Study of auxiliary power systemsfor offshore wind turbines : an extended analysis of a diesel gen-setsolution

Abstract: Until today the offshore wind power has grown in a steady pace and many new wind farms are being constructed around the globe. An important factor that is investigated today in the industry are the security of power supply to the equipment needed for controlling the offshore system during emergency situations. When a offshore wind farm is disconnected from the external grid and an emergency case occur the wind turbine generators lose their ability to transfer power and they are forced to be taken out of operation. As there are a number of loads in the wind turbines (navigation lights, sensor- and communication-apparatus, ventilation- and heating equipment etc.) they have a load demand which must be supplied in emergency mode. The German Transmission System operator (TSO) TenneT GmbH has set a requirement that the wind turbines is to be supplied by an auxiliary power supply (APS) in 12 hours and therefore there is need for a long-term auxiliary power supply system. This master thesis was assigned to investigate the most feasible APS-system. From the study of a number of different APS's one concept was chosen. This was the diesel gen-set solution placed on an offshore substation at sea. The system was modeled in the software DIgSILENT PowerFactory where a load flow analysis validated the calculated data and a study of the impact of  transients in the system was performed.