IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO.

3, AUGUST 2009 1537

Enhanced Fault Ride-Through Method for
Wind Farms Connected to the Grid Through
VSC-Based HVDC Transmission
Christian Feltes, Student Member, IEEE, Holger Wrede, Member, IEEE, Friedrich W. Koch, and
Istvn Erlich, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThis paper describes a new control approach for
secure fault-ride through of wind farms connected to the grid
through a voltage source converter-based high voltage DC trans-
mission. On fault occurrence in the high voltage grid, the proposed
control initiates a controlled voltage drop in the wind farm grid
to achieve a fast power reduction. In this way overvoltages in the
DC transmission link can be avoided. It uses controlled demagne-
tization to achieve a fast voltage reduction without producing the
typical generator short circuit currents and the related electrical
and mechanical stress to the wind turbines and the converter. The
method is compared to other recent FRT methods for HVDC sys-
tems and its superior performance is demonstrated by simulation
results.
Index TermsDoubly fed induction generator (DFIG), fault
ride-through (FRT), high voltage DC transmission (HVDC),
offshore wind farm, voltage source converter (VSC).
I. INTRODUCTION
T
He ratings of modern wind farms (WF) are increasing
rapidly and the good wind locations close to load areas are
mostly occupied. Therefore, many of the large wind farms are
planed offshore, sometimes more than 100 km away from the
grid connection point. However, AC transmission through sub-
marine cables seems to be less economical for distances about
100 km due to the high charging currents. Hence, HVDC trans-
mission may be the favorable solution in these cases.
Modern HVDC transmission systems are using voltage
source converters (VSC), which are based on self-commutated
switching devices. This enables a decoupled control of active
and reactive power and allows the connection of weak or even
passive networks. Additionally, the high switching frequencies
of approximately 12 kHz reduce the lter size and the IGBT
valves themselves have a smaller size compared to thyristor
valves in classical HVDC systems [1]. This leads to a smaller
footprint of the converter stations and thus makes it more
suitable for applications, where space requirement is a critical
issue.
Manuscript received October 16, 2008; revised February 06, 2009. Current
version published July 22, 2009. Paper no. TPWRS-00805-2008.
C. Feltes and I. Erlich are with the Department of Electrical Power Systems,
University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany (e-mail: christian.feltes@uni-
due.de; istvan.erlich@uni-due.de).
H. Wrede is with the E.ON Engineering GmbH, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
(e-mail: holger.wrede@eon-engineering.com).
F. W. Koch is with the REpower Systems AG, Rendsburg, Germany (e-mail:
friedrich.koch@repower.de).
Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPWRS.2009.2023264
Since large WFs have ratings like conventional power plants,
it is not acceptable that they trip during fault. Current grid codes
stipulate a fault ride-through (FRT) capability of WFs down to
zero voltage for fault durations up to 150 ms [2], [3]. That re-
quirement is a challenging task for the VSC-based HVDCtrans-
mission, because the IGBT valves have no reverse blocking ca-
pability, i.e., the power ow from the WF cannot be interrupted
by the sending end converter (SEC). Since the receiving end
converter (REC) cannot inject all the power during grid fault,
the resulting power imbalance charges the capacitances in the
DCcircuit. Without any countermeasures this results in a fast in-
creasing DC voltage, which may destroy the HVDC equipment.
This is not acceptable and some countermeasures have already
been discussed in the recent past [4][6]. In this paper a new
method is proposed that reliably solves this problemwithout the
need for additional equipment, only through a modied control.
The paper is organized as follows: Section II describes the
HVDC system considered in this paper including the HVDC
control. Section III gives a brief overview on a DFIG-based
WT system including the control. The recently proposed FRT
methods for WFs connected through VSC-HVDC are listed in
Section IV. Section V introduces the new enhanced FRT ap-
proach. Section VI shows the simulation results and Section VII
nally draws a conclusion.
II. VSC-BASED HVDC
VSC-based HVDC transmission is the best solution for the
connection of large offshore wind farms over long distances
. The transmission lengths are only restricted
through the losses in the cable resistances. The VSC HVDC
systems installed so far are based on a two-level topology [1].
This topology is the simplest VSC-conguration as it requires
a simple control and is well-proven in other converter applica-
tions. For a clear and simple illustration of the proposed FRT
control this topology is chosen in this paper. The focus of this
study is more on the FRT control methods used for coordination
of the HVDC and the wind farm during grid faults. The same
methods can also be applied to other VSC topologies.
A. Receiving End Converter
The function of the receiving end converter (REC) is to in-
ject the active power transmitted by the sending end converter
(SEC) while maintaining the DC voltage at the desired level.
The reactive power channel is used to support the grid voltage
during faults and also in steady-state to provide a certain amount
0885-8950/$25.00 2009 IEEE
1538 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 3, AUGUST 2009
Fig. 1. DC and AC voltage control of receiving end VSC.
of reactive power [7], [8]. The basic control structure of REC is
shown in Fig. 1.
The DC voltage is maintained through the active current con-
trol where the feed-forward term considers the power injected
by the SEC into the DC link. The signal can be mea-
sured at SEC and transmitted via a communication link. How-
ever, considering the communication delay, its efciency to the
controller dynamics is limited. Hence it can also be eliminated.
AC voltage control is performed by two controllers. The PI
controller in the upper branch is slow and only responsible for
setpoint tracing in steady-state operation. The controller in the
lower branch is a fast P controller with deadband. It is acti-
vated when the voltage deviation exceeds a certain threshold
(e.g., 0.1 p.u.) and it is responsible for grid voltage support
during faults. The magnitude of the current outputs is limited
with respect to the thermal limits of the power electronic de-
vices. In steady-state operation the DC voltage control and thus
the d-component of the REC current always has the priority. In
case of grid fault the priority is switched to reactive current to
fulll the grid code requirements concerning voltage support.
The decoupled control of active and reactive current is achieved
by a feed-forward current control with a very fast dynamic re-
sponse [9]. This control is based on a vector control approach
with its rotating reference frame aligned to the grid voltage. Due
to voltage orientation, active power can be controlled through
the d-component and reactive power through the q-component
of the converter current. The current control structure makes
use of standard PI controllers (Fig. 2). The magnitude of the
output voltages is limited by maximum modulation degree and
DC voltage [10].
B. Sending End Converter
The SEC is responsible for transmitting the active power pro-
duced by the wind farm, while maintaining the AC voltage in
Fig. 2. Feed-forward decoupled current control.
the wind farm grid. Furthermore, it can be used for frequency
control which in turn controls the slip of the DFIGs connected
to the WTs. This may be used for reduction of active power
transfer through the fractional rated converter in the DFIG rotor
circuit [11]. As the power control is performed by the wind tur-
bines, a simple voltage magnitude controller can be used by the
SEC, thus fullling the aforementioned requirements. The fre-
quency can be directly regulated without the need for a closed
loop structure. Fig. 3 shows the control structure of the SEC.
Since no current control is used, current limitation can only be
achieved by an indirect method which adjusts the SEC voltage
setpoint, or by blocking the IGBTs during a severe fault in the
wind farm grid. However, the voltage control capability of the
SEC can be used to initiate a controlled voltage drop to reduce
the WF power during FRT in the HV grid at REC side.
When a DC fault occurs, REC and SEC are not able to block
the power ow into the DC link, since the current is owing
through the free-wheeling diodes. In this case both sides of the
HVDC link have to be disconnected through the corresponding
circuit breakers.
III. WIND TURBINES
The most commonly used generator type in modern wind
turbines (WTs) is the DFIG. Currently, it is the most econom-
ical technology because the frequency converter is only rated
to a small portion of the generator power (typically 20%30%)
but still offers a sufcient speed range to maximize the power
output from the wind. However, this economical design also has
some disadvantages concerning the systembehavior during grid
faults. As the generator is not fully decoupled from the grid, a
grid fault leads to high transient short circuit currents, which
may harm the frequency converter. Hence, dedicated protec-
tion devices are required. Additionally, short circuits produce
increased mechanical stress to the drive train. These problems
FELTES et al.: ENHANCED FAULT RIDE-THROUGH METHOD 1539
Fig. 3. Sending end VSC control.
Fig. 4. System conguration of DFIG.
also play an important role in the proposed control approach. A
brief overview of the DFIG hardware system and its control is
given in this section. Regarding the other generator types, the
implementation of the new control approach is less critical and
easier to implement. Hence, these concepts are not explained in
detail here.
A. DFIG Hardware System
A typical layout of a DFIG system is shown in Fig. 4. The
back-to-back frequency converter in combination with pitch
control of the rotor blades enable variable speed operation,
leading to higher energy yields compared to xed speed wind
turbines. A rotor crowbar is used to protect the rotor side
converter against over-currents and the DC capacitors against
over-voltages during grid faults. During a crowbar ignition the
machine-side converter (MSC) is blocked and the generator
behaves like a common induction machine and consumes
reactive power. This is not desirable in WTs connected di-
rectly to the grid. A well-designed DC chopper can be used
to prevent a crowbar ignition for the most fault scenarios. In
a WF connected through an HVDC transmission, a crowbar
ignition is less critical from this point of view, because the WF
is decoupled from the grid.
B. LSC Control
The control structure of the LSC is very similar to that of the
HVDC-REC. The outer loop (Fig. 5) of the LSC control fea-
Fig. 5. DC voltage and reactive power control at LSC.
tures dc-link voltage control through active current of the LSC.
The reactive current channel can be utilized for grid voltage sup-
port, but is not used here to avoid control interactions with the
voltage control of the HVDC-SEC. The performance of the dc
voltage controller can be enhanced by a feed-forward control of
the active current of the MSC, which can be calculated via the
MSC active power and the line voltage. The magnitude of the
current set value is limited according to the converter rating with
priority for the active current to ensure correct dc-link voltage
control.
The inner loop of the LSC control is identical to the one
shown in Fig. 2. The cross-coupling terms of the voltage across
the LSC coupling reactor and the grid voltage are fed forward
so that the PI-controllers only have to provide a fast transition
of the current to the respective set-values.
C. MSC Control
The MSC controls active and reactive power of the DFIG and
follows a tracking characteristic to adjust the generator speed
for optimal power generation depending on wind speed. The
speed controller and the tracking characteristic are part of the
supervisory WT control [12]. The cascaded control structure of
the MSCis shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The outer power control loop
of the MSC adjusts the rotor current set values of the inner rotor
current control loop. Accordingly, the relationship between total
WTpower and rotor currents has been derived fromthe machine
equations of the DFIG in [12]. The inner rotor current control
loop is based on a similar structure as the LSC current control,
but with different cross-coupling terms considering the machine
equations [12].
IV. RECENTLY PROPOSED FRT METHODS
This section gives an overview about the FRT methods for
wind farms connected through VSC-based HVDC link pub-
lished in the recent past. These methods can be mainly grouped
according to the techniques used to keep the HVDC transmis-
sion voltage at an acceptable level, which are:
dissipation of the waste energy in breaking resistors by
using a full-rated DC chopper (Method A);
1540 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 3, AUGUST 2009
Fig. 6. Conversion of generator active and reactive power setpoints to rotor
current setpoints.
Fig. 7. MSC current control.
fast reduction of the wind farm output power by means of:
active current reduction through SEC power control
(Method B);
active current reduction of wind turbines through power
setpoint adjustment (Method C) or frequency control
(Method D);
voltage reduction in the wind farm through SEC control
(Method E).
Fig. 8. VSC-based HVDC system with DC chopper.
Fig. 9. Communication links for method C.
A. Full Rated DC Chopper
In this method a DCChopper is used to dissipate all the waste
energy in breaking resistors (Fig. 8). It requires only a very
simple control and can directly be triggered using a hysteresis
function based on DC voltage measurement [13]. The main ad-
vantage of this technique is that the WF stays completely un-
affected by the fault i.e., the output power of the WTs remains
constant during fault. Accordingly there is no impact on the me-
chanical drive train and thus, the WTs do not speed up during
fault.
B. Active Current Reduction Through SEC Control
In this method the SEC switches to decoupled power control
after fault detection in the AC circuit and tries to reduce the ac-
tive power while keeping the frequency constant. The fault de-
tection can be done based on AC voltage measurement at the
REC using a communication link between REC and SEC or
based on voltage measurement in the HVDC link. This method
only requires small modications to the SEC control. However
since converter-based WTs are also power controlled, there is an
interaction between SEC and WT controls that may lead to con-
siderable overvoltages in the WF grid and mechanical stress for
the WTs. As mentioned in [4], additional control algorithms can
be implemented in the converter control of DFIGs and full-size
converter generators (FCGs) to respond with power reduction
due to overvoltages. Nevertheless, for practical application this
method seems to be less suitable due to the slow rate of power
reduction. Another disadvantage is that this method is not appli-
cable to xed speed induction generators (FSIGs), because the
overvoltages would not lead to power reduction.
C. Active Current Reduction of WTs Through Power
Setpoint Adjustment
This method requires communication between REC, SEC,
and the WTs (Fig. 9).
When a fault is detected at REC, the maximum transferable
power at REC can be calculated and the result is sent via com-
munication link to the SEC. From this result and the currently
FELTES et al.: ENHANCED FAULT RIDE-THROUGH METHOD 1541
Fig. 10. Central DC voltage controller at SEC.
measured WF output power, the reduction factor can be calcu-
lated. This factor is sent to the WTs, which reduce their output
power accordingly. One disadvantage of this approach is the
high reliability of communication links required between REC,
SEC and each individual WT. The resulting communication
delay limits the speed of the power reduction [5], which may
turn out to be very crucial.
Through a small modication of this method one of the com-
munication links can be obviated. Instead of sending the signal
for maximum transferable power from REC to SEC, the fault
can be detected through DC voltage measurement. The calcu-
lation of the reduction factor can be replaced by a central DC
voltage controller, which may be part of the SEC (Fig. 10).
The DC voltage controller is activated when the DC voltage
exceeds a dened limit and is deactivated again when it falls
below another limit according to a specied characteristic. To
avoid undesired control interactions, the DC voltage controller
at REC is deactivated during this time and the REC feeds in
maximum active current. This method presupposes reliable
communication links inside the wind farm, which limits the
applicability of this approach. Additionally, it is impossible
to achieve a power reduction in FSIG-based WTs using this
approach.
D. Active Current Reduction of WTs Through
Frequency Control
This method supersedes the communication links in the wind
farm by using the WF frequency for power reduction. When a
fault occurs at the REC side, the WF frequency is increased by
the SEC. As a result, the WToutput power is reduced. For FSIGs
this is the natural response, since the power directly depends on
the machine slip. For converter-based WTs a fast frequency con-
trol has to be implemented, which reduces the output power for
increased frequencies. Fault detection can be performed using
two alternative methods as explained in sections B and C. Be-
cause of less communication requirements, resulting in a faster
response, the DC voltage measurement seems to be a better in-
dicator for fault detection. A control similar to the one shown in
Fig. 10 can be implemented, where the controller output is not
the power reduction factor but the frequency setpoint. The main
advantages of this approach are that it needs no communication
to the WTs and is also able to reduce the output power of FSIGs
by changing the slip. The main disadvantage of this approach
is that a fast frequency control has to be implemented for con-
verter-based WTs. As mentioned in [4], it is difcult to measure
fast frequency deviations in a fraction of a period. This problem
together with the slow response of the power controllers in the
WTare the limiting factors for the performance of this approach.
E. Voltage Reduction Through SEC Control
Another approach, which doesnt need any communication
between SECand WTs, is to apply a fast voltage reduction in the
WF grid through SEC voltage control. This enforces a very fast
reduction of the WF output power (within some ms) and can be
applied to converter-based WTs as well as to FSIGs. It requires
no modications in the WT controls. Only the voltage support
through reactive current during voltage sags is recommended to
be deactivated in converter-based WTs. The fault detection can
be implemented on the AC side of the REC or on the DC link.
The rst allows calculation of the required depth of the voltage
sag at SEC directly from measured voltage at REC. The latter
requires no communication and has a faster response. In this
case the output of the DC voltage controller in Fig. 10 can di-
rectly set the output voltage magnitude (modulation degree) of
the SEC. The approach described deals with the fastest power
reduction and thus with the most reliable DC voltage limitation
(apart from Method A). However, an abrupt voltage reduction
by SEC leads to similar phenomena like a fault within the WF
grid. For DFIGs and FSIGs, this results in typical short-circuit
currents with high DC components [14], leading to high me-
chanical stress for the WT drive train and electrical stress for the
IGBT modules of the HVDC and DFIG converters. For DFIG
this may also lead to a crowbar ignition, which also brings along
large mechanical stress and makes the generator system lose its
controllability [12]. In [4] voltage reduction with lower gradient
is suggested to reduce these effects, but this of course limits the
performance of this approach concerning the desired fast power
reduction.
Methods B to E can also be combined with method A to
mitigate their drawbacks. In this way, a secure operation of
the system can be achieved without the need for a full-rated
chopper. But even if the chopper size can be reduced, there is
still an extra investment for the additional equipment.
In the next section a new method is introduced, which allows
a further reduction of the DCchopper and still guarantees secure
operation of the system during grid faults.
V. ENHANCED FRT METHOD
The new FRT method proposed here is based on method E,
but allows very fast voltage reduction without the drawbacks
of high stress to mechanical and electrical equipment. This
is achieved by a method called controlled demagnetization,
which has already been proposed in [6]. This approach has been
extended in this paper and will be explained in the following
sections.
A. Controlled Demagnetization
As mentioned before an abrupt voltage drop at the generator
terminals results in typical short circuit currents with DC com-
ponents and high peak values. To avoid this, a method is intro-
duced, which demagnetizes the machines in a fast but controlled
way. For a lucid explanation of this approach a virtual converter
1542 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 3, AUGUST 2009
Fig. 11. Space vector components of converter voltage and virtual ux during
abrupt voltage drop.
ux is introduced, which is equivalent to the stator ux of the
WT generators:
(1)
where
space vector of virtual ux;
space vector of converter voltage;
space vector of initial virtual ux.
Fig. 11 shows the effect of a steep voltage drop on this vir-
tual ux without controlled demagnetization. In response to the
abrupt voltage drop the virtual ux contains DC components.
These components are also present in the real stator ux of the
generators and result also in DC components in the WF cur-
rents. But these decay within some cycles of the fundamental
frequency with a time constant depending on grid and generator
parameters. They lead to high peak currents in the WT genera-
tors, which are fed to the offshore grid and have to be considered
by additional reserve margins in the power electronics layout of
the SEC. They also have an impact on the DFIG converter and
may cause a fast increase of the DC link voltage, which triggers
the protection circuits of the DFIG and in a worst case scenario
it may lead to a crowbar ignition. Additionally, these peak cur-
rents cause mechanical stress to the generators and the whole
WT drive train.
To suppress the DC offset in the virtual ux, a time window
is reserved for a smooth transition of the virtual ux magni-
tude from pre-fault value to the value during fault. The size
of the time window depends on the maximum producible con-
verter voltage. A time window of 5 ms has been chosen in [6]
to cover all possible voltage drops including a safety margin.
In this paper the time window is of variable size to achieve the
fastest possible power reduction. The virtual ux at the begin-
ning and end of the time window can be calculated from con-
Fig. 12. Space vector components of converter voltage and virtual ux during
controlled voltage drop.
verter voltage set points before and during fault using the fol-
lowing equation:
(2)
where is the WF grid angular frequency .
When a linear ux transition is desired for demagnetization
of the generators, the transition voltage can be calculated using
(3)
where
transition voltage at the HVDC converter;
starting time of controlled voltage drop;
transition time.
Fig. 12 shows the effect of a controlled voltage drop with con-
trolled demagnetization on the virtual ux. It shows the desired
linear ux transition and contains no DC components.
In [6] a constant transition time of 5 ms has been chosen
to guarantee that the transition voltage is inside the voltage
range of the converter for all possible voltage drops. Actually,
a smaller time window can be chosen depending on the depth
of the voltage sag. Fig. 13 exemplies the required transition
voltage as a function of the transition time for voltage sags
down to 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of the nominal
voltage in a 50-Hz system.
It can be seen that even for voltage sags down to zero, a tran-
sition time of approx. 3.3 ms is sufcient, when the voltage limit
is set to 1 p.u. For a voltage sag down to 50%, approximately
2.2 ms are required and for higher residual voltages even smaller
transition windows are possible. Additionally, the limit for the
transition voltage is normally not set to the nominal voltage, but
given by the maximum available converter voltage:
(4)
FELTES et al.: ENHANCED FAULT RIDE-THROUGH METHOD 1543
Fig. 13. Transition voltages depending on transition time for voltage sags to
0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% in a 50-Hz system.
where
maximum converter phase voltage magnitude;
maximum modulation degree;
HVDC transmission voltage ( to )
Conversion factor from DC to AC reference
system;
(5)
DC reference voltage in V;
AC reference phase voltage magnitude in V.
With modern space vector modulation techniques, modula-
tion degrees of 1.151.17 can be achieved. Depending on the
system design, the HVDC converter can produce output volt-
ages that are appreciably higher than the nominal voltage. This
can be used to further reduce the transition time by allowing
higher transition voltages for the controlled voltage drop.
Another way to prevent the DC offsets in the generator ux is
an independent time-triggered voltage drop in all three phases.
In this approach the voltage drop is triggered at the zero-cross-
ings of the virtual ux. The results are similar to the previous
method, but it takes more time to perform the voltage drop.
B. Application
The described approach can generally be implemented in two
ways, which can be distinguished mainly by the location and
method of fault detection:
fault detection at REC through AC voltage measure-ment,
and controlled voltage drop based on communication be-
tween REC and SEC;
fault detection at SEC through DC voltage measurement,
and controlled voltage drop based on an additional DC
voltage controller in the SEC control.
The main advantage of the rst method is that the depth of
the controlled voltage sag at the SEC can directly be adapted
to the measured voltage sag at REC. This way the transition
window can be minimized as explained before. The minimum
Fig. 14. Enhanced FRT control at SEC with different operation modes.
transition time can be determined from (3) by calculating the
absolute value of the transition voltage and substituting it by
the maximum converter voltage from (4):
(6)
Since there is no analytical solution for the transition time from
(6), a numerical algorithm has to be used to nd the solution.
Finally, although the transition times are small, there is still the
communication delay between RECand SEC, which is assumed
here to be 10 ms.
The second approach completely obviates the need for the
communication channel and uses the DC voltage measurement
at SEC as indicator for a fault in the AC network at REC. The
FRT operation of this method can be categorized into 3 modes
(Fig. 14). In mode 1 the normal AC voltage control is active.
When the DC voltage exceeds the protection threshold, the con-
troller switches to mode 2 and the controlled voltage drop is ap-
plied. Since no information about the depth of the voltage drop
at REC is available, the SEC voltage has to be reduced down to
zero rst. This ensures a sufcient power reduction in any case.
In mode 3, which is activated following mode 2, an additional
DC voltage controller at SEC is activated, which maintains the
DCvoltage at its nominal value by adjusting the WF ACvoltage.
To avoid undesired interactions, the DC voltage controller at
REC is stopped during fault. The REC tries to continue feeding
in the pre-fault power, of course within the range of its current
limits. When the voltage returns to its pre-fault value at REC
side, the output power increases suddenly and the DC voltage
decreases. This can be detected by the SEC. Consequently, it
switches back to mode 1 and ramps up the WF voltage. In mode
1 the DC voltage controller at REC is active again.
1544 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 3, AUGUST 2009
Fig. 15. Simulation results during a three-phase fault on the 220-kV side of
the HVDC transformer at REC. SEC is using frequency modulation for output
power reduction in the WF.
VI. SIMULATION RESULTS
For evaluation of the proposed FRT control some simulations
have been carried out in Matlab/Simulink with SimPowerSys-
tems Toolbox using the EMT simulation method. It is beyond
Fig. 16. Simulation results during a three-phase fault on the 220-kV side of the
HVDC transformer at REC. SEC is using the enhanced FRT method based on
a controlled voltage drop for output power reduction in the WF.
the scope of this paper to show simulation results for all de-
scribed FRT methods applied to all available WT types. How-
ever, a pre-selection can easily be done based on the discussion
FELTES et al.: ENHANCED FAULT RIDE-THROUGH METHOD 1545
given in Section IV. In this regard, method D (frequency con-
trol) seems to be the most practical of the recent methods pro-
posed for power reduction during FRT and has been favored in
the referenced papers. Thus, the results focus on the comparison
of this technique to the new proposed method. Since the most
used WT type nowadays is based on the DFIG, this generator
type has been chosen for the simulation studies.
The simulated topology consists of a 200-MW DFIG-based
WF, which is connected through a 36/110-kV transformer to a
VSC-based HVDC transmission system of 100 km length and
transmission voltage of . The REC of the HVDC is
connected through a 110/220-kV transformer to a HV grid with
a short circuit power of 2000 MVA. An aggregated model has
been used to represent the WF by one equivalent WT to reduce
the simulation time. The electrical part of the generator is mod-
eled as a fourth order system without considering the equation
of motion. Only short fault durations have been selected here
and thus, a mechanical model is not necessary. The equivalent
WT generator is assumed to be running at xed speed within
the observed time window. The IGBT converters are modeled
as ideal switches with anti-parallel diodes. They are controlled
by PWM at switching frequencies of 2 kHz for the HVDC and
2.25 kHz for the DFIG converters. No DC chopper is included
in the studied system to allow a good comparison of the control
strategies.
To evaluate the FRT capability of the studied approaches, a
three-phase fault has been simulated on the 220-kV side of the
HVDC transformer. Fig. 15 shows the response of the system
using frequency control for power reduction in the WF grid.
The deep voltage sag in the HV grid effects a blocking of the
REC during fault and immediately reduces its output power to
zero. This is the worst case scenario, because the DC voltage
can only be limited by fast actions at SEC. After fault occur-
rence, the DC voltage increases quickly and the frequency mod-
ulation of the SEC is activated. It raises the WF grid frequency,
which leads to a power reduction through the frequency control
of the WTs. Due to delays in fault detection, frequency mea-
surement and limited controller gains, it takes some time to re-
duce the output power. Consequently, there is a high overshoot
in the HVDC transmission voltage to approximately 145% of
its nominal value. In [4] it is mentioned that the DC overvoltage
protection is normally triggered at 130%. Hence, with this ap-
proach there is still the need for a DC chopper as an additional
protection device. During power reduction the DC voltage of
the DFIG is kept within the acceptable range and the mechan-
ical stress to the WT drive train is low.
Fig. 16 shows the results for the same fault applied on a
system using the proposed new FRT approach. After fault de-
tection through DCvoltage measurement, the controlled voltage
drop is initiated. This leads to a very fast power reduction within
some ms, which results in a reliable DC voltage limitation to
approximately 115%. The controlled voltage drop causes some
high frequency transients in the SEC currents. However, the
peak currents are within an acceptable range (approximately
160% of nominal current) to guarantee continued safe opera-
tion of the SEC. Additionally, they contain no DC components
and the mechanical stress to the WT through electromagnetic
torque is very low. For comparison, the peak torque resulting
from a three-phase fault applied to a DFIG may reach values up
to ve times the nominal torque of the system. The impact on the
DC voltage of the DFIG converters is moderate and a crowbar
ignition is not necessary. During the zero voltage time window
in the WF grid, the DFIG converters are blocked.
From the simulation results for a DFIG-based WF, con-
clusions can also be deduced with regard to the behavior of
a FSIG, because the machine equations are nearly identical.
Therefore, the controlled voltage drop can also be applied on
FSIGs and it allows a fast power reduction while suppressing
the DC components in the stator currents and the related me-
chanical and electrical stress. For FCGs a fast voltage drop can
be applied anyway, because the generator is decoupled through
the converter.
VII. CONCLUSION
In this paper a new FRT approach has been introduced
for WFs connected through a VSC-based HVDC link. This
approach allows a very fast power reduction during fault and
deals with a reliable protection of the HVDC systemagainst DC
overvoltages. In this way, the costs for a full-rated DC chopper
can be saved without downgrading the safety and reliability of
the system. The proposed method can easily be implemented,
since it only requires small changes in the control software of
the SEC and the WT converter. It works for all types of WTs
and can also be applied to different VSC-HVDC topologies.
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1546 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 24, NO. 3, AUGUST 2009
Christian Feltes (S03) was born in 1979. He re-
ceived the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg,
Germany in 2005. Since January 2006, he has
been pursuing the Ph.D. degree in the Department
of Electrical Power Systems at the University of
Duisburg-Essen.
His research interests are focused on wind energy
generation, control, integration, and dynamic interac-
tion with electrical grid.
Holger Wrede (M03) was born in 1971. He re-
ceived the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering
from the Technical University Braunschweig, Braun-
schweig, Germany, in 1998 and the Ph.D. degree
from Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany,
in 2004.
From 1998 to 2004, he was with the Institute for
Electrical Power Engineering and Power Electronics
of the Ruhr-University Bochum, where he worked on
FACTS devices, power quality, as well as compen-
sation strategies. From 2004 to 2007, he worked for
SEG GmbH, Germany, where he nally was Group Manager in the Engineering
Department and responsible for system designs, simulations, and control strate-
gies for frequency converters, especially for wind turbines. Since 2007, he has
been with E.ON Engineering GmbH, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, as a Project En-
gineer on converters and drives. Since 2008, he has had a teaching assignment
at the Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences Bochum.
Friedrich W. Koch was born in 1969. He received
the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from
the University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany, in 1998
and the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Elec-
trical Power Systems at the University of Duisburg-
Essen, Duisburg, Germany, in 2005.
From 19982000 and 20052006, he worked as
an Engineer, Project Manager and nally as Head of
group in the eld of industrial and power plants for
the SAG GmbH. Since 2006, he has been with RE-
power Systems AG, Rendsburg, Germany, as Head
of the group Grid Integration/Simulation.
Istvn Erlich (SM08) was born in 1953. He re-
ceived the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering
and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Dresden,
Dresden, Germany, in 1976 and 1983, respectively.
After his studies, he worked in Hungary in the
eld of electrical distribution networks. From 1979
to 1991, he joined the Department of Electrical
Power Systems of the University of Dresden again.
In the period of 1991 to 1998, he worked with the
consulting company EAB in Berlin and the Fraun-
hofer Institute IITB Dresden, respectively. During
this time, he also had a teaching assignment at the University of Dresden.
Since 1998, he has been a Professor and Head of the Institute of Electrical
Power Systems at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany.
His major scientic interest is focused on power system stability and control,
modeling, and simulation of power system dynamics including intelligent
system applications.
Dr. Erlich is a member of VDE.