Damping of sub-synchronous control interactions with a STATCOM : Wind farms & series compensated power lines

Abstract: The power converter is one of the key components in power system applications such as high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems and the grid connection of intermittent sources such as wind and solar power. However, the increased penetration of converter-based generation introduces challenges, such as sub-synchronous interaction between the converter control system and the grid. These control interactions are characterized by fast-growing, subsynchronous oscillations (SSO). This thesis deals with the analysis of sub-synchronous control interactions (SSCI) between doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms and series compensated transmission lines. Moreover, the thesis aims to identify a method for mitigating the sub-synchronous oscillations using a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), with a supplementary damping controller. The study is based on work in PSCAD/EMTDC and uses a system based on the IEEE first benchmark model, acting as a grid, and the scaled power output of a DFIG turbine model, modeling a wind farm. Initial impedance-based analysis in the frequency domain shows that the DFIG wind farm has a negative resistance throughout the sub-synchronous frequency range. A negative resistance may result in negative damping of the system and further introduce the risk of instability. The wind farm resistance and, in turn, system stability is affected by the current control loop of the DFIG-converter. The transmission line compensation factor largely impacts the system stability, while the power output has a minor effect. A time-domain analysis is performed to verify the result of the frequency domain analysis. Further on, a grid-forming STATCOM is added to the system for VAr compensation. Additional stability analysis shows that even though improvingthe stability, the STATCOM alone is not adequate to mitigate the SSCI. The proposed damping strategy is based on modifying the STATCOM voltage reference andcan be divided into three steps: detecting the SSO, estimating the sub-synchronous component, and modifying the extracted signal. The detection algorithm is based on a half-cycle comparator, while the modification is done through a proportional gain. When estimating the sub-synchronous components, two methods are proposed and compared. The first estimation method is based on a conventional power system stabilizer (PSS) method, and the second is afilter-less method.