Steady-state & dynamic voltage impacts of wind generators on rural distribution systems and practical mitigation solutions

Abstract

Wind energy is a fast-growing source of electricity generation worldwide. It has the potential to play an important role in a future renewable energy market. However, wind power is neither continuous nor stable because of the natural fluctuation of wind energy and the nonlinear relationship between power output and wind speed. Wind power is therefore considered to be unreliable when comparing it with conventional power generation sources. In addition, fluctuating wind power leads to significant state variations in the power system. In rural distribution systems, voltage fluctuation is one of the main disturbances which must be examined at the generation connection impact assessment stage. In this paper, first of all, the relationship between the voltage at the Point of Common Coupling and the power contributions by a Distributed Generator will be introduced. Second, a typical rural distribution system will be modeled in a simulation software. Then, different scenarios will be simulated to analyze several steady-state and dynamic impacts of Distributed Generators on distribution networks. Finally, different impact mitigation solutions will be presented.