1

Interconnecting offshore wind farms using multiterminal VSC-based HVDC

D. Jovcic, Member IEEE
AbstractThis paper presents a large off shore wind farm interconnected to the grid using a multiterminal HVDC link. The 200W wind farm consists of 100 individual 2MW turbines connected using 25 VSC (Voltage Source Converter) converters to a common DC bus. The transmission system converters enable variable speed operation and therefore additional converters are not needed with individual generators, implying savings in converter costs. The paper presents PSCAD simulation of the proposed concept for various changes in wind speeds. The results confirm the ability to operate at optimum coefficient of performance and no synchronization problems occur even for severe wind speed changes. Further tests with faults on AC grid demonstrate satisfactory recoveries. The proposed concept may enable integration of large offshore wind farms at considerable distances, and using optimal number of converters. Index Terms Multiterminal HVDC Power Transmission, Wind farms, Variable speed converter control.

I. INTRODUCTION A. Background ecause of the projected energy shortage and the concerns about greenhouse emissions, there has been significant development in renewable energy sources worldwide, in the past decade. In particular, the UK government aims to achieve the goal of 20% (up to 40% in Scotland) energy production from renewable sources by 2020. It is projected that the increase in renewable energy share from the present 3% will be largely based on increase in wind energy generation, which is likely to become the main source of renewable energy in the UK and in many other countries. Because of the economy of scale and increasing demand, future wind farms will have a larger capacity, exceeding a hundred MW in many cases, implying hundreds of individual 1-5MW units. Considering also the environmental issues, it is recognized that large size offshore wind farms are the well placed to accommodate the future increase in the wind energy generation [1-2]. Presently, there are a number of small-scale offshore wind farms in Europe, including several in the UK, where the largest is the (160MW) farm at Horns Rev, Denmark. Under the Round two offshore program, the British government has recently granted permission for fifteen more off-shore plants, and many of these are expected to be rated at 100-500MW. Because of the environmental and social aspects these wind farms might be located at larger distances, some approaching 100-150km from the shore [1].

Traditionally, wind energy generation has been connected to the network grid assuming that its size and influence are small and therefore the connection requirements have been less stringent. Typically, wind farms do not contribute stabilization or regulation of AC grid and in many cases no detailed transient studies or stability studies are performed. With the projected power injection in the order of hundreds of MW, power plants might have significant influence on the host grid and the interaction issues need to be carefully investigated. New integration solutions are sought, taking into consideration the AC system properties including stabilization, regulation and fault recovery, but also examining cost effective wind farm topologies, their dynamics, transients and efficiency. At present, none of the wind farms, including the large Horns Rev offshore installation, can contribute to the AC system control or stability enhancement and they simply disconnect in case of AC faults. As the power share from wind farms increase, it is necessary that wind farms should take more active role in the AC systems regulation and support. The network operators have raised many issues with wind power generation, especially for large-scale generation, in order to enable secure and reliable system operation. The Danish network operator Eltra, has recently issued a unique specifications document for wind farms connections to the transmission grid [3], and comparable documents are in consultation stages in England, Wales and Scotland. Similarly as with conventional generators, wind farms are now required to comply with stringent connection requirements including: reactive power support, transient recovery, system stability and voltage/frequency regulation, power quality, whereas scheduling and reserve availability are also considered. The conventional wind generation concepts based on doubly fed induction generators may have difficulties in meeting all the above interconnection requirements [2]. B. Wind farm interconnection using HVDC Theoretically, future offshore wind farms at distances below 60km from the shore can be connected to the grid using either an AC or DC link whereas at a greater distance only DC links are applicable [1]. In searching for the adequate wind energy integration solution, it has been recognized that many of the above network-connection issues would be eliminated, and even AC system stability might be enhanced, if the wind power connection point incorporates a converter system [2]. AC connection link would therefore in many cases require an additional converter system (like SVC or STATCOM) at the connection point for reactive power and voltage support. Still, this shunt converter does not resolve the issues with low inertia, power control and frequency control/stabilization of

D. Jovcic is with University of Aberdeen, Engineering Department, Kings college, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, Scotland. d.jovcic@abdn.ac.uk

1-4244-0493-2/06/$20.00 2006 IEEE.

the AC system, which remain significant issue with large wind farms. Traditional HVDC controls have in many cases been used for AC frequency stabilization [6] or AC voltage regulation. HVDC systems based on VSC converters have more versatile and faster controls [4],[5], which may be utilized at the wind farm interconnection point. A VSC converter enables independent voltage, frequency and power control. A wind farm interconnected with an HVDC link therefore has the potential to offer grid control functions similar to a conventional generator. On the downside, cost of HVDC link is considerably higher than comparable AC link because of converter stations. This paper analyses the option of reducing converter costs by eliminating primary converter systems associated with common variable speed wind generators. Such concept has the potential to offer variable speed operation and all the benefits of HVDC interconnection without significant escalation in converter costs. II. WIND FARM TOPOLOGY Figure 1 shows the electrical circuit for the considered wind farm. It presents a 200MW off shore wind farm consisting of 100 individual 2MW, 4kV wind generators. It is assumed that the farm distance from the shore is approximately 100km. The wind generators resemble the commercially available 2MW units based on permanent magnet synchronous generators. However, converter systems are not used with generators, since transmission system converters enable variable speed operation. This concept implies savings in the converter costs. The total converter rating in Figure 1 is same

as with conventional fully-fed variable speed wind generators and Ac interconnection. The nominal operating frequency of the offshore network is 50Hz (at full power), and the 4-pole generators use gearboxes (approximately 77 ratio). Note that directly coupled generators are not suitable in the proposed concept since they would require operation at very low offshore electrical frequency and therefore transformers with large cores would be needed. The offshore electrical network consists of 25 generator groups each connected through a single Voltage Source Converter (VSC). Each 8MW group includes 4 generators. There is a single 4kV/90kV transformer per group, which elevates the generator voltage to the transmission level. The wind turbines operate at variable speeds in order to maximize energy capture, reduce stresses and reduce noise. The generator speed is controlled using the VSC converters, and all the generators in a group operate at the same speed. The frequency in a group, and the speed of all generators in the group, is derived as the average speed considering wind speeds at individual machines. The inability to operate individual machines at most optimum speeds is not considered as great loss in efficiency, since it is expected that the wind profile will largely be similar on the four closely located turbines. Note that each group can operate at most suitable speed, which is independent of speeds for other groups. The 25 VSC converters are connected in parallel to a common DC bus, thus operating at the same DC voltage in a parallel multiterminal HVDC connection. The DC voltage is maintained at the nominal level (150kV) by the single VSC inverter located on-shore.

4 synchronous generators

G (2MW)4kV
4kV

+75kV

0.0135H 1.85

0.0135H 1.85

+75kV

VSC 1

100kM DC cable

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 8MW 150kV

80uF

120uF 34uF
200MW 150kV

25 VSC converters

90kV/110kV 110kV Xl=10% 0.052H 4.36

80uF

120uF

AC Network on shore SCL=10

110kV

4 synchronous generators

G (2MW)4kV
4kV

VSC 25

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 8MW -75kV -75kV

VSC - Voltage Source Converter

Figure 1. 200MW off-shore wind farm with parallel multiterminal HVDC connection

III. WIND FARM MODEL A. Electrical circuit A suitable model for the system in Figure 1 is developed on PSCAD/EMTDC platform [7]. It would be extremely difficult to model such complex system in detail, and a series of simplifications is adopted. The schematic of the PSCAD model is shown in Figure 2. The number of the off-shore converters is reduced to four in order to save simulation time. The converters are rated 50MW and they are connected in parallel to represent multiterminal HVDC operation in the actual system. Only one of the converters is connected to four machines, to enable studies of the dynamics within a group. All the machines models are based on a single 2MW permanent magnet synchronous machine, which has common parameters from PSCAD library. The large 50MW generators are also based on the same 2MW machine model, which uses PSCAD ability to represent 25 coherent 2MW machines in a single model. B. Offshore VSC controller The adopted principle of a parallel multiterminal HVDC control is explained with reference to Figure 3. The inverter station regulates the DC voltage which is common for all converter stations. Each of the rectifier stations (the offshore converters) regulates the DC current in its own branch. The generator speed control can be achieved using the known principles of flux oriented synchronous machine control and using position encoder to synchronize the coordinate frame [8]. However, since a transformer is placed between machine and converter, it is found more suitable to
+75kV

use the torque control based on regulation of power transfer through the transformer. The rotating coordinate frame position is determined using a PLL, which measures the 4kV generator voltage. This signal is a good estimate of the rotor position and therefore the danger of loss of machine synchronism is avoided. The control system for each of the offshore converters is shown in Figure 4. The machine power, and consequently machine torque, is varied by changing the angle of the VSC converter voltage M, with respect to the generator terminal voltage. The power control in VSC transmission is commonly achieved either using the VSC voltage angle or VSC voltage D component [9-11]. As shown by the lower control diagram in Figure 4, the VSC angle control is based on two series connected controllers. The inner control loop regulates the DC current (in the concerned DC branch) which improves performance of the of the outer speed control loop. The inner DC current loop also prevents overcurrents in the DC system. The generator speed operating range is approximately 65rad/s<wg<158rad/s, corresponding to the off-shore grid frequency 20Hz<fs<50Hz, and corresponding to the wind speed range at optimal cp 5m/s<vw<12m/s. The actual allowed wind speed range is wider, but the operation beyond these limits is at lower coefficient of performance. The reference generator speed wgref is calculated to enable maximum coefficient of performance as [12]:

wgref =

v w kts P gr rr 2

(1)

Where vw is the wind speed, kts is the optimal tip speed ratio (typically kts=7), gr=77, is the gearbox ratio, P=4 is the number of generator poles and rr =41m is the turbine radius.
0.0135H 1.85 +75kV

0.0135H 1.85

G1 (50MW)

VSC 1

100kM DC cable

G2 (50MW)

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 50MW 150kV

G3 (50MW)

VSC 2
Y

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 50MW 150kV

80uF

120uF 34uF

VSC I

90kV/110kV 110kV Xl=10% 0.052H 4.36

4 synchronous generators
G41 (14MW) G42 (14MW) 4kV

VSC 3
Y

80uF

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 50MW 150kV

120uF

200MW 150kV

110kV

AC Network on shore SCL=10

VSC 4

G43 (14MW)

4kV/90kV Xl=12% 56MW 150kV

-75kV

-75kV

G44 (14MW)

VSC - Voltage Source Converter

Figure 2. Simulation model for the test system.

Idc1

Idc2

Idc3

Idc4

Idci Vdci

12
vw

12

max

1.8 kp6 + +

Pgref=50MW

+ +

+
Figure 3. Five terminal HVDC system
0.0127 Vacm Vacmref

Pg

= 1, n = 10 Hz

ki6*1/s

kp1

+ +

Mm

+
=1 n = 10 H z

ki1*1/s
AC voltage controller

blade angle vw - wind speed Pg - generator power

Figure 5. Blade angle controller

Vacmref=110kV

kp4 ki4*1/s
AC voltage controller

+ +

Mm

vwind

wgref calculation

kp3
wgref wg

+ +

Idcref

kp2 + ki2*1/s +

+
Vacm

ki3*1/s

= 1, n = 10 Hz

Speed controller
Idc

DC current controller

=1 n = 180 Hz

Vdcref=150kV

kp5 ki5*1/s

+ +

+
Vdc

Figure 4. Controller for a generator side VSC

The VSC converter magnitude control signal (Mm) is used to regulate the generator terminal voltage as shown in the upper control diagram in Figure 4. The terminal voltage is regulated to be proportional to the generator speed (V/f control) in order to prevent generator flux saturation and to enable good gain in the torque control loop [8]. The ratio between the voltage and speed reference is obtained as: Vn/wn=4kV/314.15rad/s=0.0127kVs/rad. C. Blade angle controller The blade angle controller plays the role of a governor in conventional generators [12]. It is designed to prevent generator power exceeding rated power, by using either speed or power feedback. In the proposed wind farm, the blade angle regulators plays more important role since generators do not have individual converters for speed regulation. Figure 5 shows the adopted controller which uses generator power feedback with wind speed feedforward signal. D. Onshore VSC controller Figure 6 shows schematic of the controller for the inverter VSC [10]. The DC voltage is regulated by the exchange of power on the inverter side using the variations in the converter AC voltage angle M. The 110kV AC voltage is regulated in a feedback manner using the converter AC voltage magnitude Mm, as given by the upper control diagram. IV. SIMULATION RESULTS The performance of the above system is tested using PSCAD/EMTDC simulation for a range of inputs and faults. Figure 7 shows the simulation results for the changes in wind speed. Although it is unlikely that the wind speed will vary significantly across a wind farm, in this simulation largely different wind speeds are applied at each turbine group, to

= 1, n = 70

DC voltage controller

Figure 6. Controller for the grid side VSC

demonstrate the concept of different operating frequencies at each VSC converter. Figure 7a) shows the wind profile, where also sharp wind pulses of 3m/s are applied at 9s in order simulate gusts. Initially, the system is operating at close to rated power as shown in Figure 7b) and the power reduces as the wind speed reduces. We observe that around 14s the wind speed (and power) is above rated and the output power is regulated by the turbine blade angle controllers. Figure 7c) shows the generator speeds for each group, which are able to individually follow the wind speed for the particular group. Figure 7d) presents the generator terminal voltages that are regulated to maintain constant V/f ratio. The coefficient of performance cp for turbine 1 is shown in Figure 7e) demonstrating that the VSC controller is capable of maintaining maximum cp (cpmax=0.5) at different wind speeds. It is seen that the cp is low during transients since the generator inertia prevents fast changes in rotational speed. Figure 8 presents the studies of the wind speed changes within a single group. The four generators in a group operate at the same frequency and they do not have individual controllers to regulate speed. Therefore, there is theoretical possibility that a generator can fall out of step for large torque inputs. In figure 8a) we observe a conservative scenario of significant differences in the wind speeds on individual turbines, including several wind gusts. The generator speed curve (average speed) in Figure 8b) indicates that the speed is closely controlled at the reference speed and no danger of loss of synchronism is present. Figure 9 shows the simulation of a 0.1s low-impedance three-phase fault at the inverter AC terminal. During the fault, the inverter AC voltage and DC voltage are close to zero and there is no power transfer. However because of the generator

vw2 vw3 vw1 vw4 wind gusts

a)

inertia, the generator speed changes very little for the fault duration and the system recovery is fast. Figure 10 demonstrates the ability of the wind farm to regulate the grid voltage for high-impedance faults or changes in the grid loading. A 1s high-impedance fault is applied that reduces the onshore voltage by over 10%. It is seen that the inverter VSC is capable of regulating the AC voltage to the reference value.
vw42 vw41 vw43 a)

Pdcinv b) Pg3 Pg1 Pg4

vw43

wgen3 wgen2

wg4

wg4ref b)

wgen1

wgen4

c)

Pg42 Pg41
Vg3 Vg2 Vg1 Vg4 d)

Pg43 Pg44

c)

Idc4ref Idc4
e)

d)

Figure 7. Wind farm simulation for changes in wind speed. a) wind speeds for individual turbine groups, b) generated power, c) generator speed, d) generator terminal voltage, e) Turbine 1 coefficient of performance.

Figure 8. Simulation for changes in wind speed within a group. a) wind speeds on individual turbines, b) generated power, c) generator speed, d) DC current for VSC 4.

Pdcinv

Vacinv
a)

Vacinvref

a)

Pg4

Pg1,Pg2,Pg3

Vdcinv

Vdcref

b)

Vdcinv Vdcinvref b)

Vacinv Vacref c)

Pdcinv c)
Figure 9. Simulation of a 0.1s three-phase low-impedance fault at inverter AC terminal, at 5s. a) Generated power, b) DC voltage and c) Inverter AC voltage.

V. CONCLUSIONS The HVDC interconnection enables location of offshore wind farms at considerable distances from the shore. A multiterminal HVDC connection, with an appropriate offshore circuit design, facilitates the use of transmission converters for turbine speed control thus avoiding converter systems with individual turbines. It is concluded that if VSC converters are employed it is possible to regulate the generator speed and voltage and therefore simple permanent magnet generators can be used. The PSCAD/EMTDC simulation confirms capability of the wind farm to operate each VSC converter at different frequency enabling optimum speed regulation at each turbine group. The simulation also indicated that there are no dangers of loss of synchronism in a single turbine group even if the wind speed significantly differs at each wind turbine. The proposed wind farm circuit may enable integration of large wind farms at considerable distances from the shore, and also make possible operation at variable speed using minimal number of converters.
Figure 10. Simulation of a 1s three-phase high-impedance fault at inverter AC terminal, at 5s. a) AC voltage, b) DC voltage and c) DC power.

VI. APPENDIX
Notation KP1 KI1 KP2 KI2 KP3 KI3 TABLE A.1 CONTROLLER PARAMETERS Value Notation Value 0.1 1/kV KP4 0.008 1/kV 1 1/kVs KI4 0.05 1/kVs 7 deg/kA KP5 0.7 deg/kV 80 deg/kAs KI5 2.5 deg/kVs 1.2 kAs/rad KP6 0.4 deg/MW 2.1 kA/rad KI6 0.8 deg/MWs

VII. REFERENCES
[1] N.M.Kirby, M.J. Luckett, L.Xu, W.Siepmann, HVDC Transmission for large off shore wind farms IEE AC-DC Power Transmission, November 2001, London, Conference publication no 485, pp 162-168.

7 L.Holdsworth, N.Jenkins, G.Strbac Electrical Stability of Large, Offshore Wind Farms. IEE AC-DC Power Transmission, November 2001, London, Conference publication no 485, pp 156-161. [3] Eltra, Transmission Systems Planning Specifications for Connecting Wind Farm to Transmission Networks document no 74557, Eltra Denmark, 2000, http://www.eltra.dk [4] Kjell Ericsson "Operational Experience of HVDC Light" Seventh International Conference on AC-DC Power Transmission. IEE. 2001, pp.205-210. London, UK. [5] B R Andersen, L Xu, K T G Wong, Topologies for VSC transmission, Seventh International Conference on AC-DC Power Transmission (IEE Conf. Publ. No.485). IEE. 2001, pp.298-304. London, UK. [6] C.E.Grund at all. Dynamic performance characteristics of North American HVDC Systems for transient and dynamic stability evaluations IEEE Transactions on PAS-100, no 7, 1981, pp3356-3364 [7] Manitoba HVDC Research Centre, PSCAD/EMTDC User Manual, Tutorial Manual, 1994. [8] B.K. Bose Modern Power Electronics and AC drives Prentice Hall 2002 [9] B. Ooi, Xiao Wang, Voltage Angle Lock Loop control of the boost type PWM converter for HVDC application, IEEE Trans. on power electronics, vol 5 no 2, April 1990, Pp 229-235. [10] D. Jovcic L.A.Lamont, L.Xu: VSC Transmission model for analytical studies" Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 2003, IEEE, Volume: 3, 13-17 July 2003, Pages:1737 - 1742 [11] J L Thomas, S Poullain, A Benchaib, Analysis of a robust DC-bus voltage control system for a VSC transmission scheme, Seventh International Conference on AC-DC Power Transmission IEE. 2001, pp.119-24. London, UK. [12] S. Hier, Grid Integration of Wind Energy Conversion Systems, John Wiley and Sons 1998. [2]

VIII. BIOGRAPHY
Dragan Jovcic (S97, M00) obtained a B.Sc. in Control Engineering from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1993 and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1999. He is currently a lecturer with the University of Aberdeen, Scotland where he has been since 2004. He also worked as a lecturer with University of Ulster, in period 2000-2004 and as a design Engineer in the New Zealand power industry in period 1999-2000. His research interests lie in the areas of FACTS, HVDC and control systems.