Application of STATCOM for Improved Reliability of Power Grid Containing a Wind Turbine

Larger wind farms when integrated to the power system pose stability and control issues. This paper investigates the use of a Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) with wind farms for the purpose of stabilizing the grid voltage after a grid-side disturbance viz., a three phase short circuit fault and load changes. The strategy focuses on a fundamental grid operational requirement to maintain proper voltages at the point of common coupling by regulating the voltage at the collector bus of a wind farm. The DC voltage at individual wind turbine (WT) inverters is also stabilized which facilitates the continuous operation of each WT during disturbances.