978-1-6654-4421-7/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE
Propagation of Voltage Dips in a Mixed DFIG-PMSG
Wind Power Plant
Rafael Boeira, Renata Ribeiro, Roberto Chouhy
Leborgne
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre, Brazil
rafael.boeira@ufrgs.br renatakfribeiro@hotmail.com
roberto.leborgne@ufrgs.br
Roger Alves de Oliveira
Electric Power Engineering group
Luleå University of Technology
Skellefteå, Sweden
roger.oliveira@ltu.se
Abstract— This work assesses the propagation of voltage dips
caused by electrical faults in a mixed DFIG-PMSG wind power
plant by considering distinct collection transformer connections.
Several transmission system operators have required the operation
of the wind power plants even during voltage dips. The electronic
converters might be affected during the voltage dips. Most of the
works which assess this impact applied voltage dips directly to wind
turbine terminals. However, the voltage dips which reach the wind
turbine terminals are distinct in type of the ones from the
transmission level. The reason for this distinction is related to the
winding connections of the wind turbines and collection grid
transformers. The winding connection of the collection grid varies
country by country, i.e some countries apply Yg-Yg and other Yg -
Δ. Faced with this, the consideration of the winding connections
might possibly lead to distinct operation of the wind turbines during
the voltage dip. Besides, the operation during dips also differs
depending on the converter technology. This way, this works aims
to analyze how the low-voltage ride-through requirements and the
behavior of the wind turbines changes in terms of the collection grid
transformer for two technologies of wind turbines: PMSG and
DFIG.
Index Terms — Power Quality, Voltage Dip, LVRT, Wind
Power, DFIG, PMSG
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, wind power generation has experienced a
huge growth in installed capacity around the world. As a result,
transmission system operators (TSO’s) have implemented
regulations and standards to ensure the electric grid system’s
stability and reliability. One of these regulations is related to the
operation of wind turbines (WTs) during voltage dips, the so-
called Low Voltage Ride-Through (LVRT) requirements. Before
the LVRT requirements, the wind power plants could be
disconnected from the main grid during voltage dips [1]. The
purpose of the LVRT requirements is to ensure the operation of
wind power plants (WPP) when subjected to voltage dips to not
compromise the operational safety and stability of an entire
power system [2].
Although the WTs can inject an amount of active power
proportional to the voltage dips magnitude, the power electronic
converters are affected by the dips. The voltage dips that reach
the WTs terminals are mainly caused by electrical faults in the
transmission grid [3]. The type of dips in the WTs terminals are
distinct to the ones in the transmission level due to the winding
connections of the wind turbines and collection grid transformers.
The Yg – Δ is the most common winding design for a turbine
transformer [4]. The winding connections for the collection grid
transformer can be Yg - Yg or Yg - Δ. The Yg -Yg wind
connection is often used in North America, while the Yg – Δ is
more applied in Europe [4]. The main difference between the Yg
- Yg and Yg – Δ connections is related to the propagation of
asymmetrical voltage dips. An overview of the expected types of
voltage dip at the WTs terminals is presented in [3],[4].
Previous works [5-8] have analyzed the dynamic behavior of
WTs during voltage dips. The impact of balanced and unbalanced
voltage dips on the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) is
presented in [5-6]. The impact on the Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Generator (PMSG) technology is analyzed in [7-8].
Although the works from [5-8] have brought important
knowledge about the performance of WPP when subjected to
voltage dips, they were applied directly on the terminals of WTs.
In other words, the propagation of voltage dips was not
considered from the transmission level to the WT terminals in [5-
8]. The winding transformer connection is a key element to
analyze the propagation, and depending on them, some voltage
dips types will never reach the WT terminals. Besides, the
consideration of faults at the WT terminals is not related to the
LVRT requirement, but to the protection of the WPP.
This way, this works aims to analyze how the low-voltage
ride-through and the behavior of the wind turbines changes in
terms of the collection grid transformer for two technologies of
wind turbines: PMSG and DFIG. A case study of an existing
WPP was modelled to conduct the analysis. Equivalent models of
a transmission system and a wind power plant were considered to
simulate different types of dips and to access the behavior of the
WT during these events.