Wind Turbine Oriented Solutions to Improve Power Quality and Harmonic Compliance of AC Offshore Wind Power Plants

The operation of offshore wind power plants with respect to power quality and grid code compliance must be verified for different conditions in the design phase using harmonic analysis methods. This paper addresses this verification by first considering a scenario in which wind turbines operate with a typically used modulation strategy, carrier-based pulse width modulation. The studies are performed at several operating points, not only at the rated condition, and at two points of the electrical infrastructure, at the point of connection of the wind turbine and at the point of common coupling of the offshore wind farm. For this type of modulation technique and according to the resonance conditions of the studied offshore system, the harmonic distortion of current signals is relatively high and the compliance of the German - grid code is not achieved. To tackle this, wind turbine manufacturer oriented solutions are proposed with the aim of improving the harmonic emission of the offshore wind farm. The implementation of a particular solution of selective harmonic elimination is presented together with complementary solutions to further improve the harmonic emission of the wind power facility. Furthermore, this paper discloses the modeling approach to account for an adequate harmonic assessment of the wind power plant under study.

Automated summary

This paper verifies the power quality and grid code compliance of offshore wind power plants in the design phase through harmonic analysis methods. It is found that for wind turbines operating with a commonly used modulation strategy, the harmonic distortion of current signals is relatively high and does not meet the requirements of the German grid code. Solutions oriented towards wind turbine manufacturers are proposed to improve the harmonic emission of offshore wind farms.