Wind Energy Systems : Solutions for Power Quality and Stabilization

Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases—and wind energy is a free, renewable resource. This book explores fundamental concepts of wind energy conversion systems, discussing grid integration and stability issues, methods of transient stability enhancement, and minimization of fluctuations in power, frequency, and voltage in wind generator systems. The author provides tools and information to help ensure generator stabilization in the face of network faults and other obstacles, including random wind speed variations and fluctuations in output power, frequency, and terminal voltage. He also explains methodologies associated with minimizing those fluctuations.

Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases—and wind energy is a free, renewable resource. However, the induction machines commonly used as wind generators have stability problems similar to the transient stability of synchronous machines. To minimize power, frequency, and voltage fluctuations caused by network faults or random wind speed variations, control mechanisms are necessary. Wind Energy Systems: Solutions for Power Quality and Stabilization clearly explains how to solve stability and power quality issues of wind generator systems.

Covering fundamental concepts of wind energy conversion systems, the book discusses several means to enhance the transient stability of wind generator systems. It also explains the methodologies for minimizing fluctuations of power, frequency, and voltage.

Topics covered include:

• An overview of wind energy and wind energy conversion systems
• Fundamentals of electric machines and power electronics
• Types of wind generator systems
• Challenges in integrating wind power into electricity grids
• Solutions for power quality problems
• Methods for improving transient stability during network faults
• Methods for minimizing power fluctuations of variable-speed wind generator systems

This accessible book helps researchers and engineers understand the relative effectiveness of each method and select a suitable tool for wind generator stabilization. It also offers students an introduction to wind energy conversion systems, providing insights into important grid integration and stability issues.