has focused on the variable speed machines,

Several research efforts have been devoted to address the

challenges raised by the proliferation of fixed speed wind
power. According to [4], fixed speed wind turbines modeled in
different levels of detail were given with fifth order, third
order and first order. However, all the mechanical systems
were given as a one-mass representation. Reference [5]
introduced sensitivity analysis means to depict the impact of
system parameters on the small signal stability studies,
including network reactance and rotor resistance (proportional
to slip). However it has missed the sensitivity study of the
system operation variables, such as node voltage and wind
machine output power, which might be with great influence in
small signal stability. Reference [6] advocates that wind
generator do not take park in power system oscillations.
Rather, the penetration of wind power will have a damping
effect due to reduction in the size of synchronous generator
that engage in power system oscillations. Reference [7]
advocates that increased wind power penetration are
accompanied by congestion at weak interconnection lines that
lead to reduced damping.
On the basis of existing theoretical research, the paper
examined the small signal stability characteristic of SCIG
based wind farms and compared to traditional generators. The
impact of different compensation means on stability is
analyzed. Paper is organized in four parts. Section II presents
the wind machine model including induction generator,
two-mass shaft and torque control models. Section III gives a
brief introduce of small signal analysis. In section IV, test
system is analyzed under frequency and time domains. Active
power and voltage waveforms under disturbance are given.
Conclusions that can be drawn from the analysis are presented
in section V.

This work is sponsored by the National Key Technology R&D Program,

China (2008BAA14B05).

978-1-4244-4813-5/10/$25.00 2010 IEEE

II.

MODEL DESCRIPTION

Induction generator based wind farm consists of a stall

controlled wind machine, a general induction generator and a
couple of shunts used for reactive power compensation. Wind
turbine and the generator are linked through a gearbox. On
stability analysis points of view, dynamic performance of rotor
and the corresponding power oscillation should be of more
importance. The transient performance of stator windings can
be ignored. Since the gearbox is of small stiffness, two-mass
model is used for shaft representation.
A. Induction Generator Model
The dynamic model of the induction machine, also known
as the Park model, is presented as Fig 1. When adopting the
generator convention, stator currents are positive when
flowing towards the net as are the active power and reactive
power fed into the grid. The equations are transformed into a
direct (d) axis and quadrature (q) axis reference frame with the
axes rotating at synchronous speed s.

Rs

ids + jiqs

uds + juqs

separate masses are used to represent the low-speed turbine

and the high-speed generator, and the connecting resilient
shaft is modeled as a spring and a damper. The motion
equations are the given by

d t

2 H t dt = Tw ( K s + D(t g ))

dg

= ( K s + D(t g )) Te
(4)
2 H g
dt

d s
= base (t g )

dt

Where K is the shaft stiffness coefficient, D is the shaft

damping coefficient including the turbine and the machine,
and H t , H g represent the turbine and generator inertia
constant, s is the shaft twist angle, base represents the
base value of mechanical speed and equals 1500 with 2 pole
pairs.

C. Wind Turbine Control Model

Wind turbine controller is modeled like a speed governor
to give representations of the effects of wind plants on system
stability. A function diagram of the representation commonly
used is shown in Fig 2.

Ed + jEq

sref

Figure 1. Dynamic circuit of induction generator

1
1
Eq ( X X )ids ss Ed
T0
T0

(1)

dEd
1
1
= Ed + ( X X )iqs + ss Eq
dt
T0
T0

(2)

dt

When ignore the stator side flux transient, state equation of

induction generator can be written as

dEq

In which,

s Lm
qr
Ed =
Lr

s Lm
(3)
dr
Eq =
Lr

X = s ( Ls Lr L2m )
Lr

Where X represents the synchronous reactance, X is

the expression of transient reactance, T0 is transient open
circuit time constant of the stator windings. Ed Eq represent
dq axis voltage behind the transient reactance respectively.

B. Two-mass Shaft Model

In power system transient studies, since the connection of
the turbine and the rotor is flexible, grid disturbances can
cause significant shaft oscillations in WTGs, the shaft system
should be represented by two-mass model. In the model,

Pele

1
1 + sTp

Kp +

1
sTi

1
1 + sT1

1
1 + sT2

Tw

Pref

Figure 2. Simplified turbine controller diagram

The model uses two inputs, one in terms of the blade rotor
speed deviation and another in terms of the real power at the
machine terminals. These two inputs combined together are
processed by a PI controller with non-wind-up limits. The
filtered output is the mechanical torque on the rotor blade side.
State space description of controller is given as follows by an
introduction of additional state variables.
dx1
1

= Pele
x1

dt
Tp

dx2
= Pref T p x1 + sref s

dt

dx3 = K x + 1 x 1 x
p 2
2
3
dt
Ti
T1

dx4 1
1

= x3 x4

dt T1
T2

(5)

In equation (5)reference value of slip can be derived

form the power-slip relationship, while Pref is the active
power output value specified by wind farm dispatch mode.
D. SVC Model
In order to give a compensation of reactive consumption

by induction generator, static var compensation is introduced.

The transfer function diagram is shown as Fig 3. It is a simple
representation only composed of fixed capacitor and
thyristor-controlled reactor. It monitors the bus voltage and
changes the equivalence susceptance of TCR by controlling
the thyristor firing angle.
Vref
V

Bs1

Ks
1 + sTs

1 + sTs1
1 + sTs 2

Bc

Bs 2

Bsvc

Bc BL

Figure 3. Typical model diagram of SVC

The corresponding equation can be written as:

dBs1 1
dt = T [ K s (Vref V ) Bs1 ]

s
(6)

d (Ts 2 Bs 2 Ts1 Bs1 ) = B B

s1
s2

dt
In which Bs 2 is equivalent susceptance of SVC, and
equals to BSAV under normal operation point. The time
constant, Ts , allows a rough approximation of delays in the
reactors response to control signals with a value of 0.05 or
less. Ts1 and Ts 2 provide for transient gain reduction in the
control loop and hence allow for a high value, K s ,of
steady-state voltage control gain.
III.

SMALL SIGNAL STABILITY STUDY

On the basis of First Stability Theorem of Lyapunov, all

the above state equations can be rewritten as:
x = f ( x, z , u )
(7)
z = g ( x, u )
(8)
Where x, z , u are the vectors of the induction generator
state variables, control output variables and input variables
respectively. State variable vector of induction generator
based wind farm with SVC compensation used for modal
analysis is given by:

Case A constitutes the case wherein the wind machine

in single bus infinite system is replaced by
conventional round rotor synchronous machines with
equivalent MVA rating.

Single bus infinite system provided with induction

generators of fixed capacitors is referred to as Case B.

The same configuration with wind machine equipped

with SVC is treated as Case C.

Detailed eigenvalue analysis is conducted for these three

scenarios, and the key modes we may be interested are listed
in Table I. Eigenvalue distribution is presented from Fig.5 to
Fig.7.
TABLE I.

DOMAIN MODE

OF THE TRHEE CASES AT 80% CAPACITY

Case

Real Part
(1/s)

Imaginary
Part
(rad/s)

Frequency
(Hz)

Damping Ratio
(%)

-0.55050

3.8063

0.60579

14.314

-0.91926

34.992

5.5691

2.6262

-0.043998

1.9372

0.30831

2.2707

-0.64946

34.949

5.5623

1.8580

-0.17979

3.5087

0.55843

5.1173

From the eigenvalues listed above, we can find that two

poorly damped modes are introduced in the wind machine
scenario compared to that of synchronous generators.
Through a deeper participation factor analysis, we may realize
that the mode with a higher frequency of 5.56 Hz is related to
the state of generator speed deviation, while the mode with a
lower frequency around 0.3 Hz tie to turbine rotor speed
deviation, and the later is an electromechanical mode that
requires a close attention.

Mode 2

x = [ Eq , Ed , t , g , s , x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , Bs1 , Bs 2 ]T
IV.

CASE STUDY

A single machine infinite bus system presented in Fig 4

will be used to access the impact of large wind power
integration on small signal stability. In the single line diagram,
wind farm with a capacity of 200MVA and the compensation
ratio of 30% is connected to public bus.

Figure 4.

Single line of the test system

Three different cases are analyzed, and the description of

each case is provided in the following:

Mode 1

Figure 5. Eigenvalue evolution of case B with a increased exports of active

power form 30% to 85% on generator MBASE

of increased wind power penetration on the system. Modes are

excited by adding a branch fault at one of the tie line. Short
fault appears at 0.2s with a duration of 3 circles. Active power
and voltage at wind machine terminal under three cases are
demonstrated as Fig 7 and Fig 8.

Mode 2

The system is found to be secure in Case C whereas it

showed a deterioration performance in Case B. And when the
wind farm is equipped with SVCs, the external features are
acceptable although not as good as synchronous generators.
V.

Mode 1

Figure 6. Eigenvalue evolution of case C with a increased exports of active

power form 30% to 85% on generator MBASE

The changes in eigenvalue distribution with a improved

wind power penetration level are depicted from Fig 5 to Fig 6.
The results reveal that the sensitivity of mode 1 on active
power has a keen point, i.e. with the increased level of power,
the damping first increases and then decreases, at about 55%
of the rated capacity, the damping condition wind machine
contributed will arrive at a peak value, after that, it will act at a
detrimentally way quickly and eventually loss of stability at
85% rated capacity. While in case C, the wind farm reactive
wind power is compensated by SVC, the damping condition of
electromechanical mode showed a better feature.
0.7

synchronous

0.65
0.6
0.55
0.5
PO W ER

0.45
0.4

WT with FC

0.35
0.3

WT with SVC

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

8.5

9.5

10

8.5

9.5

10

Time (seconds)

Figure 7. Generator active poewr

1.1
1.05
1
0.95
0.9
0.85
0.8
0.75
0.7
0.65
0.6
0.55
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2

WT with SVC

VO LTAG E

WT with FC
synchronous

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

Time (seconds)

Figure 8. Generator terminal voltage

Time domain simulation is carried out to observe the effect

CONCLUSION

In this paper, the impact of the increased penetration of

general induction generator based WTGs on small signal
stability is examined for a single machine infinite system. To
examine the performance difference of WTGs and the
synchronous generators, wind farm within and without
dynamic reactive compensation are developed. From
perspective of modal analysis and time domain simulation, the
small signal stability can be enhanced due to the introduction
of SVC. So from the perspective of security and stability,
dynamic reactive power compensation equipments should be
equipped to SCIG based wind farms.
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