Influence of Wind-Turbine-Generator Power Control on the Performance of a Virtual Synchronous Machine

Abstract

Implementation of renewable energy sources (RESs) in power systems can reduce the dependence on fossil-fuel-based thermal power generation systems. At the same time, however, the system inertia decreases as synchronous generators decrease; this is crucial for maintaining the stability of the power system. Virtual inertia control (VIC) can regulate the output of an inverter-based resource (IBR) by increasing the inertia. For a wind turbine generator (WTG), output control factors such as pitch angle control and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) significantly affect the performance of the VIC. This paper theoretically clarifies that the pitch angle control contributes to improvements in the performance of the VIC and helps avoid a loss of operation of the WTG in frequency drop events by analyzing the movement of the operational point of the WTG based on the physical characteristic of the WTG and control characteristics of the pitch angle control and MPPT; an electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation, performed to verify the analysis, is also presented.