Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Control Designed for Coordinated Fast Frequency Reserves

TL;DR

This paper develops a wind turbine control model for fast frequency reserves in power systems with low inertia, demonstrating effective coordination with hydro units to meet regulation standards and ensure stable frequency recovery.

Contribution

It introduces a WT model capturing slow NMP dynamics for FFR, enabling coordinated control with hydro turbines to improve frequency support in low-inertia grids.

Findings

WT model accurately describes slow NMP dynamics for FFR

Coordinated WT-hydro control meets regulatory standards

System simulation shows smooth frequency recovery without overshoot

Abstract

Modern power systems present low levels of inertia due to the growing shares of converter-interfaced generation. Consequently, renewable energy sources are increasingly requested to provide frequency support. In addition, due to the inertia loss, the requirements regarding frequency containment reserves (FCR) are becoming tough to meet with traditional units such as hydro, whose non-minimum phase (NMP) characteristic reduces the closed-loop stability margins. The shortcomings of traditional synchronous generation motivates new protocols for fast frequency reserves (FFR). In this work, we design a wind turbine (WT) model useful for FFR. It is shown that the dynamical shortcomings of the WT, in providing steady-power or slow FCR support, are suitably described by a first-order transfer function with a slow NMP zero. The WT model is tested in a 5-machine representation of the Nordic synchronous grid. It is shown that the NMP model is useful for designing a controller that coordinates FFR from wind with slow FCR from hydro turbines. By simulating the disconnection of a 1400 MW importing dc link in a detailed nonlinear model, it is shown that the wind--hydro combination not only satisfies the latest regulations, but also presents a smooth response avoiding overshoot and secondary frequency dips during frequency recovery.