A Modified Transient Current Limiter to Mitigate Energization Inrush Current in Wind Turbine Transformers

Abstract

Energization of wind turbine transformers (WTTs) in wind power plants (WPPs) leads to high transient inrush current, which imposes high mechanical and thermal stresses on transformer windings and voltage sag problems at grid connection point (GCP). Therefore, to solve these problems, the inrush current should be suppressed during the energization time. The current research presents a modified transient current limiter (MTCL) for suppressing WTTs’ inrush current. Two types of MTCL such as resistor type (R-type) and reactor type (L-type) are considered for this purpose. To investigate the efficiency of the MTCL, a WPP includes five wind turbines which are simulated by PSCAD/EMTDC software. The simulation results reveal that the MTCL is an effective means for suppressing the WTTs’ inrush current and mitigating GCP voltage sag during energization. Besides, to show the effectiveness of the proposed MTCL, the performance of the MTCL is compared with the conventional TCL through simulation.