The growing demand for power and increased environmental concerns gave an impetus to the growth of clean and renewable energy sources like wind, solar etc. There is a remarkable increase in the penetration of wind energy systems in the last decade and this trend is bound to increase at a much faster pace in future. This ever increasing penetration of wind power generating systems pose multi-fold challenges related to operational and stability aspects of the grid. Present day wind energy systems mostly comprise of variable speed wind generators. A large fraction of present day variable speed wind turbine generators use doubly fed induction machine (DFIM). This thesis deals with modeling and grid coordination aspects of variable speed wind gener- ators. In particular, the short coming of the existing steady state equivalent circuit of a DFIM is identified and subsequently, an accurate equivalent circuit of a DFIM is proposed. Relevant mathematical basis for the proposed model is presented. The proposed steady state equivalent circuit of a doubly fed induction machine is further validated using dynamic simulations of a standalone machine. Based on the proposed equivalent circuit, two approaches for computing the initial values of state variables of a DFIM is proposed. The first approach is a linear formulation where the losses due to resistance of the stator and rotor windings are neglected. The second approach is a non-linear formulation which takes the losses into consideration. Further, analysis is carried out on grid connected doubly fed induction generators (DFIG). A framework to incorporate DFIG based variable speed wind farms in the steady state power flow analysis is proposed. The proposed framework takes into consideration important aspects such as voltage dependent reactive power limits and mode of reactive power control of associated converters. Some of the challenges in a grid connected DFIG especially during su- persynchronous mode of operation are identified. The advantages of a non-Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) mode of operation under certain operating conditions is highlighted. Finally, aspects pertaining to coordination of grid connected variable speed wind generators are studied. A trust region framework to determine the reference values to the control loops of converters in a variable speed wind generator is proposed. The proposed framework identifies the reference values considering other reactive power controllers in the grid. Moreover, the proposed framework ensures that the steady state voltage stability margin is maximized. On the computational front, trust region algorithms ensure global convergence. The mathematical models and initialization algorithms proposed in this thesis are tested on standalone systems under various control scenarios. The algorithms proposed to incorporate a grid connected DFIG in steady state analysis tools have been tested on a sample 6-bus system and a practical 418-bus equivalent system of Indian southern grid.

In recent years, the electric power industry around the world is changing continuously due to transformation from regulated market structure to deregulated market structure. The main aim of the transformation of electric supply industry under open access environment is to overcome the some of the limitations faced by the vertically integrated system. It is believed that this transformation will bring in new technologies, integration of other sources of energy such as wind, solar, fuel cells, bio-gas, etc., which are self sustainable and competitive, and better choice for the consumers and so on. As a result, several new issues and challenges have emerged. One of the main issues in power systems is to support reactive power for maintaining the system voltage profile with an acceptable margin of security and reliability required for system operation. In this context, the thesis addresses some of the problems related to planning and operation of reactive power in power systems. Studies are mainly focused on steady state operation of grid systems, grid connected wind farms and distribution systems as well. The reactive power support and loss allocation using Y-bus approach is proposed. It computes the reactive power contribution from various reactive sources to meet the reactive load demand and losses. Further, the allocation of reactive power loss to load or sink buses is also computed. Detailed case studies are carried out on 11-bus equivalent system of Indian southern region power grid under different loading conditions and also tested on 259-bus equivalent system of Indian western region power grid. A comparative analysis is also carried out with the proportional sharing principle and one of the circuit based approach in the literature to highlight the features of the proposed approach. A new reactive power loss index is proposed for identification of weak buses in the system. The new index is computed from the proposed Y-bus approach for the system under intact condition as well as some severe contingencies cases. Fuzzy logic approach is used to select the important and severe line contingencies from the contingency list. The validation of weak load buses identification from the proposed reactive power loss index with that from other well known existing methods in the literature such as Q-V sensitivity based modal analysis and continuation power flow method is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed index. Then, a short-term reactive power procurement/optimal reactive power dispatch analysis is also carried out to determine the optimum size of the reactive compensation devices to be placed at the weak buses for reactive compensation performance analysis in the system. The proposed approach is illustrated on a sample 5-bus system, and tested on sample 10-bus equivalent system and 72-bus equivalent system of Indian southern region power grid. A comprehensive power flow analysis of PQ type models for wind turbine generating units is presented. The different PQ type models of fixed/semi-variable speed wind turbine generating units are considered for the studies. In addition, the variable speed wind turbine generating units are considered in fixed power factor mode of operation. Based on these models, a comparative analysis is carried out to assess the impact of wind generation on distribution and transmission systems. 27-bus equivalent distribution test system, 93-bus equivalent test system and SR 297-bus equivalent grid connected wind system are considered for the studies. Lastly, reactive power coordination for voltage stability improvement in grid connected wind farms with different types of wind turbine generating units based on fuzzy logic approach is presented. In the proposed approach, the load bus voltage deviation is minimized by changing the reactive power controllers according to their sensitivity using fuzzy set theory. The fixed/semi-variable speed wind turbine generating units are also considered in the studies because of its impact on overall system voltage performance even though they do not support the system for voltage unlike variable speed wind generators. 297-bus equivalent and 417-bus equivalent grid connected wind systems are considered to present the simulation results. A comparative analysis is also carried out with the conventional linear programming based reactive power optimization technique to highlight the features of the proposed approach.

An exponentially growing global population, power demands, pollution levels and, on the other hand, rapid advances in means of communication have made the public aware of the complex energy situation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has vast open land, an abundance of fossil fuel, a small population but has always been among the front-runners where the development and utilisation of clean sources of energy are concerned. Several studies on wind, solar and geothermal sources of energy have been conducted in Saudi Arabia. Solar photovoltaic (pv) has been used for a long time in many applications such as cathodic protection, communication towers and remotely located oil field installations. Recently, a 2MW grid-connected pv power plant has been put online and much larger solar desalination plants are in planning stage. Wind resource assessment, hub height optimisation, grid-connected wind farm and hybrid power system design were conducted in this study using existing methods. Historical daily mean wind speed data measured at 8 to 12metres above ground level at national and international airports in the kingdom over a period of 37 years was used to obtain long-term annual and monthly mean wind speeds, annual mean wind speed trends, frequency distribution, Weibull parameters, wind speed maps, hub height optimisation and energy yield using an efficient modern wind turbine of 2.75MW rated power. A further detailed analysis (such as estimation of wind shear exponent, Weibull parameters at different heights, frequency distribution at different heights, energy yield and plant capacity factor and wind speed variation with height) was conducted using wind speed measurements made at 20, 30 and 40metres above ground level. As a first attempt, an empirical correlation was developed for the estimation of near-optimal hub height (HH = 142.035 * (α) + 40.33) as a function of local wind shear exponent (α) with a correlation coefficient of 97%. This correlation was developed using the energy yield from a wind turbine of 1 000kW rated power and wind speed and local exponent for seven locations in Saudi Arabia. A wind-pv-diesel hybrid power system was designed and specifications were made for a remotely located village, which is being fed 100% by diesel power generating units. The proposed system, if developed, will offset around 35% of the diesel load and therefore will result in decreased air pollution by almost the same amount. The developed wind speed maps, the frequency distributions and estimated local wind shear exponents for seven locations and energy yield will be of great help in defining the further line of action and policy-building towards wind power development and utilisation in the kingdom. The study also recommends conducting a wind measurement campaign using tall towers with wind measurements at more than one height and estimating the local wind shear exponents and developing a wind atlas for the kingdom. The study further states that a grid-connected wind farm of moderate capacity of 40MW should be developed using turbines of varying rated powers. The wind speed data was also analysed using wavelet transform and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to understand the fluctuation in wind speed time series for some of the stations. It is also recommended that policy-makers should take firm decision on the development of hybrid power systems for remotely located populations which are not yet connected with the grid. There are two challenges which need research: one is the effect of dust on the moving and structural elements of the wind turbines and the second is the effect of high prevailing temperatures on the performance and efficiency of the same. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / PhD / Unrestricted