Power Quality Improvement of Wind Power Plants by Active Filters Embedded in STATCOMs

The application of active filtering in large offshore wind power plants is presented in this paper. Harmonic challenges from harmonic emissions and resonances are identified. Modern remedial harmonic mitigation methods such as active filtering are described. It is shown that wind power plant components such as high voltage alternating current export power cables and park transformers can introduce significant low-frequency resonances which can cause a significant harmonic distortion at the point of common coupling. It is demonstrated that active filtering in modern grid-side converters used in static synchronous compensators, which simultaneously provide voltage and reactive power control, is a matured, robust and feasible solution for wind power plants.