Reconfiguration of the reactive power loop of a wind power plant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10411480-B2
Application number	US-201415039379-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 3, 2014
Priority date	Nov 28, 2013
Publication date	Sep 10, 2019
Grant date	Sep 10, 2019

Abstract

The present invention relates a method of controlling a wind power plant connected to an electrical grid, the wind power plant comprises a power plant controller (350), a plurality of wind turbine generators (1) and a STATCOM (230), with a STATCOM controller, comprises: controlling the plurality of wind turbine generators in a first control mode, with the power plant controller controlling a reactive power production from each of the plurality of wind turbine generators according to a closed loop control scheme, and controlling in a first control mode with a closed loop control scheme a reactive power production from the STATCOM according to a first setpoint dispatched from the power plant controller, and controlling the reactive power production from the STATCOM in a second control mode from the STATCOM controller according to an electrical measurement in the grid, and controlling the plurality of wind turbine generators in a second control mode, with the power plant controller controlling a reactive power production from the plurality of wind turbine generators, according to a feedforward control or a close loop control, based on a second setpoint from the STATCOM controller, and switching between the first control mode and the second control mode when receiving at least one trigger signal. The invention also relates to a wind power plant according to the method.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a wind power plant connected to an electrical grid, the wind power plant comprising a power plant controller, a plurality of wind turbine generators and a static synchronous compensator (“STATCOM”), the STATCOM having a STATCOM controller, the method comprising:
controlling the plurality of wind turbine generators in a first control mode, wherein in the first control mode the power plant controller is configured to act as a master controller for the wind power plant by controlling a reactive power production of each of the plurality of wind turbine generators according to a closed loop control scheme and the STATCOM controller is configured to act as a slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling, with a closed loop control scheme, a reactive power production of the STATCOM according to a first setpoint value dispatched from the power plant controller; and
receiving a trigger signal, and in response switching from the first control mode to a second control mode, wherein in the second control mode the STATCOM controller is configured to act as the master controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the STATCOM according to an electrical measurement in the grid and the power plant controller is configured to act as the slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the plurality of wind turbine generators, according to at least one of a feedforward control scheme and a closed loop control scheme, based on a second setpoint value dispatched from the STATCOM controller.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second setpoint values is at least one of a reactive power setpoint, a voltage setpoint or a Power Factor setpoint.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the power plant controller switches from the first control mode to the second control mode.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises:
synchronizing the first and second control modes of the power plant controller and the first and second control modes of the STATCOM controller; and
communicating an alarm to the STATCOM controller and the power plant controller if the first and second control modes of the power plant controller and the first and second control modes of the STATCOM controller are not synchronized.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the power plant controller switches from the second control mode to the first control mode.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the trigger signal is triggered due to a low voltage event in the electrical grid.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
dispatching a feedforward setpoint to the plurality of wind turbine generators through the power plant controller.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
measuring an electrical parameter through a measuring point of the power plant controller; and
calculating the trigger signal based on the electrical parameter.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring an electrical variable through a measuring point of the STATCOM; and
calculating the trigger signal based on the electrical variable.

10. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code configured to perform an operation comprising:
controlling a plurality of wind turbine generators in a first control mode, wherein in the first control mode a power plant controller is configured to act as a master controller for a wind power plant by controlling a reactive power production of each of a plurality of wind turbine generators according to a closed loop control scheme and a STATCOM controller is configured to act as a slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling, with a closed loop control scheme, a reactive power production of the STATCOM according to a first setpoint value dispatched from the power plant controller; and
receiving a trigger signal, and in response switching from the first control mode to a second control mode, wherein in the second control mode the STATCOM controller is configured to act as the master controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the STATCOM according to an electrical measurement in a grid and the power plant controller is configured to act as the slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the plurality of wind turbine generators, according to at least one of a feedforward control scheme and a closed loop control scheme, based on a second setpoint value dispatched from the STATCOM controller.

11. A wind power plant connectable to an electrical grid, the wind power plant comprising a plurality of wind turbine generators, a power plant controller, a trigger, and a STATCOM, the STATCOM having a STATCOM controller, wherein:
the power plant controller is arranged to control the plurality of wind turbine generators in a first control mode, wherein in the first control mode the power plant controller acts as a master controller for the wind power plant by controlling a reactive power production of each of the plurality of wind turbine generators according to a closed loop control scheme;
the STATCOM controller is arranged to, in the first control mode with a closed loop control scheme, act as a slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling a reactive power production of the STATCOM according to a first setpoint value dispatched from the power plant controller; and
the trigger is arranged to receive a trigger signal, and in response switch from the first control mode to a second control mode, wherein in the second control mode the STATCOM controller is arranged to act as the master controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the STATCOM according to an electrical measurement in the grid and the power plant controller is arranged to act as the slave controller for the wind power plant by controlling the reactive power production of the plurality of wind turbine generators, according to at least one of a feedforward control scheme and a closed loop control scheme, based on a second setpoint value dispatched from the STATCOM controller.

Assignees

• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Garcia Jorge Martinez
• Rokofyllos Athanasios
• Nayebi Kouroush

Classifications

• F03D9/257

  the wind motor being part of a wind farm · CPC title

• H02J2101/28

  Wind energy · CPC title

• H02J3/1842

  having reactive elements actively controlled by bridge converters, e.g. active filters or static compensators [STATCOM] · CPC title

• F03D9/25

  the apparatus being an electrical generator (F03D9/22 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F05B2270/337

  Electrical grid status parameters, e.g. voltage, frequency or power demand · CPC title