The fault ride through technologies for doubly fed induction generator wind turbines

Abstract

The penetration of large-scale wind power generators to the grid has resulted in an increasing focus on the study on their fault ride through issue that is becoming imminent. The doubly fed induction generator-based wind turbine is still one of the most frequently adopted wind generation units in the market of the installed wind power worldwide due to its good behavior during normal grid conditions. However, due to the sensitivity of doubly fed induction generator to power disturbances, especially to voltage sags, the transient characteristic improvement of doubly fed induction generator during fault, thus meeting the fault ride through requirements, has become a problem of particular interest to wind turbine manufacturers. So, in this article, a comprehensive comparative study on the fault ride through techniques for doubly fed induction generator wind turbine is provided based to three broad subcategories: control algorithms, additional hardware circuit, and combined approaches. Furthermore, a discussion on the different characteristics of the fault ride through capability of these methods has been made, and a case study has been carried out to show the performance of different schemes. Finally, the article suggests a likely future outlook for the fault ride through technique for doubly fed induction generator wind turbines.