Stability Analysis of Power Transmission of Offshore

Wind Farms Fed to Onshore Power Grids Using a

Multi-Terminal VSC-HVDC System
Mi Sa --- Nguyen Thi

Li Wang

Department of Electrical Engineering

National Cheng Kung University
Tainan City, Taiwan
E-mail: dalat1984@yahoo.com

Department of Electrical Engineering

National Cheng Kung University
Tainan City, Taiwan
E-mail: liwang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Abstract This paper presents the analyzed results of a novel

power transmission scheme for delivering large generated active
power of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based offshore
wind farms (OWFs) fed to onshore AC grids using a multiterminal HVDC (MT-HVDC) system based on voltage-source
converter (VSC). Control scheme for the MT-HVDC system is
proposed and designed to transmit total generated active power
to two AC grids under various operating conditions. A
frequency-domain approach based on a linearized system model
using eigenvalue technique and a time-domain scheme based on
a nonlinear system model subject to normal and disturbance
conditions are both proposed. The modeling and simulations of
this paper have been carried out to validate the stability of the
proposed control scheme on power transmission of the MTHVDC system using Matlab/Simulink.

I.

INTRODUCTION

HVDC system with multiple points of connection, which

is referred to as multi-terminal HVDC (MT-HVDC), is one of
the hottest research issues in the whole world today. Linking
more than two HVDC terminals to form a MT-HVDC system
may have several advantages. Firstly, a meshed grid can be
created, which is desirable to provide high power transfer
capability combined with operational flexibility and the
necessary levels of redundancy and security. Secondly, the
outage of one DC line will not interrupt the power flow at any
terminal, each terminal can be operated at a different power
and current, and the power exchange with all AC connection
points can be fully controlled.
The first parallel MT-HVDC system based on linecommutated converter (LCC) was proposed in [1] while a
series MT-HVDC system was discussed in [2]. The VSCThis work is supported by National Science of Council (NSC) of
Taiwan under Grant NSC 100-3113-P-006-014, Grant NSC 100-3113-E006-013, and Grant NSC 100-ET-E-006-005-ET.

978-1-4577-1729-1/12/$26.00 2012 IEEE.

HVDC systems are more suitable to the multi-terminal

configuration than the LCC-HVDC systems. The reasons of
using the VSC-HVDC system include independent control of
reactive power and active power, black-start capability, no
commutation failure, and no voltage polarity reversal needed
to reverse power [3-4]. The control of VSC-based MT-HVDC
transmission for offshore wind power was examined in [5]. A
detailed analysis of different MT-HVDC system topologies
was discussed in [6]. The steady-state models of converters in
VSC-based MT-HVDC systems were investigated for power
flow analysis [7].
This paper presents both steady-state and transient
analyzed results of large OWFs connected to onshore power
grids via a MT-HVDC system. The control schemes using
VSC-based MT-HVDC system are also proposed. A
systematic analysis using a frequency-domain approach based
on both eigenvalue analysis and a time-domain scheme based
on nonlinear model simulations are performed to demonstrate
the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
II.

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND MATHEMATICAL

MODELS

Fig. 1 shows the configuration of the studied three OWFs

fed to two AC grids through a five-terminal VSC-based
HVDC system. The 80-MW DFIG-based OWFs (OWF #1,
OWF #2, and OWF #3) are connected to the studied MT
VSC-HVDC system through Converter #A, Converter #B,
and Converter #C, respectively. Each OWF is represented by
a large equivalent aggregated DFIG driven by an equivalent
aggregated variable-speed WT through an equivalent gearbox
(GB). An AC network, a capacitor bank, and a local
load
are
connected between each OWF and the
corresponding converter. The output terminals of these three
converters are connected to the DC lines and fed to AC grids
Grid #1 and Grid #2 through Converter #D and Converter #E,

575

Fig. 1. Configuration of the studied two OWFs and one MCF fed to power grid through a five-terminal VSC-HVDC system

respectively. The employed mathematical models of the

studied system are described as below.
A. Wind Turbine
The captured mechanical power (in W) by a WT can be
written by

1
Pmw = w Arw VW3 C pw ( w , w )
2

(1)

where w is the air density (kg/m3), Arw is the blade impact

area (m2), VW is the wind speed (m/s), and Cpw is the
dimensionless power coefficient of the WT, w is the tip
speed ratio and w is blade pitch angle (degrees) of the
studied WT.
B. Mass-Spring-Damper Systems for OWF
The two-inertia reduced-order equivalent mass-springdamper model of the WT directly coupled to the rotor shaft of
the wind DFIG is proposed in [8-9]. The effect of gearbox
between WT and DFIG has been included in this model.
C. DFIG -based OWFs
The corresponding per-unit (p.u) q- and d-axis voltagecurrent equations of the DFIG model as well as the detail
operation of the converters can be referred to [10].

(Xi/ b)p(Idci) = VdcK Ri Idci V41

(2)

(Xj/ b)p(Idcj) = V42 Rj Idcj VdcN

(3)

where subscript i=1, 2, 3 represents the order of the three

offshore DC cables, K = A, B, C is corresponding to
Converter #A, Converter #B, and Converter #C, respectively;
subscript j=1, 2 represents the order of the three offshore DC
cables, N = D, E is corresponding to Converter #D, and
Converter #E, respectively. The relationship between the
sending and receiving ends voltages and currents are shown
in Fig. 2 can be given as
X4
p( I dc 4 ) = V41 R4 I dc 4 V42
(4)

I dc 4 = I dc1 + I dc 2 + I dc3 = I dc5 + I dc 6

(5)

The proposed control block diagrams of VSCs of multiterminal VSC-HVDC system in this paper are shown in Fig. 3.
The corresponding p.u differential equations for controlling
the modulation index and phase angle of Converters #A-#E of
the studied multi-terminal VSC-HVDC are described as
below.

D. Multi-Terminal VSC-HVDC System

Fig. 2 shows a simplified steady-state DC-equivalent
circuit where R1-R6 represent the equivalent DC resistances
of the six DC cables. The p.u voltage-current equations of the
DC lines between the Converters #A-#C and the Converters
#D of the proposed multi-terminal VSC-HVDC system
shown in Fig. 1 can be expressed by

576

Fig. 2. Steady-state DC equivalent circuit of the five-terminal system

TABLE I SYSTEM EIGENVALUES (RAD/S) OF THE STUDIED SYSTEMS

No.
1-6
7-12
13-18
19-24
25-30
31-36
37-42
43-48
49-51
52-54
55-57
58-60
61-66
67-72

Subsystem

WT-DFIG
Systems

Eigenvalues

No.

(-4.055 j37383)3
( -4.0751 j36629)3
( -23.673 j482.21)3
(-6.5538 j375.53)3
( -75.387 j263.72)3
(-57.302 j228.75)3
(-48.266 j73.588)3
(-106.8 j1.4413)3
(-84.7)3
(-10.9 )3
(-0.606)3
(-135)3
(-1.9272 j5.9548)3
(-10.048 j0.0080278)3

TMK p ( M K ) = K MK ( PstK _ ref PstK ) M K

T K p ( K ) = K K (VWFK _ ref VWFK ) K

73-74
75-76
77-78
79-80
81-82
83
84
85
86
87-91

92-93

(6)

(8)

T N p ( N ) = K N (Vdc 0 + k dcN I dcN VdcN ) N

(9)

Pgrid 2

I
k + 2 R6
= dcD = dcE
I dcE kdcD + 2 R5

Local load

(10)

where R5 and R6 are the equivalent resistances of the cables

connected to GSVSC1 and GSVSC2.

(b)
Fig. 3. The control diagrams of (a) VSC connecting to OWF (b) VSC
connecting to an AC network of multi-terminal VSC-HVDC system

-18.85 j98390
-15.901 j693.34
-48.322 j642.47
-59.433 j580.16
-38.419 j202.45
-100
-12.6
-0.997
-0.999
(-1)5

-562.27 j4.5077

EIGENVALUES ANALYSIS

where X is the state vector and A is the system matrix with

appropriate dimensions. The eigenvalues of the studied
system can be obtained by solving the following characteristic equation
det(I A) = 0

(12)

where I is an identify matrix having the same dimensions as

A and is one of the system eigenvalues. Table I lists the
system eigevalues of the studied system under the wind speed
Vw of 12 m/s. It is discovered from the eigenvalue results
listed in Table I that all eigenvalues are located on the lefthand side of the complex plane and, hence, the studied fiveterminal VSC-HVDC system is stable.
IV.

(a)

Eigenvalues

The nonlinear system equations developed in Section II

can be linearized around a nominal operating point to obtain a
set of linearized system equations in matrix form of
pX = AX
(11)

where subscript st denotes the quantities of converter station,

Idc is the dc current of the grid-side converters, Vdc0 is the dc
voltage when the dc current is zero, kdc is the slope of the
droop characteristic.
The power is shared between the two grid-side converters
as [4]

Pgrid 1

Multi-HVDC
Link

III.

(7)

TMN p ( M N ) = K MN ( QstN _ ref QstN ) M N

Subsystem

TIME-DOMAIN SIMULATIONS

This section uses the nonlinear system model developed

in Section II to demonstrate the effectiveness of control
scheme on power dispatch performance of the studied fiveterminal VSC-HVDC system under different wind speeds.
Fig. 4 shows transient responses of the studied system with
the proposed MT-HVDC link under different wind speeds
and power dispatch between Grid 1 and Grid #2. The wind
speed is modeled as the algebraic sum of base wind speed,
gust wind speed, ramp wind speed, and noise wind speed [11].
Fig. 4(a) shows the wind-speed responses of different OWFs.
When the wind speeds are different, the quantities of the three
OWFs such as active power and terminal voltage shown in
Figs. 4(b) and 4(c), respectively will be different. Fig. 4(d)
plots the all DC-link currents and it is obviously seen that the
changes of the DC currents of Converter #D and #E conform
to the power sharing between the two AC grids. Fig. 4(e)
draws the active power of the two AC grids according to a

577

predefined ratio, and it can be seen that it is not significantly

affected by wind-speed disturbances.

Windspeed(m/s)

16
14

V.

12
Wsp3
10

10

15

Wsp2

20

a)

25
t (s)

35

40

45

50

Wind Speed

1
Pw(p.u.)

30

Wsp1

Pw1

Pw2

Pw3

0.9
0.8
0.7
0

10

15

20

25
t (s)

b)

30

35

40

45

Vw(p.u.)

1.4

1.38
Vw1
1.36

10

15

20

Vw2
25
t (s)

c)

Vw3

30

35

40

Idc(p.u.)

50

Vw

Idc1
Idc2
Idc3
Idc5
Idc6
Idc4

1
0
-1

45

10

20

30

40

Idc

Pgrid(p.u.)

Pg.1

0.5
0

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Tomaki, A. Sakahara, and E. Sasano, Transient stability analysis of
wind generator system with the consideration of multi-mass shaft model,
International Conference on Power Electronics and Drives Systems, vol.
1, pp. 511-516, 16-18 Jan. 2006.

Pg.2
0

10

15

20

25 30
t (s)

e)

35

40

45

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1.5
1

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50

t (s)

d)

This paper has presented the analyzed results of a

configuration containing three OWFs fed to two power
grids through a five-terminal VSC-HVDC system. Control
strategies for the voltage-source converters of the multiterminal VSC-HVDC system have been proposed.
Eigenvalue results of the studied system under steady-state
condition have also been carried out. Through the simulation
results of power dispatch under different wind speeds, it is
found that the dynamic responses of the studied system under
different power sharing conditions are stable.

50

Pw

CONCLUSION

50

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offshore wind farm connected to a power grid through an HVDC link,
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Pgrid

Fig. 4. Transient responses of studied system under different wind speeds and
power dispatch sharing between two grids

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stability enhancement of four paralleloperated offshore wind farms
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