Real-Time Transient Simulation and Studies of Offshore Wind Turbines

The real-time models of offshore wind turbine generators complied with industry standards are presented in this paper. The developed models provide essential capabilities for future electromagnetic transient controls and testing offshore wind farms, such as low-voltage ride-through, active/reactive power support, transient current limiting. Furthermore, the proposed models provide an additional capability of controlling negative sequence current, which meets the future requirements for protecting wind farm systems. This paper presents average-value and detailed switching real-time models in the Opal-RT real-time simulator. The efficacy of the proposed real-time models in terms of computational efficiency is demonstrated by comparing them with the non-real-time models. Extensive case studies are performed to demonstrate the control functions of the proposed models, such as dynamic-wind condition, power curtailment, low-voltage and fault ride-through, negative sequence current control, etc. The wind turbine model validation against the generic model presented by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) is conducted to show their compliance with industry standards utilized by WECC. A real-time model of a 450 MW offshore wind farm is developed to show the feasibility of large-scale wind farm modeling.