2010 International Conference on Power System Technology

Energy Storage based LVRT and Stabilizing Power

Control for Direct-Drive Wind Power System
Wenliang Wang, Baoming Ge, Daqiang Bi , Ming Qin and Wei Liu

grid voltage drops below the set curve. Namely, the wind
Abstract--To enhance low voltage ride through (LVRT) power systems should have a strong low voltage ride through
capability and stabilize output power of direct-drive permanent (LVRT) capability and easily provide a certain amount of
magnet wind power system, a new type of vanadium redox flow
reactive power support to the grid. there are some methods
battery (VRB) based energy storage system (ESS) is added at
such as adding damp load or energy storage system (ESS) at
DC-link bus of dual-PWM converters. Correspondingly, the
DC-link bus to improve the LVRT capacity, which will
control strategy of bi-directional DCIDC converter is developed
to manage the VRB. VRB-based ESS can be used to improve consume or store redundant energy during the grid faults, so
LVRT capability effectively when the grid voltage sags and the operation of wind turbine will not be influenced by the
smooth the grid-injected power when the wind speed rapidly grid voltage sags [2], [3].
changes. The simulated model is established to analyze the
In [4] and [5], the LVRT capability is improved by
operation characteristics in detail. The results show that the
controlling the grid-side converter, but the ability is limited. In
performances of the grid-connected operation are effectively
improved for the direct-drive wind power system by using VRB [6], a damp load is added at DC-link bus to improve the
based ESS at DC-side, and the dynamic response is fast. LVRT capability" but the extra energy is wasted when the
grid voltage sags and it needs large loads and cooling systems.
Index Terms-permanent magnet synchronous generator, The battery-based energy storage system is an effective
direct-drive, wind power, energy storage, VRB, LVRT.
approach to improve performances of the power system.
When the voltage sags, the excessive energy can be stored in
I. INTRODUCTION
the battery bank. Conversely, the required energy can be

W
ind energy is gaining the most interest among a variety released to charge the capacitor for the voltage recovery.
Of renewable energy resources. However, wind speed During the voltage drop, the DC-link voltage is kept stable
with intermittent and random fluctuations inevitably well and a certain amount of reactive power can be provided.
leads to fluctuations of wind power [1], which will seriously Furthermore, the ESS can be used to stabilize the grid-injected
influence power quality and stability of power system power.
operation. The research indicates that if wind power The vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) presents better
penetration in power system is up to 20% or more, the peaking performances than other batteries such as lead-acid batteries,
capacity and safe operation of power grid will face enormous sodium sulfur batteries" which is well suited for application of
challenges. With a growing number of large-scale grid large-scale power energy storage because of high scalability,
connected wind farms and the continuous extension of long life, low materials price, low maintenance requirements,
installed capacity, the wind power fluctuations should be large capacity, and fast response to rapid changes. The VRB
overcome urgently to avoid its negative effect for the grid. has been applied to the wind power projects in many countries,
On the other hand, the countries with advanced wind power and is expected to play an important role in the development
technology in Europe have developed new grid operating of wind power and other renewable energy sources [7]-[9].
guidelines, which forbids the wind turbines off-grid before the The paper presents a direct-drive wind power system with
VRB-based ESS at DC-link bus, and the corresponding
This work was supported by the Power Electronics Science and Education control strategies are developed. The dynamic response and
Development Program of Delta Environmental & Educational Foundation
operating characteristics are analyzed in detail to improve the
under grant No. DREG2009006, and the State Key Lab. of Power System of
China under grant No. SKLD09KZIO. LVRT capability and stabilize the grid-injected power. The
Wenliang Wang is with Guo Dian United Power Technology Company simulated results verify the whole system, and illustrate the
LTD, Beijing 100044, China; and he is with School of Electrical Engineering,
effective control strategies to improve the performance.
Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China (e-mail:
08121981@bjtu.edu.cn)
Baoming Ge is with School of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong II. MPPT CONTROL OF WIND ENERGY
University, Beijing 100044, China (e-mail: bm-ge@263.net)
Daqiang Bi is with State Key Lab of Power Systems, Dept. of Electrical The power captured from wind energy through wind
Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China (e-mail: turbine can be expressed as:
bidaqiang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn)
Pw =0.5pACpvm3 (1)
Ming Qin is with Guo Dian United Power Technology Company LTD.,
3 2
Beijing 100044, China (e-mail: qinming@gdupc.cn ) where p is air density in kg/m ; A is swept area in m ; Vrn is
Wei Liu is with Guo Dian United Power Technology Company LTD.,
wind speed in m/s; Cp is a power coefficient of wind
Beijing 100044, China (e-mail: liuwei@gdupc.cn )

978-1-4244-5940-7/1O/$26.00201O IEEE
 2

turbine, which is related to pitch angle fJ and tip speed III. SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS
ratio A, with a expression as. The topology of direct-drive wind power system with VRB
w mR based ESS is shown in Fig. 2, including wind turbine,
A= (2)
vm permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), dual

Cp = 0.22 (116 / r - 0.4,8 - 5)e-125Ir (3) PWM converters, bi-directional DC/DC converter, VRB and

r -1I
- ( I
-
0.035 ) (4)
reactors, etc. The wind turbine and generator transform the
wind energy into three-phase AC power, which is rectified
A + 0.08,8 ,83 +I into DC power by generator-side PWM converter, and then

where Wrn is angular velocity of wind turbine in rad/s; R is the DC power is inverted into three-phase AC power with

turbine rotor radius in m; y is intermediate variable. constant voltage and frequency, then delivered to the grid.

When fJ remains unchanged, Cp only depends on A. Through adding VRB-based ESS at DC-link bus, the energy

Therefore, the maximum utilization factor Cprnax can be can be stored or released to smooth the grid-injected power. In

reached if the wind turbine is operating at optimal tip speed addition, when the grid voltage sags, VRB-based ESS could

ratio AOPh which will produce the highest conversion efficiency absorb the excessive energy from the DC-link bus to improve

of wind turbine. the LVRT capability effectively.

To capture the maximum wind energy and achieve

maximum power point tracking (MPPT), the speed Wrn should
be adjusted in time to maintain optimum tip speed ratio with
wind speed changing [10], [II].
At present, there are many MPPT control algorithms. The
principle of hill-climbing algorithm is widely used, as shown
in Fig.I. At the instant n, differential power f'!..p w(n) and
Wind turbine
Generator-side
converter [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -i
Grid-side converter
Power
grid

{(n)=(n)-PJn-l)
differential speed f'!..wrn(n) can be expressed as

(5)
bi-directional DC/DC converter --.,

f'!..wm(n)=wm(n)-wm(n-l)
where Pw(n) and Pw(n-l) are corresponding to wind power at
instants n and n-I, respectively. wrn(n)
corresponding to speed at instants n and n-I, respectively;
L ___________________________________________ !
Fig. 2. Direct-drive wind power system with VRB-based ESS .
and wrn(n-I) are
A. Direct-Drive Wind Turbine Control System
The principle diagram of dual-PWM converters control
system for the direct-drive wind turbine is shown Fig. 3.

Setting initial speed Wo

Wm detection, Pw calculation

Fig.l. The principle diagram of hill-climbing algorithm. fCp,,{j),,)

In Fig. I, the output power and actual speed of generator Fig. 3. The control principle diagram of dual-PWM converters.
are detected continuously, and a speed increment results in the
The decoupling control of electromagnetic torque and
change of power, which could automatically search for the
reactive power can be achieved by controlling the d-axis and
optimal speed point corresponding to maximum output power
q-axis components of the generator currents. The control of
for the purpose of the requirements of capturing the largest
active power P and reactive power Q flowing into the grid can
wind energy.
be achieved by controlling the d-axis and q-axis components
 3

of the grid-injected currents [12], [13]. We can adjust the VRB-based E SS does not work and then D=O. Otherwise, the
power factor and make the system provide the reactive power VRB-based E SS works immediately. The DC-link voltage Udc
support for the grid; meanwhile the maximum wind energy is used as an auxiliary variable for the judgment. If the
can be achieved by the MPPT control. internal current loop control is not quick enough due to the
saturation of its regulator or the Udc is beyond the limited
B. Control for VRB-ESS
value, then set 0=1 and the VRB-based E SS will not be cut
The control principle diagram of bi-directional DC/DC
out until the Udc is less than the set value. Of course, an
converter for the VRB-based E SS is shown in Fig. 4, where Ps energy management unit is required to ensure the safe
is the output power of the PMSG; Pg is the grid-injected
operation of the VRB. It not only makes VRB avoid over
power; fj. P is the power difference between Ps and Pg; lb and charging and over-discharging, but also controls the charging
Ib are the reference and actual currents of the VRB and discharging power within the rated range. The VRB-based
respectively; Ub is the VRB terminal voltage. E SS will stop if the Ub is greater than the upper limit Ubmax or
The current reference lb of VRB can be obtained by the PI less than the lower limit Ubmin, that is Ub>Ubmax or Ub<Ubmin, it
regulator, where the output active power is regulated at DC should set PWM1=PWM2=0. Then the VRB -based E SS will
link bus. Then the conduction duty cycle 0 is produced by stop.
another PI regulator, which is used to adjust the actual battery
current lb. The PWM signals will trigger switch devices of bi IV. SIMULATED RESULTS
directional DC/DC converter to charge and discharge the VRB.
The simulated model of direct-drive wind power system
The VRB is charging if Ib >0 and the VRB is discharging if h
with VRB-based E SS at DC-link bus is established by using
<0. It needs to set a hysteresis band in order to prevent the
Matlab/simulink, as shown in Fig. 5. The equivalent circuit
battery operating state changing frequently [14]. When the
model of VRB is built on the basis of the model in [7] and [8].
fluctuations of Udc and I1P are within the given range, the

Udc

Level PWMl
judge

ifUb>Ubmax
PWM1=O
U <U PWM2 0
or b bmin =

Fig. 4. Control principle of bi-directional DCIDC converter.

Tw is sfu ig

A 'l*+aoa+ i 1la+a
9

a is
- a ' 0

i
9 aA
m m C
B a-- a a-- gB T
T

aB
II
f - a
aC

PMSG
IGBT converter II
Udc ....--0:--_lJ

n. vabC

labc I....
I pulse_9 1
L" "
-L
motor _side controller
LJ DC/DC+contol grid _side controller

Fig. 5. Simulated model of direct-drive wind power system with VRB-based ESS.
 4

The simulation parameters are the follows: CD the wind
3
turbine: p=I.225kg/m , R=24m, p=Oo; the PMSG:
resistance Ra=O.017!1, inductance Ld=Lq=3mH, pole pairs
np=32; the grid-side: phase to phase voltage is 690V,
converter works first to increase duty cycle. If the output
current is within the required range, the VRB-based ESS will
not work. However, if the current is over the limitation and
the DC voltage controller saturates, the VRB-based ESS will

inductance L=3.7mH; the DC-side: capacitor C=6800/lF, absorb the excessive energy by the bi-directional DC/DC
* converter to ensure that the wind power system works
given voltage U dreFll00V, bi-directional DC/DC converter
normally.
inductance Lb=0.6mH and capacity Cb=lOOO/lF.
To simplify the simulation, the required power of the grid is
0'8
directly given by a constant O.3MW, when wind velocity I
>' 0.4
changes. Fig. 6 shows the simulated wind velocity V", and ..0<: . I [
'-' 0 I [ ' I
active power, where Ps is the output active power of the .
generator; Pg is the grid-injected power; Pb is the active power
OJ)
-0.4 .

absorbed by the VRB. -0 .1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35

It can be seen that, the power Ps is changing with the
t (s)
variation of wind velocity with large power fluctuates. The 0.8

: ;
VRB-based ESS could quickly absorb the fluctuation
components of power Ps to stabilize the Pg, The power Pg

!--1---eI!t.- -p:a.-.. ---

becomes smoother and there is a rapid dynamic response.
Therefore, the power fluctuations are minimized effectively
by the VRB charging or discharging. 11 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35

0.6 [
12 t (s)
p

11 0.4
g 10 6, O.
_ ___....

t
0.., -0.2

.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 I 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 -0.4

0.1 0.15 0.3 0.35
t (s)
'i:'

0.10
0.6 Ps , O.O

0.4
""::;;; __::-,:;:;;;
1--""::'::"""";;::" "':'" ;
;::... __
--:;;; "_"" ",,,,,,,_,,

6, O. __ _ ,, .= OJ) -0.05

- O. 1 8 -'----- -'----- -'----- ------'

0., -0.2 .1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
-0.4 L-----_
-' ----'-_----'-_
-- ---'-_
-- --'---_
- "-------
- -'
t (s)
__

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 I 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 1.4

f
t (s)
1.2 f------..J

Fig. 6. Simulated waveforms of wind speed and power smoothing.
1.0
::s
The performances of direct-drive wind power system with
the VRB-based ESS at the DC-link bus are also tested when
the grid voltage sags. To simplify the simulation, the wind
0.8 L---'-----'----'------'----'
0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35

t (s)
velocity keeps 9 mis, and the given reactive power of the grid
side converter is 0 Var. The voltage drop ratio is 50% from Fig. 7. Simulated waveforms during voltage drop of 50%.

0.2 s to 0.25 s. The simulated results are shown in Fig. 7,
including a-phase current 19 of the grid-side converter, active
power, reactive power, and DC-link voltage.
The generator-side converter will keep
normally during the grid voltage drop. On the other hand, the
output power of grid-side converter will be limited due to the
current-limited. As a result, the input power is greater than the
output power at the DC-link capacitor, resulting in the
increased DC-link voltage.
The normal operation of whole system will be affected, if
measures are not taken [15]-[16]. When the DC voltage
increases, the DC voltage control loop of the grid-side
It can be seen that, the grid-side current increases, but it
does not exceeds the current-limited value of O.6kA during the
grid voltage drop. The power Ps is kept constant. During the
on operating time of gird voltage sagging, the power Pg drops to half of the
rated value quickly, around 0.195MW, because the grid-side
current can not change suddenly. With the increase of current,
the power Pg will increase and keep at 0.3MW during the grid
voltage drop. Similarly, when the grid voltage returns to
normal operation, the current can not vary suddenly, and the
power Pg will reach to 0.47 MW. The reactive power Q
maintains zero basically. The simulated results show that the
decoupling control of active power and reactive power are
 5

achieved. The DC-link voltage Udc waveform is corresponding [9] Ge Shanhsi, Yi Baolian, and Zhang Huamin, "Studies on high efficient
to Pg waveform, the input power on capacitor increases electrode for the sodium polysulfide bromine redox energy storage
instantly, which leads to Udc ascension at the time of voltage battery, " Power source technology, vo1.27, Oct.2003.
sagging. But the ascension of voltage Udc will not be great due [10] Yao Jun, Liao Yong, Qu Xinghog, "The optimum wind energy tracking
to the function of VRB-based ESS, and the voltage Udc for permanent magnet wind turbine generator, " Power System

gradually recovers to normal after regulation of short-term. Technology, vo1.32, pp.II-16, May.2008.

The excessive energy of DC-link capacitor is absorbed by the [II] Wu Di, Zhang Jianwen, "Control system of variable-speed permanent

VRB, that is, the power Pb. On the contrary, the output power magnet generator directly driven by wind turbine, " Large Electric

on capacitor increases instantly, which leads to voltage Udc Machine and Hydraulic Turbine, No.6, pp.51-55, 2006.

decrease at the time of voltage recovering. At this moment [12] Z.Chen, E.Spooner, " Simulation of a direct drive variable speed energy

Pb>O, the VRB is discharging to charge the capacitor. converter, " in Proc.1998 Int. Con! Electrical Machines, pp. 2045-2050.

Therefore, the LVRT capability of direct- drive wind power [13] Chinchilla M, Arnaltes S, Burgos J C, "Control of permanent magnet

system is improved effectively by adding the VRB-based ESS generators applied to variable-speed wind-energy systems connected to
the grid, " IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vo1.21, pp.130-135,
at the DC-link bus with a fast dynamic response, while
Mar. 2006.
achieving the energy recycling.
[14] Li Jianlin, Hu Shuju, and Xu Honghua, "Studies on the low voltage ride
through capability of fully converted wind turbine with PMSG,"
V. CONCLUSIONS
Automation of Electric Power Systems, vo1.19, pp.92-95, 2008.
Energy storage based LVRT and stabilizing power control
[15] C.Abbe, G.1oos, "Effect of low voltage ride-through (L VRT)
for direct-drive wind power system is developed by using the
characteristic on voltage stability, " IEEE Transactions on Industry
advantages of VRB-based ESS. When the wind velocity Applications, vo1.41, pp.I-7, 2005.
changes randomly, the VRB-based ESS can be used to [16] Y.K.Polisetty, S.R.1etti, GK.Vena, "Intelligent integration of a wind farm
stabilize the grid-injected power. During the grid fault, the to a utility power network with improved voltage stability, " in Proc.
direct-drive wind power system could remain the grid 2006 IEEE Industry Applications Coriference Forty First lAS Annual
connected operation and the LVRT capability is improved Meeting, pp.1128-1133.
effectively by the VRB-based ESS. Therefore, the energy
storage based direct-drive wind power control system VII. BIOGRAPHIES
effectively improves power quality and stability of direct drive Wenliang Wang received the B. S. degree from
wind power system grid-connected operation with a rapid Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, China,
dynamic response. in 2008. Currently he is pursuing the M.S. at Beijing
Jiaotong University. His research interests include
wind power control and enegy storage system
VI. REFERENCES
application.
[I] C.Abbey, G.1oos, " Short-term energy storage for wind energy
applications, " Industry Applications Coriference, vol. 3, pp. 2035-2042,
2005.
[2] J. F.Conroy, R.Watson, "Low-voltage ride-through of a full converter Baoming Ge received the Ph.D. degree in electrical
wind turbine with permanent magnet generator, " lET Renewable Power engineering from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
Generation, vol.l, pp. 182-189, May 2007.
China, in 2000. From 2000 to 2002, he was a
Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department 0 f
[3] J.Morren, S.w. H. de Hann, "Ride-through of wind turbines with
Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing,
doubly-fed induction generator during a voltage dip, " IEEE China. From 2004 to 2005, he was a Visiting Scholar
Transactions on Energy Conversion,voI.20, pp.435-44I , June 2005. in the Department of Electrical and Computer
[4] A. Mullane, GLightbody, and Yacamini, "Wind turbine fault ride Engineering, University of Coimbra, Coimbra,
Portugal. From 2007 to 2008, he was a Visiting
through enhancement, " IEEE Trans on Power Systems, vo1.20, pp.I929-
Professor in the Department of Electrical and
1937, 2005.
Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing. He is
[5] J.Morren, J.T.GPierik, and S.W.H. de Haan, "Voltage dip ride-through currently with the School of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong
control of direct-drive wind turbines, " in Proc. 2004 39th International University, Beijing, China, as a Professor. His research interests include
Universities Power Engineering Coriference (UPEC), pp.934-938. permanent magnet synchronous, switched reluctance, and induction motors,
real-time control of electrical machines, power electronics systems, and
[6] Hu Shuju, Li Jianlin, and Xu Honghua, "Modeling on converters of
nonlinear control theories and applications to electric drives.
direct-driven wind power system and its performance during voltage
sags, " High Voltage Engineering, vo1.34, pp. 949-954, May. 2008. Da-qiang Bi was born in Jilin Province, China, in
[7] L.Barote, R.Weissbach, and R.Teodorescu, "Stand-alone wind system 1973. He received his MSc degree in Electrical
with vanadium redox battery energy storage, " in Proc. 2008 IEEE Engineering from Shenyang University of
Technology in 1999. He was awarded his Ph.D. by
International Coriference on Optimization of Electrical and Electronic
Tsinghua University in 2003. He worked as a post-
Equipments, pp.407-412. doctoral researcher at Tsinghua University from Aug.
[8] J.Chahwan, C.Abbey, and G.1oos, "VRB modeling for the study of 2003 to Jun. 2005. Currently, he is a senior engineer
output terminal voltages, Internal Losses and Performance, " in Proc. in State Key Laboratory of Power Systems and the
director of Laboratory on Power Electronics and
2007 IEEE Electrical Power Coriference, pp. 387-392.
Electric Machine Control, Dept. of Electrical
 6

Engineering, Tsinghua University, his research being mainly power system

relay protection and application of power electronics to power system.

Ming Qin was born in Shandong Province, China,

in 1975. He received his MSc degree in Chemical
Engineering from Anhui University of Science &
Technology, Huainan, China, in 2000. In 2004, he
received the Ph.D. in Polymer & Composites
Materials from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
China. Currently, he is a senior engineer in State Key
Laboratory of Wind Power Equipment and Control
Technology and the director of Research Institute of
Wind Power Equipment and Technology, Guo Dian
United Power Technology Company LTD., Beijing, China. His research
interests include application of composite technology, manufacturing
technology of wind turbine and application of energy storage system.

Wei Liu received the B.S. degree from North China

Electric Power University, Baoding, China, in 1989.
Currently, he is a senior engineer in State Key
Laboratory of Wind Power Equipment and Control
Technology, Beijing, China. His research interests
include wind power control and enegy storage
system application.