Simulation of Low Voltage Ride Through Capability of Wind

Turbines with Doubly Fed Induction Generator

G. Tsourakis

and C. D. Vournas
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
National Technical University of Athens
Athens, Zografou 15780 Greece
e-mail: {tsouraki, vournas}@power.ece.ntua.gr
Abstract
In this paper the behaviour of the Doubly Fed Induction
wind Generator (DFIG) is investigated, when an active
crowbar is used to provide low voltage ride through ca-
pability by short-circuiting the rotor temporarily. The
detailed models of the machine and associated con-
trollers used in the computer simulation are presented
and the ride through capability of the DFIG with crow-
bar and pitch control is conrmed. Control strategies
that fully utilize the reactive power support available
from the DFIG, when it is on voltage regulating mode,
during and immediately after low-voltage faults are de-
rived and their performance is investigated using simu-
lation.
1 Introduction
In new wind park installations, variable speed wind
turbines are used, which are controlled through power
electronic converters and are thus able to regulate their
own reactive power, usually so as to operate at unity
power factor. One of the most common types of gener-
ators used for this purpose is the Doubly Fed Induction
Generator (DFIG). It has been shown that the reactive
power control of DFIG is benecial for voltage stability
[1].
Following the achievement of very high wind pene-
tration in some electric power systems (e.g. Denmark,
Germany, the island of Crete in Greece) new guide-
lines for the connection of wind parks have been estab-
lished by Transmission System Operators (TSOs). In
contrast to the past, the wind turbines are not allowed
any more to disconnect when a normally cleared fault
occurs. They must thus be equipped with low voltage
ride through (LVRT) capability. A typical low voltage
curve that wind generators are required to withstand is
the one proposed by E.ON. [2] and shown in Fig. 1.

Supported by a scholarship from the State Scholarships Founda-

tion of Greece (IKY)
Between 0.15 and 0.6 pu, the wind turbines must pro-
vide maximum possible reactive power.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
i
n
a
l

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
Figure 1: EON grid code curve.
It has been shown in the literature [3]-[4], that the
most sensitive part of the DFIG is the power electronic
converter. A solution for the LVRT capability of DFIG
proposed by manufacturers is the use of an active crow-
bar, which short-circuits the rotor temporarily, in order
to protect the converter, while the generator remains
connected to the grid throughout the fault [5].
In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of the
DFIG when an active crowbar is used to provide LVRT
capability. A transient model of the DFIG is used, i.e.
the rotor ux dynamics are explicitly represented. For
this reason, the rotor side inverter is modelled as a volt-
age source. The grid-side inverter is modelled as a cur-
rent source. When the fault occurs, the crowbar is ac-
tivated and short-circuits the rotor to protect the power
electronics converter. As the stator remains connected
to the grid, the machine experiences transient ux re-
duction. After a transient period, the rotor-side inverter
may be reactivated. Due to the mismatch between me-
chanical and electromagnetic torque, the rotor acceler-
ates, but the pitch controller reduces the aerodynamic
efciency and thus, the accelerating mechanical torque.
The simulations are performed using a
Simulink/MATLAB software package to which
the DFIG models have been added [6].
2 DFIG Wind Turbine Modeling
2.1 Layout
The DFIG is a wound-rotor induction generator whose
stator is directly connected to the grid, while the three-
phase rotor windings are connected through slip rings
to the grid via a partially rated power electronic fre-
quency converter. The converter consists of two voltage
source converters connected back-to-back and enables
variable speed operation of the wind turbine by decou-
pling the power system electrical frequency and the ro-
tor mechanical frequency. A typical conguration of a
DFIG is shown schematically in Fig. 2 where motor
convention is used for the currents.
Ir
PWM PWM
Rc
Pr, Qr
I, P, Q

Vs, s
Is, Ps, Qs

Iis, Pis, Qis

Z
f
I
dc1
I
dc2
V
dc
Figure 2: Basic conguration of a DFIG.
The impedance

Z
f
in Fig. 2 corresponds to a lter
and/or a transformer connected between the grid side
converter and the machine stator.
2.2 Induction Machine Equations
Neglecting the stator transients, the machine equations
are the following in the synchronous reference frame
[7] (in pu on machine rating):
v
ds
= R
s
i
ds
X

i
qs
+E

d
(1)
v
qs
= X

i
ds
+R
s
i
qs
+E

q
(2)
where X

=
s

b
(X
ss

X
2
M
Xrr
) is the transient reactance
and
E

d
=

b
X
M
X
rr

qr
E

q
=

s

b
X
M
X
rr

dr
are emfs proportional to the rotor uxes on the d and q
axis. The electrical state equations are:
d
dt

dr
=
b
(R
r
i
dr
+s
qr
+v
dr
) (3)
d
dt

qr
=
b
(R
r
i
qr
s
dr
+v
qr
) (4)
where is the base angular frequency in electrical r/s,

s
is the stator angular frequency and s is the slip de-
ned as:
s =

s

b
(5)
where
r
is the rotor electrical angular frequency. The
electromagnetic torque is given by:
T
e
=
qr
i
dr

dr
i
qr
=
ds
i
qs

qs
i
ds
(6)
and the motion equation is:
2H

b
d
r
dt
= T
e
T
m
(7)
2.3 Mechanical Torque Calculation and
Pitch Control
The wind speed is considered an input to the model.
The mechanical torque is then calculated by use of the
well-known static equation which provides the mechan-
ical power produced by the wind turbine:
P
m
=
1
2
AV
3
w
C
p
(8)
where: P
m
is the mechanical power output (W)
is the air density (1,225 kg/m
3
)
A is the rotor area (m
2
)
V
w
is the wind speed (m/s)
C
p
is the aerodynamic power coefcient.
The parameters of the wind turbine used are given in
Table 2.
From the wind speed, the wind turbine mechanical
rotor speed
m
and the pitch angle , the aerodynamic
power coefcient C
p
can be calculated fromthe charac-
teristic curves C
p
(, ), where is the tip speed ratio
dened as
=

m
R
V
w
where R is the wind turbine rotor radius.
The analytical relation used for the calculation of C
p
is the following [8]:
C
p
(, ) = 0, 22

116

i
0, 4 5

e
12,5

i
(9)
1

i
=
1
+ 0, 08

0, 035

3
+ 1
(10)
While constant speed wind turbines with induction
generator are usually stall-controlled, i.e. the pitch an-
gle is constant, variable speed wind turbines with DFIG
are usually pitch-controlled. Below rated wind speeds,
the pitch angle is kept at its minimumso that the turbine
can operate at maximumC
p
At higher wind speeds, the
pitch angle is modied, so that C
p
and thus the mechan-
ical torque is reduced and the rotor speed and power
generation are kept at rated value.
For modeling the pitch controller a proportional-
integral controller is used (Fig. 3), which keeps the rotor
speed at its nominal value [3]. The limited rate at which
the pitch angle may be varied is taken into account, as
well as the time constant of the servomechanism.
PI
r

r
max max
min
min
1
T
S
d
dt
d
dt max

d
dt max
1
s

Figure 3: Pitch controller model.

2.4 Converter Representation
According to the typical vector control strategy de-
scribed in [9], the reference frame for the vector control
of the rotor side converter is oriented along the stator
ux vector position. Neglecting the stator resistance
this is equivalent to setting the q-axis on the terminal
voltage phasor. This results to:
i
qr
=
X
ss
X
M
T
e
V
s
(11)
Thus by regulating i
qr
, one can control the electromag-
netic torque and therefore the rotor speed. The speed
controller is modeled as shown in Fig. 4. From the ro-
tor speed measurement, the power and the torque that
correspond to optimal operation are deduced from the
speed control characteristic curve shown in Fig. 5.
characteristic
speed control
rated
speed r
T

Xss
X
M
T

e
Vs
Vs
i

qr
iqr
vqr
Kp +
K
i
s
Figure 4: Speed controller modeling.
This curve stems from (8) by setting C
p
= C
max
p
for
all wind speeds up to nominal (solid curve in Fig. 5).
However, in order to have a one-to-one relation between
rotor speed and power, the curve which is actually im-
plemented is the dotted curve of Fig. 5.
On the other hand, i
dr
is used to control the reactive
power Q
s
that enters the machine stator:
i
dr
=
V
s

b
X
M

X
ss
X
M
Q
s
V
s
(12)
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Rotor Speed (RPM)
P
o
w
e
r

(
p
u
)
Nominal Power
Rated
Speed
Figure 5: Speed control characteristic.
PF*
V

s
Vs
Vs
Q

P
i

dr
i
dr
v
dr
Kp +
K
i
s
Vs
b
X
M
s

Xss
X
M
Q

s
Vs
Ka
1
Ta
1
s
Figure 6: Reactive power controller.
Usually, this feature of the DFIG wind turbine is used
to keep the machine at unity power factor [8]. The con-
troller implemented in the model is shown in Fig. 6.
The desirable value for i
dr
is deduced fromthe machine
power factor reference (PF*). However, as wind power
penetration in power systems is increasing, it becomes
desirable for wind turbines to provide active voltage
control.
The reactive power controller depicted in Fig. 6 op-
erates either in constant power factor mode or in Auto-
matic Voltage Regulator (AVR) mode.
The reference values i

dr
and i

qr
are limited so that
the resulting rotor current magnitude does not exceed
the converter rating. In case this limit is reached, prior-
ity is given to torque control. The voltages v
dr
and v
qr
are also limited so that the rotor voltage magnitude V
r
produced by the rotor side converter does not exceed its
maximum value V
max
r
.
Assuming that the PWM converter operates in its lin-
ear region, the AC voltage is proportional to the DC
voltage [10]. In physical units:
V
LL
r
=

3
2

2
m
1
V
dc
(13)
where V
LL
r
is the rms line-to-line rotor voltage and m
1
is the modulation depth (0 m
1
1). In pu, we have:
V
r
= k m
1
V
dc
(14)
where k =
1
2

3
V
B
dc
VBr
and V
B
dc
and V
Br
are the bases of
the DC voltage and the rotor AC phase voltage respec-
tively. V
max
r
is computed from (14) taking m
1
= 1.
Note that V
max
r
depends linearly on the DC voltage.
For the control of the grid side converter a syn-
chronous reference frame is used with the q-axis placed
on the stator voltage vector

V
s
. Thus the following
equations hold for the active and reactive power ex-
changed with the grid:
P
is
= v
qs
i
qis
(15)
Q
is
= v
qs
i
dis
(16)
Usually, the grid side converter keeps its reactive power
Q
is
= 0 [8]. Therefore:
i
dis
= 0 (17)
By control of i
qis
the active power ow through the
grid side converter is regulated to keep the DC volt-
age V
dc
at nominal value (1 pu). The capacitor voltage
equation is the following:
C
dV
dc
dt
=
P
is
P
r
V
dc
(18)
where C is the normalized capacitance (in s). The ac-
tive power P
r
that ows from the rotor side converter
to the rotor is:
P
r
= v
dr
i
dr
+v
qr
i
qr
(19)
The DC voltage PI controller is shown in Fig. 7. Be-
cause of (17), i
qis
may reach the rated converter current
I
rated
is
.
V
dc
V

dc
Kp
Ki
1
s
iqis
I
rated
is
I
rated
is I
rated
is
I
rated
is
Figure 7: DC voltage controller.
As the machine stator transients are neglected, it is
consistent to model the grid side converter as a current
source.
3 Initial Conditions and Converter
Dimensioning
For the initialization of the model, it is assumed that
the terminal voltage and total active and reactive power
generated are known (e.g. from a load ow solution).
In order to nd an equilibrium point of the DFIG
model, the following set of 7 nonlinear algebraic equa-
tions needs to be solved:
v
ds
= R
s
i
ds
(X
ss
i
qs
+X
M
i
qr
) (20)
v
qs
= R
s
i
qs
+ (X
ss
i
ds
+X
M
i
dr
) (21)
v
dr
= R
r
i
dr
(1
r
) (X
M
i
qs
+X
rr
i
qr
) (22)
v
qr
= R
r
i
qr
+ (1
r
) (X
M
i
ds
+X
rr
i
dr
) (23)
P = v
ds
i
ds
+v
qs
i
qs
+v
dr
i
dr
+v
qr
i
qr
(24)
i
dr
=
Vs
b
XMs

Xss
XM
Qs
Vs
(25)
i
qr
=
Xss
XM
Te
Vs
(26)
where T
e
is a piecewise function of
r
, according to the
speed control characteristic of Fig. 5. The vector of the
7 unknown variables is
x = [i
ds
i
qs
i
dr
i
qr
v
dr
v
qr

r
]
T
An initial condition to solve (20)-(26) numerically,
can be obtained as follows:
1. The mechanical power is assumed equal to the to-
tal active power out of the machine and thus the
rotor speed can be deduced from the speed control
characteristic curve of Fig. 5
2. i
qr
and i
dr
are calculated from (11) and (12) re-
spectively.
3. The stator voltage equations are solved to nd i
ds
and i
qs
:
v
ds
= R
s
i
ds
(X
ss
i
qs
+X
M
i
qr
) (27)
v
qs
= R
s
i
qs
+ (X
ss
i
ds
+X
M
i
dr
) (28)
Note that the q-axis of the synchronous reference
frame of the model is placed on the stator voltage
and therefore, v
qs
= V
s
and v
ds
= 0.
4. The rotor voltages are calculated in a straightfor-
ward way:
v
dr
= R
r
i
dr
(1
r
) (X
M
i
qs
+X
rr
i
qr
)
v
qr
= R
r
i
qr
+ (1
r
) (X
M
i
ds
+X
rr
i
dr
)
The mechanical power of the wind turbine is given
by the equilibrium condition of (7) and the rotor speed.
Finally, the wind speed is calculated numerically from
(8).
Number of Poles 4
Mutual reactance X
M
3.0 pu
Stator leakage reactance X
ls
0.10 pu
Rotor leakage reactanceX
lr
0.08 pu
Stator resistance R
s
0.01 pu
Rotor resistance R
r
0.01 pu
Min. capacitive p.f. 0.98
S
base
2.25 MVA
Table 1: DFIG parameters.
Nominal power 2 MW
Diameter 75 m
Nominal wind speed 12 m/s
Rotational speed 9-21 RPM
Gear box ratio 1 : 100
Total moment of inertia 5, 9 10
6
kgm
2
Air density 1.225kg/m
2
Table 2: Wind turbine parameters
To obtain the rotor converter rating, the above ini-
tialization routine is executed assuming maximum ac-
tive and reactive power production under nominal volt-
age to nd I
maxPQ
r
and V
maxPQ
r
. With the data of
Tables 1 and 2 this results to I
maxPQ
r
= 0.93 pu
and V
maxPQ
r
= 0.21 pu. The corresponding active
power that enters the rotor side converter is P
maxPQ
r
=
0.1425 pu. The rated values of the rotor converter cur-
rent and voltage are taken as follows:
I
rated
r
= I
maxPQ
r
V
rated
r
= 1.5 V
maxPQ
r
It follows that the rated power of the rotor side con-
verter is approximately 30% of the machine rating, as
expected.
Referring to (14), we assume that V
r
equals its rated
value V
rated
r
for m
1
= 1 and V
dc
= 1 pu. It follows
that k = V
rated
r
(in pu).
Using a suitable transformer, the two converters can
be identical. In the model, the rated voltage of the grid
side converter, V
rated
is
, is taken equal to 1.1 pu. The
rated current is then:
I
rated
is
= S
rated
r
/V
rated
is
(29)
For dimensioning the capacitor of the DC-link, it is
assumed that the energy it contains when the DC volt-
age equals 1 pu, is equal to P
maxPQ
r
owing for 0.01 s.
For the generator of Table 1 this corresponds to a capac-
itor normalized value C = 0.0014 s. To get an idea of
the actual value, this corresponds to 4500 F for 1200
V DC.
4 Active crowbar modeling
A practical solution to provide low-voltage-ride-
through capability to DFIG-based wind turbines is the
active crowbar, briey presented in [5]. For the im-
plementation of active crowbar in the DFIG transient
model it is assumed that if either the rotor current or the
DC voltage reaches the instantaneous limit I
max
r
and
V
max
dc
respectively (examples of these limits are given
in Table 3), the rotor is disconnected from the rotor side
converter and is short-circuited through an external re-
sistance R
c
(also shown in Table 3). While the crowbar
is activated, v
dr
and v
qr
are set to zero, and R
c
is added
to the rotor resistance, in (3)-(4) .
I
max
r
V
max
dc
R
c
1.5 I
rated
r
1.5 pu 0.01 pu
Table 3: Active crowbar parameters.
During crowbar operation, the rotor current is moni-
tored and when it falls below I
max
r
while the DC volt-
age is also below its limit, the crowbar is deactivated
and the rotor current is directed to the rotor-side con-
verter again. The transistors of this converter are still
blocked, but the current passes through the diodes that
are parallel to the transistors. In other words, the rotor
side converter operates as a three-phase diode rectier.
Therefore, during this period the following linear re-
lation holds for the DC voltage and the line-line rms
voltage V
r
(in volts):
V
dc
=
3

V
LL
r
(30)
In pu we have:
V
dc
=
3

1
2k
V
r
(31)
where k was dened in (14). The two components of
the rotor voltage in the d and q axis are easily deduced
by taking into account that the power factor in the AC
side of a diode rectier equals unity when commutation
is neglected. Since V
dc
is a state variable, (31) is used
to provide v
dr
and v
qr
. Under this mode of operation,
the rotor current quickly decreases. When it reaches
zero, the machine can resume normal operation, i.e. v
dr
and v
qr
are provided by the speed and reactive power
controllers.
5 Simulation Results
In this Section the DFIG with the data presented in Ta-
bles 1 and 2 and the controller parameters shown in Ta-
bles 3 to 5 is simulated using the software developed.
d
dt max
T
S
K
p
p
K
p
i
3
o
/s 0.25 s 200 60
Table 4: Pitch controller parameters.
K
p
K
i
K
a
T
a
C
50 5 100 0.01 s 0.0014 s
Table 5: Controllers parameters.
In all gures, the solid line refers to power factor con-
trol operation and the dashed line to voltage control op-
eration. The prole of the low voltage disturbance ap-
plied to the generator terminals is shown together with
the simulation results. Note that the grid voltage does
not fully restore to 1 pu.
Figure 8 depicts the simulation results of a severe
voltage drop to 0.2 pu for 0.2 s. The machine is ini-
tially producing nominal active power with 0.995 ca-
pacitive power factor (P=-2 MW, Q=-0.2 MVar). Right
after the fault occurs, the crowbar is activated because
of the high rotor current. As long as the rotor is short-
circuited through the crowbar, the machine behaves as
a simple induction generator and thus it consumes re-
active power. Because of the high slip, this reactive
power consumption is very high. When the rotor cur-
rent falls below its maximum value at about 80 ms af-
ter the fault, the crowbar is deactivated and the rotor-
side converter behaves as a three-phase rectier. The
rotor current goes quickly to zero and then the machine
switches back to normal operation. Note that during the
extinguishing phase of rotor current (rectier operation
of the converter) , the DC voltage increases rapidly. Af-
ter the machine has turned back to normal operation,
the DC voltage returns to its nominal value through the
action of the PI controller.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a)
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
i
n
a
l

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0
1
2
3
4
5
(b)
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
1
0.5
0
0.5
(c)
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
1.2
1.25
1.3
(d)
Time (s)
D
C

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
Figure 8: Short-term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop.
In Fig. 9 we see that the rotor accelerates as the large
voltage drop causes a decrease of the machine ux and
thus, of the electromagnetic torque. As the rotor speed
exceeds the rated value, the pitch control increases the
pitch angle so that less power is extracted fromthe wind
and rotor overspeed is prevented.
0 5 10 15 20
1.195
1.2
1.205
1.21
1.215
1.22
(a)
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

S
p
e
e
d

(
p
u
)
0 5 10 15 20
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
(b)
Time (s)
P
i
t
c
h

A
n
g
l
e

(
o
)
Figure 9: Long-term speed-pitch response of DFIG
with active crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop.
Figure 10 depicts the short term response to the same
0.8 pu voltage drop, but with the machine initially pro-
ducing half the nominal power. Note that in the case of
voltage control operation there is a large reactive power
production. Because of the lower active power produc-
tion, there is more rotor current availble for reactive
power production.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
(a)
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
i
n
a
l

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0
1
2
3
4
5
(b)
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.2
0.4
(c)
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
i
v
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
d

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
1.2
1.25
1.3
(d)
Time (s)
D
C

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
I
r
max

Figure 10: Short term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.8 pu voltage drop. Initial power con-
sumption: P=-1 MW, Q=-0.2 MVar.
Figure 11 shows the response of the machine in case
of a less severe voltage drop to 0.6 pu for 0.2 s. In
this case, during crowbar operation the rotor current re-
mains above its maximum value until fault clearing and
thus the machine operates for about 1 s with the crow-
bar activated.
Even though the machine remains connected to the
grid provided that the transient rotor current is not
enough to overheat the rotor, this behaviour is still not
desirable because it prevents the machine to control its
1 1.5 2
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
in
a
l
V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
1 1.5 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.5 2
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
iv
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
d

(
p
u
)
1 1.5 2
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
Time (s)
D
C

V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
Figure 11: Short-term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop.
reactive power exchange with the grid, when this ability
is needed by the system.
Two ways to circumvent this drawback are simulated
next. The rst one is to increase crowbar resistance.
Increasing the crowbar resistance, the deactivation of
the crowbar can be achieved very quickly, like in the
case of the severe voltage drop. Figure 12 shows the
simulation results, assuming R
c
= 0.07 pu.
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
in
a
l
V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
iv
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
d

(
p
u
)
1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
1.2
1.25
Time (s)
D
C

V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
Figure 12: Short-term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop (assuming R
c
= 0.07
pu).
The second control method examined in this paper
for crowbar deactivation is to use a xed time delay be-
fore attempting to switch back to converter operation.
Assuming that the crowbar is automatically switched
back 70 ms after its activation and that the converter
diodes can support the transiently high value of current,
we obtain the short-term response of Fig. 13.
In this case when the rotor side converter switches
to the diode rectier mode, the DC voltage reaches
its maximum value before the rotor current dies out.
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
in
a
l
V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0
1
2
3
4
5
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
2
1
0
1
2
3
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
iv
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
d

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
Time (s)
D
C

V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
Figure 13: Short term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop. Crowbar deactivation
with constant time delay (70 ms).
Therefore, the crowbar is re-activated, the rotor is short-
circuited again, the capacitor is discharged, and when
the DC voltage returns to its reference value, another at-
tempt to switch off the rotor current begins. After three
attempts, the machine can resume normal operation.
Multiple crowbar switchings can be avoided, if more
capacitance is available in the DC link. Figure 14 de-
picts the simulation results if a capacitance 4 times the
original one is assumed.
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
Time (s)
T
e
r
m
in
a
l
V
o
lt
a
g
e

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0
1
2
3
4
5
Time (s)
R
o
t
o
r

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
2
1
0
1
2
3
Time (s)
R
e
a
c
t
iv
e

P
o
w
e
r

C
o
n
s
u
m
e
d

(
p
u
)
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Time (s)
I
r
max

Figure 14: Short term response of DFIG with active
crowbar to a 0.4 pu voltage drop (assuming 4 times
higher capacitance).
6 Conclusions
In this paper the low-voltage ride through capability of
a DFIG wind generator equipped with a switching ac-
tive crowbar and pitch controller was conrmed using
a computer simulation program developed in NTUA.
The crowbar bypasses the rotor side converter when the
rotor current exceeds its emergency rating, thus ef-
ciently protecting the converters. The switching back
from crowbar mode to diode rectier operation of the
converter until rotor current is extinguished and normal
operation can resume was also successfully simulated.
This LVRT capability of the DFIG allows also the
reactive support to the network even during the fault-
on conditions. It was shown that this support is larger
when a voltage regulator is used instead of constant
power factor control of the DFIG. The support is larger,
when the wind generator is lightly loaded.
It was noted that for faults of medium severity it
is possible during crowbar operation to have high ro-
tor current lasting throughout the duration of the fault.
Even when these transient currents are considered ac-
ceptable for the machine winding, the resulting opera-
tion blocks the reactive support capability of the DFIG
during and shortly after the fault. As was shown, this
problem can be overcome either by increasing crowbar
resistance, or by using a larger DC capacitor in con-
junction with a higher transient current capability of the
converter diodes.
Acknowledgment
The research presented in this paper is partly supported
by the European integrated FP6 Project SES6-CT-2003-
503516 The birth of a European Distributed Energy
Partnership that will help the large scale implementa-
tion of distributed energy resources in Europe (EU-
DEEP).
References
[1] Tsourakis G, Potamianakis E, Vournas C. Eliminat-
ing Voltage Instability Problems in Wind Parks by
Using Doubly Fed Induction Generators. EWEC
2004, London, November 2004.
[2] E.ON Netz GmbH, Supplementary Grid Connec-
tion Regulations for Wind Energy Converters, De-
cember 2001.
[3] Akhmatov V. Modelling of variable-speed wind
turbines with doubly-fed induction generators in
short-term stability investigations. Proceedings of
the 3rd Int. Workshop on Transmission Networks
for Offshore Wind Farms, April 11-12, 2002.
[4] Ekanayake JB, Holdsworth L, Wu X, Jenkins N.
Dynamic Modeling of Doubly Fed Induction Gen-
erator Wind Turbines. IEEE Transactions on Power
Systems. Vol. 18, No. 2, May 2003.
[5] Niiranen J. Voltage dip ride through of a doubly-
fed generator equipped with an active crowbar. Pro-
ceedings of Nordic Wind Power Conference; March
2004.
[6] Vournas CD, Potamianakis EG, Moors C, Van Cut-
sem T. An Educational Simulation Tool for Power
System Control and Stability. IEEE Transactions
on Power Systems; February 2004, Vol. 19, No. 1.
[7] Krause PC, Wasynczuk O, Sudhoff SD. Analysis of
Electric Machinery, IEEE Press, New York, 2000.
[8] Slootweg JG, Polinder H, Kling WL. Dynamic
modelling of a wind turbine with doubly fed induc-
tion generator. Proceedings of the IEEE PES Sum-
mer Meeting 2001.
[9] Pena R, Clare JC, Asher GM. Doubly fed induction
generator using back-to-back PWM converters and
its application to variable-speed wind-energy gen-
eration. IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl.; May 1996,
Vol. 143, No. 3.
[10] Mohan N, Undeland TM, Robbins WP. Power
Electronics: Converters, Applications and Design,
Wiley, 1989.
Simulation of Low Voltage Ride Through Capability of Wind Turbines
with Doubly Fed Induction Generator
G. Tsourakis C. Vournas
National Technical University of Athens
Abstract Abstract
Following the achievement of very high wind penetration in some electric power systems, new guidelines for the connection of wind parks have been
established by Transmission System Operators. In contrast to the past, the wind turbines are not allowed to disconnect when a normally cleared fault occurs.
They must be equipped with low voltage ride through (LVRT) capability. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator
(DFIG) when an active crowbar is used to provide LVRT capability by short-circuiting the rotor temporarily.
Modeling of a pitch Modeling of a pitch- -controlled wind turbine with DFIG for Power system stability controlled wind turbine with DFIG for Power system stability
DFIG: Wound rotor connected to the grid via back-to-
back PWM voltage source inverters
Speed controller
Reactive power controller
Vector control of
rotor side
converter
(modeled as a
voltage source):
1. Speed control:
determination of
electromagnetic
torque
2. Reactive power
control: a)
Constant Power
Factor (PF) or
b) Automatic
Voltage
Regulation
(AVR)
DC voltage controller
Vector control of grid
side inverter (modeled
as a current source):
1. Reactive power
control: Q
is
=0 i
dis
=0
2. Active power control
P
is
via i
qis
to keep the
DC voltage constant
Pitch control
limits power
and speed
when wind
speed is
higher than
nominal
Pitch controller
A. Crowbar activation
Condition: I
r
>I
r,max
or V
dc
>V
dc,max
. The rotor side converter is open, the rotor is short-circuited through external resistance Rc. The machine becomes a
simple induction generator.
B. Crowbar deactivation
When I
r
falls back below I
r,max
the crowbar is switched off and the rotor current is directed to the rotor side converter again. The transistors are still blocked,
but the parallel diodes conduct. The rotor side converter operates thus as a three-phase diode rectifier. The rotor current rapidly decreases. When the
rotor current reaches zero, the machine switches back to normal operation.
Case 2
Voltage drops to 60% for
200 ms
Large steady state rotor
current with fault on (due
to larger voltage)
Rotor current decreases
only after speed
decrease
The crowbar is
deactivated ~1 s after
the beginning of the
voltage drop
Can be corrected by
increasing R
c
Simulation results depict the DFIG response to a voltage drop. Note that the terminal voltage is not fully restored to 1 pu. The blue line refers to power
factor control operation and the red line to voltage control (AVR) operation.
Case 4
Voltage drops to 60% for
200 ms
Crowbar is deactivated
after a fixed time delay.
Assuming diodes can
support the high current.
DC overvoltage is
avoided, assuming
higher capacitance.
Case 3
Voltage drops to 60% for
200 ms
Crowbar is deactivated
after a fixed time delay.
Assuming diodes can
support the high current.
DC overvoltage DFIG
resumes normal
operation after three
attempts.
Case 1
Voltage drops to 20% for
200 ms
The machine resumes
normal operation in
about 60 ms.
With AVR operation the
DFIG produces
maximum possible
reactive power.
Q limit due to rotor
converter current rating
Active crowbar modeling Active crowbar modeling
Conclusions Conclusions
A DFIG wind turbine can obtain Low-Voltage-Ride-Through capability by
adding active crowbar.
With active crowbar not only the DFIG remains connected to the grid, but
it resumes normal operation before the voltage is restored.
AVR increases reactive support to the network.
For less severe voltage drops, increased external resistance may be
needed for full exploitation of crowbar.
Alternatively, early crowbar deactivation can be used if the converter can
support the transient high current through the diodes and multiple spikes on
the capacitor (unless increased capacitance is used).