Meeting the IESO Interconnection

Requirements for Ontarian Wind Farms

European Wind Energy Conference
Brussels, Belgium
April 3, 2008
Written and presented by
Manisha Ghorai, American Superconductor Corporation
8401 Murphy Drive, Middleton, WI 53562
mghorai@amsc.com
PH: +1 608 828 9127
FX: +1 608 831 5793
Narend Reddy, American Superconductor Corporation
8401 Murphy Drive, Middleton, WI 53362
nreddy@amsc.com
PH: +1 608 828 9188
FX: +1 608 831 5793

I. SUMMARY
During the past few years, the province of Ontario in Canada, motivated by government
incentives and renewable energy programs, has added an increasing number of wind farms to its
transmission system. The integration of a wind farm to the transmission grid introduces a variety of
issues that impact the grid and the wind farm itself. In order to ensure the reliability and safety of
the rest of the grid, the Independent Electric System Operator (IESO) has issued interconnection
requirements that need to be met by wind farms in Ontario. Often, wind turbines alone cannot
provide the necessary compensation to meet these requirements. An American Superconductor

D-VAR (Dynamic VAR) reactive compensation system can provide a cost-effective and reliable
solution to help the wind farm satisfy the interconnection requirements.

II. INTRODUCTION
Wind energy is a clean, renewable form of energy gaining popularity all over the globe. Ontario,
Canada in particular continues to add wind farms to contribute generation to their grid as a result of
government incentives and renewable energy programs. The integration of a wind farm to the
transmission grid can cause a variety of issues that impact the grid and the wind farm itself.
The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) manages and operates the Ontario
transmission system, owned by Hydro One. The IESO has defined market rules that all wind farms
in Ontario must follow to ensure the safety and reliability of the grid, which are outlined in the
document Market Rules for the Ontario Electricity Market, Grid Connection Requirements [1]. The
IESO also performs System Impact Analyses (SIAs) for all proposed wind farms in Ontario to
confirm that the wind farm will in fact meet the Market Rules.
American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) also studies wind farm interconnection concerns

and can provide a dynamic solution, a D-VAR dynamic reactive compensation system installed at
the collector bus that will allow wind farms to meet the interconnection requirements.

III. W IND FARM INTEGRATION ISSUES

Introducing wind generation to a transmission system can be challenging as it can affect the
operation of the grid negatively. If a group of turbines trips offline for any reason, this could cause
voltage fluctuations also seen at the transmission level. A large amount of in-rush current is
required at the start-up of standard induction turbines which also causes voltage fluctuations. The
unpredictable nature of wind means that a variable wind speed could cause large and sudden real
power output changes. Finally, any voltage flicker and / or harmonics contributed by certain wind
turbines could magnify the existing flicker and harmonics on the grid to unacceptable levels.
Similarly, events that occur on the utility transmission grid can affect the operation and stability of
the wind farm as well. Often, as discussed in this paper, utilities require unique interconnection
requirements to address these kinds of issues. Variations on the transmission grid voltage could
cause the generators to trip. Voltage fluctuations and step changes on the grid due to capacitor
bank and reactor bank switching and a phase voltage imbalance or background harmonics on the
system could damage the turbine equipment as well [2].

IV. IESO REQUIREMENTS

The IESO has realized the interconnection concerns described above, and in response, has
provided standards to prevent such issues.
In order for a wind farm in Ontario to gain approval for its connection to the Hydro One
transmission system, it is required to meet the following key performance and capability standards
for reactive power mandated by the IESO as stated in the Ontario Energy Market Rules [1]:
1.

Supply continuous dynamic reactive power at all active power outputs in the range of 0.90
capacitive to 0.95 inductive power factor based on rated active power at its generator
terminals [1].

2.

Supply full active power continuously while operating at a generator terminal voltage
ranging from 0.95 to 1.05 pu of the generators rated terminal voltage [1].

3.

Voltage Ride Through (VRT) capability of the wind turbine generators (WTG) is expected to
be sufficient to allow the wind farm to remain connected to the IESO-controlled grid for
recognized system contingencies that do not remove the facility by configuration. The
reactive compensation must also be fast, dynamic and respond within 1 second [1].

These requirements ensure that the safety of the rest of the grid will not be compromised by the
addition of wind generation.

V. MEETING INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS

The figure below shows a 100-MW wind farm that is a typical connection configuration to the
Hydro One transmission system in Ontario.

Figure 1: 100-MW Ontario Wind Farm

This 100-MW wind farm has three feeders of wind turbines which all connect to a 34.5-kV
collector bus. A 60-MVA base rated power transformer with a typical impedance of 9% on the base
rating steps the voltage at the 34.5-kV collector bus to the transmission voltage of 230 kV, where
the wind farm connects to the Hydro One transmission grid. The high voltage side is typically
known as the Point of Interconnection (POI), where the IESO requires voltage regulation and power
factor regulation capabilities to be met.
A wide selection of wind turbines is available with a variety of capabilities for developers as they
contemplate installing a wind farm. Depending on the manufacturer and model of the wind turbine,
the turbine could have the ability to operate with a fixed power factor or with a variable power factor
over a range. These wind turbines could also have Low-Voltage-Ride-Through (LVRT) or HighVoltage-Ride-Through (HVRT) capabilities built in. The level of LVRT and HVRT capability also
could vary depending on the options purchased. These wind turbines can also be configured to
provide voltage and power factor regulation at a defined connection point.
To meet the IESO capacitive power factor requirement of 0.90, the Market Rules state that 13%
of losses will be allowed by utility. Therefore, the minimum reactive power required to be injected at
the POI is:

tan(acos(0.9))-0.13 = 0.35 pu (of rated active power)

For a 100-MW wind farm, this translates to a capacitive reactive power target at the POI of:
0.35*100 = 35 MVAR
The minimum reactive power required to be absorbed (inductive) at the POI is:
tan(acos(0.95)) = 0.33 pu (of rated active power)

For a 100-MW wind farm, this translates to an inductive reactive power target at the POI of:
0.33*100 = 33 MVAR
The reactive power targets are summarized in the chart below:

IESO Target Requirements

Capacitive
(MVAR)

Inductive
(MVAR)

+90%/-95% PF at 230 kV POI

35

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Table 1: IESO PF Requirement Targets at POI

Typical losses that can be considered for this size wind farm include about 7% of generator step
up (GSU) transformer losses, 4% of collector grid losses, 2% of collector grid charging, and 9% of
power transformer losses. The following one-line diagram also shows the loss breakdown at each
level:

Figure 2: 100-MW Wind Farm Loss Breakdown

After the losses are taken into consideration, the total reactive compensation required to meet the
power factor requirements at the POI are shown below:

Total Reactive
Compensation Required

Capacitive
(MVAR)

Inductive
(MVAR)

53

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Table 2: Total Reactive Compensation Range Required

The above calculations assume that the wind turbines are operating at a fixed power factor of
100%. If the wind turbines had the capability to operate with a variable power factor range (95%
capacitive to 95% inductive, for example), the wind turbines would be able to inject and absorb up
to 33 MVAR at the wind turbine generator terminals. With the additional compensation provided by
the wind turbines, the total reactive compensation required is reduced to 20 MVAR capacitive only.
With the inductive power capability of the turbines the need for any additional inductive
compensation at the collector level is eliminated.
This paper explores the application of the AMSC D-VAR system to provide the necessary
reactive compensation requirements at the collector bus level.

VI. AMSC D-VAR SYSTEM

The AMSC D-VAR system could consist of a dynamic reactive compensation system (the D-VAR
device) as well as switched shunt capacitors and reactors, if required.
The AMSC D-VAR unit, a STATCOM device, is an ideal choice to address the issues of voltage
regulation as it can provide continuous dynamic VARs [2]. It makes use of the AMSC proprietary
TM
PowerModule power electronic converters, which provide continuous reactive compensation over
an engineered inductive and capacitive range. The D-VAR unit also has short-term overload
capability to provide 2.67x the continuous rating for 2 seconds, which is a valuable benefit to
address transient voltage excursions. The D-VAR unit has a response time in the order of cycles
and is modular and relocatable [3].
The D-VAR unit is available in 4-MVA modules which can be combined to provide whatever
dynamic compensation required. Each unit is contained in an 8x8x8 NEMA Type 4 outdoor
enclosure, fit to be installed directly at a substation without any additional housing. The D-VAR unit
can also be combined with shunt capacitors and reactors, thus expanding the complete continuous
reactive capability of the D-VAR system significantly.
A typical D-VAR based reactive
compensation system configuration placed at the wind farm collector bus is illustrated in the figure
below:

Figure 3: AMSC D-VAR System Reactive Compensation Solution Configuration

As shown in Figure 3 above, the D-VAR devices control system monitors the voltage and current
at the POI and adjusts its output depending on the required compensation. The D-VAR devices
control system manages the switching of the shunt capacitors and reactors to provide additional
steady state or dynamic compensation as needed. If the wind turbines have a variable power factor
capability, the control system can also communicate with the wind turbine controls to leverage the
available VARs from the wind turbines as necessary. The D-VAR control system has the capability
to manage these various reactive compensation sources as needed to provide the performance
expectation of the wind farm.
The D-VAR system control operates with a dead band and droop approach. A typical control
approach for the D-VAR device is shown below:

Figure 4: Typical D-VAR Control Approach

The D-VAR system will either inject VARs or absorb VARs to boost or buck the voltage depending
on what is necessary to bring the controlled voltage back within the specified range.
Normally the D-VAR system will operate in slow-regulation mode to limit voltage excursions to
within the above defined parameters. However, the D-VAR system will also operate in fastregulation mode with a subset of parameters specifically used for this purpose, utilizing the D-VAR
units overload capability to mitigate any transient voltage events that may occur on the
transmission grid or that may be caused by the wind farm itself [2]. The D-VAR system control
parameters are tested and tuned using dynamic studies undertaken using PSS/e. The PSS/e model
for the D-VAR system utilizes the exact same algorithm as the actual device, which allows
engineers to accurately determine the response of the complete system to different types of
transient events.
The AMSC D-VAR system has been installed at over 30 wind farms throughout the world to
address power factor correction, voltage regulation, Low-Voltage and High-Voltage-Ride-Through
concerns and requirements.
The following picture shows a D-VAR system installation at a North American Wind Farm facility.

Figure 5: A North American Wind Farm D-VAR Installation

VII. SYSTEM STUDIES

Engineers at AMSC usually undertake variety of studies to confirm that the size and configuration
of the D-VAR system needed for a particular wind farm to meet the interconnection requirements.

Some of these studies include load flow analyses, dynamic stability and transient analyses, and
harmonic and flicker analyses.
A load flow analysis considers the steady state continuous capabilities of the solution. This
analysis can be used to confirm that the entire power factor range required is achieved as well as
the required voltage regulation [3].
A harmonic analysis determines if and how the existing system harmonics may affect the solution
equipment, and if the reactive compensation solution may impact the overall system harmonics.
A dynamic and transient analysis will determine whether the turbines do achieve low and high
voltage ride through for given contingencies. The parameters that the D-VAR system uses in the
field are also configured and tested these dynamic stability analyses to confirm its operation in the
field.
Presented below are some results of a dynamic stability analysis for a wind farm project
performed by AMSC. These results show the real power output of the wind farm, without additional
compensation, as a 600-ms fault is applied on the utility transmission grid. In this particular case
the wind turbines utilized cannot withstand a voltage below 0.75 pu for more than 5 cycles, resulting
in tripping.

Figure 6: Wind Farm Power Output, without Additional Compensation, for a Fault on
Transmission Grid
The figure below shows the results of the same fault analysis, but with the AMSC D-VAR system
modeled as well. In this simulation, the D-VAR unit detects the low voltage on the transmission
system due to the fault, and provides enough reactive compensation to quickly rebuild the voltage
at the wind turbine generator terminal above 0.75 pu. This allows the wind turbines to stay online
during the actual fault period and continue to operate normally as the voltage returns back to
normal upon clearing.

Figure 7: Wind Farm Power Output, with AMSC D-VAR Reactive Compensation System, for
a Fault on Transmission Grid

VIII. CONCLUSIONS
Wind farm installations can introduce a variety of issues when connected to the rest of the
transmission grid, including transient voltage events and steady state voltage regulation problems.
As a result, transmission system operators such as the IESO of Ontario have initiated strict
interconnection requirements and grid codes to protect the transmission grid. Often, wind turbines
alone cannot provide the necessary compensation to meet these requirements. An American
Superconductor D-VAR reactive compensation system can provide a cost-effective and reliable
solution to help the wind farm satisfy the interconnection requirements.

IX. REFERENCES
1.
IESO. Market Rules for the Ontario Electricity Market, Grid Connection Requirements,
September 14 2005.
2.
Kehrli B, Ross M. Utility-Connected Power Electronic Compensators in Wind Power
Applications. Feb 2007.
3. Saylors S, Diaz de Leon J. How the HAWI Wind Farm Met HECOs Rigorous Interconnecting
Requirements June 2007.

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X. BIOGRAPHIES
Manisha Ghorai joined American Superconductor in 2006 after graduating from the University of
Wisconsin with her degree in Electrical Engineering. She currently works on the Transmission and
Distribution Planning Team. She performs studies where she analyzes transmission and
distribution system problems such as for voltage collapse, transfer capability, wind farm
interconnection, harmonic and power quality problems.
Narend Reddy is currently the Manager of Transmission and Distribution Planning at the Power
Systems business unit of American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC). He joined AMSC in
2001 as a Transmission and Distribution Planning Engineer working on planning studies to
analyze systems for voltage, capacity, stability, transfer capability, power quality and wind
interconnection problems. This work also included application of STATCOM devices to solve
voltage and stability related problems as well as developing solutions for voltage regulations,
power factor control and voltage ride-through problems associated with wind farms.

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