Comparative Study of SVC and STATCOM Reactive Power Compensation for Prosumer Microgrids With DFIG-Based Wind Farm Integration

Abstract

Uncertainties of renewable energy sources like wind power are one of the considerable challenges of prosumer microgrids. To meet the grid codes requirements regarding the voltage stability of wind farm integration, finding the balance between providing the demanding dynamic performance of the voltage and reactive power, and at the same time decreasing the investment on centralized reactive power compensation device, becomes an important research topic. This paper compares the effects of the static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and static VAR compensator (SVC) on transient voltage stability at the point of common coupling (PCC) of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farm. And a new fast coordinated control scheme of STATCOM and DFIG is proposed for minimizing the capacity of centralized reactive power compensation device and making the best use of the reactive power control capability of DFIG. The simulation results based on test system show that STATCOM, even with less capacity, can contribute more reactive power than SVC for voltage stability, especially during the serious voltage drop transient stage, and perform a faster voltage recovery time after fault than SVC, proved to be a more economic choice; The proposed coordinated control scheme can not only improve the transient voltage stability, but also help reducing the capacity of STATCOM, so that the cost of investments in wind farms would be reduced.

High Voltage Ride through Strategy of Wind Farm Considering Generator Terminal Voltage Distribution

“…Reference [7] proposed a HVRT strategy based on the virtual resistance strategy by analyzing the transient process of the DFIG when facing the voltage swell problem. Other papers installed a reactive power compensation device at the grid-connection point to improve the wind farm's ride-through capability [10][11][12][13][14]. References [11][12][13] compared the reactive power compensation capabilities of static synchronous compensators (STATCOM) and static var compensators (SVC) during low voltage ride-through (LVRT) periods of wind farms.…”

“…Other papers installed a reactive power compensation device at the grid-connection point to improve the wind farm's ride-through capability [10][11][12][13][14]. References [11][12][13] compared the reactive power compensation capabilities of static synchronous compensators (STATCOM) and static var compensators (SVC) during low voltage ride-through (LVRT) periods of wind farms. References [11,13] revealed that STATCOMs can provide more reactive power during voltage sag periods, and have a better transient performance than SVC after a voltage sag fault.…”

“…References [11][12][13] compared the reactive power compensation capabilities of static synchronous compensators (STATCOM) and static var compensators (SVC) during low voltage ride-through (LVRT) periods of wind farms. References [11,13] revealed that STATCOMs can provide more reactive power during voltage sag periods, and have a better transient performance than SVC after a voltage sag fault. Reference [12] showed that STATCOM is more economical than SVC.…”

Development of Multimode Photovoltaic Static Synchronous Compensator for Voltage Fluctuation Mitigation in Industrial Power System

“…Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices have thus been developed for voltage regulation in power system applications, whereas static VAR compensators (SVCs) and static synchronous compensators (STATCOMs) play major roles by using power conversion in interior inverter designs to achieve voltage control. (2,3) Although most FACTS devices provide better performance than traditional unidirectional power flow control methods, their controllers are more expensive. (4) The benefit of reactive power compensation mainly depends on the placement and capacities of the installed FACTS devices.…”

Micro-Grid Stability Improvement Using Static Synchronous Compensator Assisted with Battery Energy Storage System

“…Results from the conventional PI controller and other suggested optimized algorithms in STATCOM were compared to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methodology25. A detailed comparison of SVC and STATCOM for transient voltage stability in DFIG based wind farm is presented in [26]. This research work proposed that STATCOM even with low capacity as compared to the SVC is more reliable and cost-effective.…”