Optimal power control of DFIG wind turbines using a simplified power converter

Abstract

Traditionally, a back-to-back power converter, which includes a grid side converter (GSC) and a rotor side converter (RSC), is employed to regulate the output power of Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) wind turbines (WTs). Therefore, two controllers are required for power regulation of DFIG. This paper proposes a strategy to control the DFIG with a simplified power converter. This converter consists of only a RSC and a passive rectifier which is simpler and cheaper than the GSC. In addition, the proposed strategy, which is referred to as self-compensating DFIG strategy in this research, can control the DFIG to generate the optimal power and to compensate distorted currents which injected by the simplified power converter to the grid. Extensive simulation studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the proposed system. Moreover, the capability of maximum power control of the system is examined using practical wind speed data. As demonstrated in the simulation results, the proposed system can be a cost-effective alternative of a conventional system to generate the maximum power.