How the Lake Bonney wind farm met ESCOSA’s, NEMMCO’s, and ElectraNet’s rigorous interconnecting requirements

As wind farms are installed throughout the world, each of them must meet a specific grid code to allow them to interconnect with the regional transmission system. The grid code covers such items as voltage regulation, power factor control, low voltage ride through, and high voltage ride through. This paper discusses how the Lake Bonney wind farm, that was installed on ElectraNet’s transmission system, met the ESCOSA (Essential Services Commission of South Australia) and NEMMCO (National Electricity Market Management Company of Australia) wind farm grid code using a centralized Dynamic-VAR system, local transmission capacitors, and the wind turbines’ own reactive capability.