WindPowerControl: Modeling and Control of Wind Energy in Sustainable Power Systems

There is currently an urgent need to achieve renewable based power grids, as a result of the environmental impact of fossil fuel generation as well as due to economic considerations. Wind energy has a significant role to play for the realization of renewable based grids. Nevertheless, achieving a high penetration of wind energy in power grids while retaining an efficient and reliable operation, is a non-trivial problem as a result of the complexity of wind energy systems.

In particular, wind power generation is a multi-stage power conversion process, from wind energy to mechanical energy, DC electric power, and then AC electric power. Many models in the literature focus on only parts of this process which is inadequate to achieve a good performance when there is a high penetration of wind generation. Furthermore, potential undesirable oscillatory interactions between the diverse wind energy systems in a power grid further complicates their integration requiring advanced control mechanisms to be implemented.

The proposed project aims to address this problem starting with the development of an advanced model for wind energy systems that incorporates its aggregate mechanical and electrical dynamics. This will then be used a basis for designing advanced control strategies for wind energy systems with a grid forming role that will ensure an efficient operation when there is a a large-scale integration of those in a power grid.

The work will build upon the existing expertise of the fellow in power electronics and power systems and expertise in control engineering and power system dynamics of the host institution, so as to address this important multidisciplinary problem that is crucial for the realization of renewable based power grids.