Case studies of wind park modeling

The proper modeling of wind energy projects in system studies is very important. Wind farms can consist of hundreds of units, resulting in a wind farm often capable of producing several hundred MW. The location of a wind farm is selected primarily based on good wind conditions; these conditions often coincide with relatively remote parts of the power system. This increases the need for good models and analysis, as the wind generation may represent a significant portion of the total local generation. There has been research on techniques for the aggregation of the wind turbines in a wind farm to reduce the size and complexity of the model. However, it is not always clear when these approximation techniques can be used, or when the extra time and effort to develop a full representation of the wind farm is justified. Using an actual wind farm configuration, this paper compares the effects of modeling detail on power flow calculations such as those used to determine reactive power requirements, voltage control strategy, wind farm losses, and external events such as contingencies on the bulk power system, calculations of short circuit currents, and stability analysis including transient stability, low voltage ride through (LVRT), and wind farm oscillations.