Technical Review of Power Quality Problems Associated with Grid Connected Wind Energy Conversion Systems

Renewable energies and accommodating them into the system is one of the key features of smart grid. Among the renewable power sources, wind energy encompasses high potential and technology maturity and consequently highest investment. Accompany with the widely expansion of the extent of wind based power production, the power quality problems due to grid connected wind turbines are involved broadly. The wind farm output fluctuations and consequently grid voltage due to the random fluctuations of wind speed and intrinsic specifications of wind turbines may cause various power quality problems. In other hand, power quality has become a serious issue in the past decade due to the growth in sensitive loads, addition of non-linear loads and switching devices and ever-increasing consciousness of the implications of low power quality. Therefore, it is noteworthy to survey the effect of wind turbines on power quality of connected grid. This paper presents a technical review of power quality problems associated with the grid connected wind-based power production systems.

Keywords:

Grid Connection , Power Quality , Point of Common Coupling (PCC) , Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS)