Insights on the Provision of Frequency Support by Wind Power and the Impact on Energy Systems

This paper implements and compares between the key concepts to enable wind power short-term frequency support from electrical and mechanical loads perspectives. Pitch de-loading, kinetic energy extraction, and wind turbine (WTG) over-speeding are investigated, where each concept is integrated as a supplementary controller to the conventional controls of WTG. Different patterns of wind speed are examined, step-change and real intermittent of high resolution. The examined aggregated synchronous area has a relatively high wind penetration with frequency support. The overall dynamic inertia of the system is assessed to analyze the impact of the integrated support methods and their key parameters. The coordination between synchronous areas and wind farms, which are interconnected through a multiterminal high-voltage direct-current network (MT-HVDC) is examined. A novel definition of the virtual inertia of MT-HVDC grid is proposed. Results show that pitch de-loading secures support reserve most of the time, and kinetic energy extraction provides sustainable support for a short interval, while accelerative de-loading could reach a compromise. The three methods are adaptable with the MT-HVDC holistic frequency support controller, with a slight advantage of kinetic energy extraction over the virtual inertia of the MT-HVDC. MATLAB/Simulink is the simulation environment.