Influence of Electrical Contact Resistance within Cable Joint Operation in Australian Wind Farms

Wind farm collector circuits generally comprise several Wind Turbine Generators (WTG's). Installation of cable joints are required at specific locations to allow for connection of long cable lengths to the substation. Total circuit resistance across these junctions comprises a combination of the inherent material resistance of the conductor, the cable joint connector link and contact resistance created due to the electrical connection of the cable joint. Contact resistance is an important parameter to consider when analysing or designing electrical infrastructure such as wind farm collector circuits. In this paper the objective is to quantify the contribution and practical operational effect of contact resistance formed from the electrical connections contained within a cable joint system. All findings presented are based on data collated as part of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigation and from literature review and involve data analysis and discussion with experts working across the wind industry. A significant finding was the degradation in quality for the connector links.