Comparison among Series Compensators for Fault Ride through Capability Enhancement of Wind Generator Systems

Abstract —A comparison among series connected auxiliary devices, such as Superconducting Fault Current Limiter (SFCL), Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR), Thyristor Switched Series Capacitor (TCSC), and Series Dynamic Braking Resistor (SDBR), is performed in terms of fault ride through capability improvement, harmonics suppression, controller complexity, and cost of a fixed speed wind generator system. The tested system consists of one synchronous generator and one squirrel cage induction machine based wind generator, which feed an infinite bus through a double circuit transmission line. Simulation results show that all the devices perform well during symmetrical faults, however, in spite of its controller complexity, the DVR has the best performance among all devices in terms of voltage and speed control of wind generators. The SFCL is the costliest among all devices, however, it is the most efficient in reducing the fluctuations of active power and stator current of the wind generators. The SDBR is the cheapest, and shows a better enhancement in damping active power and limiting fault current as compared to the DVR and TCSC. Despite the ability of TCSC to compensate the reactive power for power quality improvement, it is less desirable to achieve a better performance under transient conditions.