Performance Improvement of Various Types of Induction-based Wind Farms Using Center-node Unified Power Flow Controller

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the use of center-node unified power flow controller (C-UPFC) for improving the performance of different types of wind farms and mitigating their negative impacts on the grid. C-UPFC is considered one of the modernist members on Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS). C-stocktickerUPFC has the ability to control several system parameters; the active and reactive power at both ends of the interconnected transmission line and the voltage at the midpoint. Three different induction-based wind farms are considered; 1) Squirrel Cage Induction Generator (SCIG), 2) Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), and 3) a combination of SCIG and DFIG turbines, i.e., Combined Wind Farm (CWF). C-stocktickerUPFC is comprehensively modelled for the first time in MATLAB Simulink, then the performance of the three wind farms is assessed with and without this device during three phase faults. Probabilistic voltage stability index (Probabilistic VSI) is used to measure the stability of the studied systems. In addition, the performance of three wind farms integrated with C-UPFC is compared with their performance when they integrated with Static synchronous compensators (STATCOM). The results show that C-UPFC has the ability to enhance the performance of wind farms during the three phase fault. C-UPFC is capable to remain the connection between SCIG wind farm and the interconnected grid during the fault. The voltage of CWF is greatly enhanced in the case of using C-UPFC. C-UPFC also improves the output powers of DFIG and CWF, especially after fault clearance.