Use of turbine inertia for power smoothing of wind turbines with a DFIG

Fluctuating power is of serious concern in grid connected wind systems and energy storage systems are being developed to help alleviate this. This paper describes how additional energy storage can be provided within the existing wind turbine system by allowing the turbine speed to vary over a wider range. It also addresses the stability issue due to the modified control requirements. A control algorithm is proposed for a typical doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) arrangement and a simulation model is used to assess the ability of the method to smooth the output power. The disadvantage of the method is that there is a reduction in energy capture relative to a maximum power tracking algorithm. This aspect is evaluated using a typical turbine characteristic and wind profile and is shown to decrease by less than 1%. In contrast power fluctuations at intermediate frequency are reduced by typically 90%.