Meteorological and topological factors influencing the power quality of wind turbine electricity generation from wind farms in complex terrain

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Many wind turbine sites in Europe are located in remote areas, many of these also in complex terrain, such as hill tops or mountain ridges. In these areas, often supplied by weak grids, the power quality resulting from the interconnection of wind farms will be an important factor for the design of wind farms. As studies to date have concentrated on power quality for wind farms located in flat terrain, the effect of complex terrain on the power quality of wind turbines has, up to now, not been thoroughly investigated. Spectral density functions calculated from wind speed data collected in moderately complex terrain are presented. These give important information required for modelling the impact of embedded wind turbine generation, and also suggest the direction of future work. The indications are that calculations of the power quality should take into account the effects of complex terrain. This is true especially for one of the important parameters related to power quality: the dynamic voltage v...