Understanding Inertial and Frequency Response of Wind Power Plants

The objective of this paper is to analyze and quantify the inertia and frequency responses of wind power plants with different wind turbine technologies (particularly those of fixed speed, variable slip with rotor-resistance controls, and variable speed with vector controls). The fundamental theory, the operating range, and the modifications needed for the wind turbine to contribute to the inertial and primary frequency response during the frequency drop will be presented in this paper. We will demonstrate practical approaches to allow variable slip and speed wind turbines to contribute inertia to the host power system grid. The approaches are based on the inclusion of frequency error and the rate of change of frequency signals in the torque control loop and pitch control actions for wind speeds below and above its rated value. Detailed simulation models in the time domain will be conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the approaches.