PERFORMANCE OF AN AUTONOMOUS DIESEL-WIND TURBINE POWER-SYSTEM

The feasibility of installing a 2.5 MW wind farm within an isolated po wer system in Western Australia is examined. This network is at presen t being supplied by several diesel generators. The main design conside ration is the dynamic interaction between these generators and the win d turbines. The paper begins with a discussion of the results of field tests carried out on the diesel units. The performance of these alter nators under disturbance conditions is assessed and the test results a re used to derive improved computer representations for the generators . The proposed wind farm employs induction generators. The behaviour o f the hybrid diesel-wind turbine power system is then studied by asses sing the effect of normal variations in the wind mechanical power on s ystem frequency and voltages. It shows that the wind turbines would de grade the quality of the electrical supply by causing unacceptably lar ge voltage and frequency excursions. Thus there is a need for fast aut omated control actions if the full potential of the wind farm is to be exploited. Consideration of other disturbance types also leads to thi s conclusion. The application of a static var compensator and upgrade of the diesel generator control systems are the two options examined. It is shown that these methods can alleviate the design problem satisf actorily.