The United Nations have declared the effects of climate change as the “defining issue of our time” (United Nations, 2019). As a result of increased industrialization in the last century to keep up with the demands of a growing global population, the global output of greenhouse emissions has rocketed, which is linked to the shifting and abnormal weather patterns of the planet. Electricity and heat production alone are attributed to generating 25% of greenhouse gas emissions (Edenhofer, et al.). To alleviate the increasing levels of carbon emission there is an effort to transition in green energy power generation sources like wind energy that is abundantly available in the midwestern United States. This study aims to implement the Blade Element Method derived modeling methods for predicting the performance of a wind turbine. The experimental results obtained from the MEXICO project is employed as the validation source for the research.

Com a busca pela sustentabilidade no abastecimento de energia elétrica, a fonte eólica tem ganhado grande destaque na matriz energética global por possuir modelo de negócio consolidado, pois conta com aerogeradores modernos, naceles instalados em alturas cada vez maiores, geradores elétricos mais potentes e com sistemas de controle altamente tecnológicos. No Brasil, a energia eólica vem sendo a grande vencedora dos leilões de energia, aumentando de forma significativa seu portfólio pela viabilidade na construção de grandes complexos que devido à elevada potência instalada, realiza seu acesso ao Sistema Interligado Nacional (SIN) em níveis de tensão cada vez maiores, ou seja, em pontos mais sensíveis do sistema de transmissão. Motivado por esse crescimento e pela representatividade dos novos parques em pontos vitais do SIN, o objetivo desta dissertação é avaliar as diferentes metodologias e conceitos adotados como premissa no projeto do sistema de proteção aplicado a uma Central de Geração Eólica (CGE), apresentando como conclusão, além dos diagramas de sequência a serem utilizados no cálculo das correntes de curto-circuito, uma metodologia completa de definição dos ajustes de proteção para atender as especificidades construtivas dessas instalações. / Through the search for sustainability in electric power supply, the Eolic source has gained distinction in the global energetic matrix, as it has a consolidated business framework, which counts on modern wind turbines, nacelles installed at higher and higher altitudes, more powerful electric generators with high-technology control systems. In Brazil, Eolic energy has been the great winner in energy auctions, which has increased significantly its portfolio, due to its viability in the construction of large complexes. Having a high installed power capacity, these large projects enable access to the Sistema Interligado Nacional - SIN (National Interconnected System) at higher and higher voltage levels, that is, at more sensitive points of the transmission system. Motivated by all this development and by the representativeness of the new wind farms, installed at vital points of the SIN, the objective of this dissertation is to assess the different methodologies and concepts adopted as premise in the protection system project applied to a Central de Geração Eólica CGE (Eolic Generation Center). The conclusion presented herein, besides the sequence diagrams for the short circuit calculations, provides a complete methodology of definition of the protection adjustments required to comply with the building specificities of these installations.

Com a busca pela sustentabilidade no abastecimento de energia elétrica, a fonte eólica tem ganhado grande destaque na matriz energética global por possuir modelo de negócio consolidado, pois conta com aerogeradores modernos, naceles instalados em alturas cada vez maiores, geradores elétricos mais potentes e com sistemas de controle altamente tecnológicos. No Brasil, a energia eólica vem sendo a grande vencedora dos leilões de energia, aumentando de forma significativa seu portfólio pela viabilidade na construção de grandes complexos que devido à elevada potência instalada, realiza seu acesso ao Sistema Interligado Nacional (SIN) em níveis de tensão cada vez maiores, ou seja, em pontos mais sensíveis do sistema de transmissão. Motivado por esse crescimento e pela representatividade dos novos parques em pontos vitais do SIN, o objetivo desta dissertação é avaliar as diferentes metodologias e conceitos adotados como premissa no projeto do sistema de proteção aplicado a uma Central de Geração Eólica (CGE), apresentando como conclusão, além dos diagramas de sequência a serem utilizados no cálculo das correntes de curto-circuito, uma metodologia completa de definição dos ajustes de proteção para atender as especificidades construtivas dessas instalações. / Through the search for sustainability in electric power supply, the Eolic source has gained distinction in the global energetic matrix, as it has a consolidated business framework, which counts on modern wind turbines, nacelles installed at higher and higher altitudes, more powerful electric generators with high-technology control systems. In Brazil, Eolic energy has been the great winner in energy auctions, which has increased significantly its portfolio, due to its viability in the construction of large complexes. Having a high installed power capacity, these large projects enable access to the Sistema Interligado Nacional - SIN (National Interconnected System) at higher and higher voltage levels, that is, at more sensitive points of the transmission system. Motivated by all this development and by the representativeness of the new wind farms, installed at vital points of the SIN, the objective of this dissertation is to assess the different methodologies and concepts adopted as premise in the protection system project applied to a Central de Geração Eólica CGE (Eolic Generation Center). The conclusion presented herein, besides the sequence diagrams for the short circuit calculations, provides a complete methodology of definition of the protection adjustments required to comply with the building specificities of these installations.

The research is motivated by the need to address two major challenges in wind power integration: how to mitigate wind power fluctuation and how to ensure stability of the farm and host grid. It is envisaged that wind farm power output fluctuation can be reduced by using a specific type of buffer, such as an energy storage system (ESS), to absorb its negative impact. The proposed solution, therefore, employs ESS to solve the problems. The key research findings include a new technique for calculating the desired power output profile, an ESS charge-discharge scheme, a novel direct-calculation (optimization-based) method for determining ESS optimal rating, and an ESS operation scheme for improving wind farm transient stability. Analysis with 14 wind farms and a compressed-air energy storage system (CAES) shows that the charge-discharge scheme and the desired output calculation technique are appropriate for ESS operation. The optimal ESSs for the 14 wind farms perform four or less switching operations daily (73.2%-85.5% of the 365 days) while regulating the farms output variation. On average, the ESSs carry out 2.5 to 3.1 switching operations per day. By using the direct-calculation method, an optimal ESS rating can be found for any wind farm with a high degree of accuracy. The method has a considerable advantage over traditional differential-based methods because it does not require knowledge of the analytical form of the objective function. For ESSs optimal rating, the improvement in wind energy integration is between 1.7% and 8%. In addition, a net increase in grid steady-state voltage stability of 8.3%-18.3% is achieved by 13 of the 14 evaluated ESSs. For improving wind farm transient stability, the proposed ESS operation scheme is effective. It exploits the use of a synchronous-machine-based ESS as a synchronous condenser to dynamically supply a wind farm with reactive power during faults. Analysis with an ESS and a 60-MW wind farm consisting of stall-regulated wind turbines shows that the ESS increases the farm critical clearing time (CCT) by 1 cycle for worst-case bolted three-phase-to-ground faults. For bolted single-phase-to-ground faults, the CCT is improved by 23.1%-52.2%. / text