A Wind Farm is a Power Plant

摘要

The grid connection is often an issue causing difficulties when a major wind farmis planned. There is a lot of reasons to this, ranging from cost factors to as simple asmisunderstanding between the main parties: The wind side and the utility side.The paper discusses first short- & medium-term issues like the design of a wind farm withrespect to optimization. It is claimed that the communication problems between the parties canbe minimized if the wind farm is seen from the grid as a power station, having characteristicsthat are complements to other types of power stations or even advantageous.Intra-structure sub-systems like generators are optionally direct-drive or geared with a singlestep-gear ("intermediate solutions"). Today's standard drives with a multi-step-gear remain as anearby short-term choice, but needs further medium-term development for best power quality,availability, reliability; to be appropriate for farms, increased ratings and new localizations.Infrastructures for interconnections are best supplied as sub-systems for best fit. Substationsshould be pre-designed, with step-up transformers from LV and/or MV to HV (sub)-transmissionvoltage. PQ equipment, like SVC, is needed. Our “3 main messages” are:1) SVC damps oscillations quickly after fault clearance in both grid and drive-trains.2) Intra- & infrastructures must form an entity to get a wind farm to be a power plant.3) Sub-systems deliveries reduce risks for misunderstanding between the parties.Understanding priorities, behavior and thinking of “the other player” should be encouraged.Long-term issues are to build a farm with a power plant characteristics comparable to theexisting types of power plants and thus highlighting advantages for utilities by comprising anincreased amount of wind power plants connected to the grid.Most essential long-term task is to make wind power as commercially valuable and fungible(law for interchangeable) as electric power produced by traditional, dispatched plants, such asfossil fuel power plants, hydroelectric plants, nuclear plants and the like.? Voltage and power quality, PQ, control in wind power is the nearby part of the priming issue.? Automatic conversion of a wind farm’s kinetic wind energy to fungible grid power is along-term part of the priming issue.