Impact of Wind Power Plant on Electrical Power

System – Comparison of Calculation Method

and Measurements

Ryszard Pawelek, Irena Wasiak, Piotr Gburczyk, Rozmyslaw Mienski

Institute of Electrical Power Engineering
Technical University of Lodz
Lodz, Poland
ryszard.pawelek@p.lodz.pl, irena.wasiak@p.lodz.pl, piotr.gburczyk@p.lodz.pl, rozmyslaw.mienski@p.lodz.pl

Abstract— In the paper the assessment of impact of wind power measurement is presented on the example of the Kamiensk
plant connected to high voltage network on selected power Wind Power Plant.
quality indices is discussed. On the example of the Kamiensk
Wind Power Plant with the installed capacity of 30 MW, a
comparison of flicker indices and current and voltage harmonics
II. KAMIENSK WIND POWER PLANT DESCRIPTION
calculated on the basis of data provided by wind turbines Kamiensk Wind Power Plant (KWPP) with a total
manufacturer with their values measured during the power plant generation capacity of 30 MW is located in the dumping
operation has been performed. Some problems related to the ground of Belchatow Lignite Mine. The wind farm consist of
accuracy of the assessment methods are pointed out. 15 gearless, variable speed wind turbines E70-E4 type, 2 MW
nominal power each, manufactured by Enercon GmbH.
Keywords-wind power plant; power quality; flicker; harmonics Turbines, divided into two groups, are connected with 30 kV
underground cables to the outdoor 110/30 kV transformer
I. INTRODUCTION substation. The PCC in which power quality is assessed is the
The connection of wind power plants to electrical power HV buses of the substation. Figure 1 shows schematically the
system influence its operating conditions and may affect power electric grid of Kamiensk Wind Power Plant.
quality at the point of common coupling (PCC). In Poland,
before connecting a new power plant Distribution System
Operator (DSO) requires an interconnection analysis to be
provided concerning the impact of the plant on the Polish
Electrical Power System (PEPS). According to [7] such an
expertise is obligatory if the nominal power of power plant
exceeds 2 MW. Requirements for the analysis include:
verification of the network transmission capacity, calculation
of short-circuit power and assessment of the impact of wind
farm operation on power quality at the PCC. Wind power
plants of nominal power greater than 10 MW are usually
connected to 110 kV busbars of high voltage (HV) substation
(GPZ-FW).
Evaluation of wind farm impact on power quality,
regarding flicker and harmonics emission, is based on
information provided by wind turbines manufacturer in the Figure 1. KWPP electrical network
certifying document called "windtest”, which is a report from
the turbine tests carried out by independent certification body The wind turbine manufacturer guarantees that the output
(eg, [6]). The assessment method, described in [2], assumes power of turbines (or energy within a specified period of time)
that the connected farm is the only source of disturbances. It will not be less than it results from the Guaranteed Power
takes into account the location of PCC in the network and local Curve (GPC). In Figure 2 there are compared the measured
wind conditions. values of energy generated by all the turbines of KWPP in
successive months of the year 2010 with the amount of energy
It seems useful to verify the calculation method on the basis calculated on the basis of the GPC using measured wind speed
of tests performed after the wind farm commissioning. In the at the point of connection. The presented comparison shows
paper the comparison of power quality indices obtained that for almost every month the produced energy was higher
according to the standard [2] with the results of power quality than the estimated one. Only in January a different situation
The work was supported by The Minister of Science and Higher Education
of Poland (Grant No. NN511305938).
978-1-4673-0378-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
occurred, because the turbines was shut off due to unfavorable Pst , Plt - short-term and long-term flicker severity
atmospheric conditions that caused icing of turbine blades. indices
10000
9000
E Psti , E Plti - permissible values of flicker severity indices
Measured
8000 Calculated (GPC) equal to 0.35 and 0.25, respectively.
7000
Energy [MWh]

6000
5000
4000
In accordance with [7, 8] the 0.99 percentile of flicker
3000 emission from a single turbine during the continuous
2000 operations can be estimated using the formula:
1000
0
01.2010

02.2010

03.2010

04.2010

05.2010

06.2010

07.2010

08.2010

09.2010

10.2010

11.2010

12.2010
Sn
Pst = Plt = c(ψ k , va ) (3)
S k"
Figure 2. Comparison of energy actually generated with energy estimated
on the basis of GPC for each month where:
Using the value of energy AKWPP generated by KWPP in c(ψ k , va ) - flicker emission index of the single wind turbine
each month the nominal power utilization rate can be for a given phase angle ȥk of the network
calculated according to the following formula [5, 6] (Fig. 3): impedance at PCC and average wind speed ȞĮ at
hub height,
AKWPP Sn - rated apparent power of the wind turbine,
WKWPP = (1)
15 ⋅ PNT ⋅ T
S k" - short-circuit power at the PCC.
where PNT – nominal power of individual wind turbine. For many wind turbines connected to the PCC the total
50
flicker emission can be estimated using the formula:
45
40
N wt
¦ [ci (ψ k , va ) ⋅ S n,i ]2
35
1
30 Pst = Plt = " (4)
W [%]

25 Sk i =1
20
15
10
where Nwt is a number of wind turbines.
5
0
The values of flicker index c(ψ k , va ) for the E-70-E4 type
01.2010

02.2010

03.2010

04.2010

05.2010

06.2010

07.2010

08.2010

09.2010

10.2010

11.2010

12.2010

for 2010

turbine are put in Table I [6]. Linear interpolation should be

used to determine the index value for ȥk and ȞĮ other than given
in the Table. The function c(ψ k , va ) is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 3. The nominal power utilization rate for each month of KWPP
operation
TABLE I. VALUES OF FLICKER INDEX FOR E70–E4 TYPE
The average rate of the nominal power utilization in one TURBINE
year period of the power plant operation amounted to 23 %.
ψk 30° 50° 70° 85°
III. ASSESSMENT OF THE KWPP IMPACT ON POWER va (m/s) flicker index, c(ψk, va)
QUALITY AT THE PCC BASING ON CALCULATIONS 6.0 2.6 2.1 1.5 1.1
7.5 2.9 2.4 1.7 1.2
A. Flicker
8.5 3.0 2.5 1.7 1.3
According to the requirements of [2, 7, 8] connecting a
10.0 3.2 2.6 1.7 1.4
wind farm to the power system should not cause flicker
emission at the PCC exceeding permissible values:
At the KWPP connection point the network impedance
phase angle is equal ψk = 85° and average wind speed is va =
Pst ≤ E Psti 6.9 m/s (average value for the year 2010). Thus, using the
(2)
Plt ≤ E Plti formula (4) the flicker indices Pst = Plt have been calculated.
The obtained values are much smaller than the limits; they are
listed in Table II.
where:
 4.0 TABLE III. MAXIMUM VALUES OF CURRENT HARMONICS OF A SINGLE
TURBINE AND THE TOTAL CURRENT HARMONICS OF THE WIND FARM
CONNECTED AT THE PCC
3.0
ȥk Ih/In (Ih/In)limit I h™ 110 kV THDI THDI limit
30° h
[% ] [% ] [A] [%] [%]
c(ȥk,ȞĮ)

50°
2.0 70° 2 0.2 0.50 0.1312
85° 3 0.1 0.50
5 0.7 2.00 1.6069
1.0
7 0.4 2.00 0.5247
10 0.1 0.50 0.0328
0.0 11 0.7 1.00 1.6069
6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 13 0.6 1.00 1.1806 1.3229 2,5
v [m/s] 14 0.1 0.25 0.0328
Figure 4. Function c(ȥk,ȞĮ) for the E70- E4 type turbine 15 0.2 1.00
16 0.1 0.25 0.0328
17 0.4 0.75 0.5247
TABLE II. FLICKER INDICES AT THE PCC ESTIMATED FOR THE KWPP 19 0.1 0.75 0.0328
CONTINUOUS OPERATION 23 0.1 0.50 0.0328

S k" ψk c(ψ k , va ) Pst= Plt E Psti E Plti

2000

1750
[MVA]
2500.0 85.0° 1.2 0.003 0.35 0.25 1500

1250
B. Current and voltage harmonics

Z [Ω]
1000
Wind turbines with power electronic converters are the 750
sources of current harmonics. According to [2, 3] the value of 500
individual current harmonic originating from wind power plant
250
with many turbines can be determined by the formula:
0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500

N wt § β f [Hz]
I h,i ·
I hΣ = β ¦ ¨¨ ¸¸ (5) Figure 5. Frequency characteristics of the network impedance at the PCC for
i =1 © ni ¹ normal operation conditions

where: TABLE IV. MAXIMUM VALUES OF VOLTAGE HARMONICS AT THE PCC

Nwt – number of wind turbines, h Uh/Un (Uh/Un)limit THDU THDU limit
- [%] [%] [%] [%]
Ih™ –h-order total current harmonic, 2 0.0066 0.7
3 0.0000 0.7
Ih,i – h-order current harmonic of i- wind turbine,
5 0.0576 0.7
ni – transformer ratio of i- wind turbine, 7 0.0461 0.7
10 0.0165 0.7
ȕ – exponent dependent on the harmonic order [3]. 11 0.1383 0.7
13 0.2568 0.7 0.3324 2,0
The worst case occurs for ȕ = 1, i.e. when current 14 0.1350 0.7
harmonics from different wind turbines are summed 15 0.0000 0.7
algebraically. Such case has been selected for further 16 0.0132 0.7
considerations. 17 0.0329 0.7
19 0.0049 0.7
Polish regulations do not define the limit values for current 23 0.0115 0.7
harmonics injected into the 110 kV network. However, these
values can be found in standard [5]. The maximum values of
harmonics introduced into the network by a single turbine [8] It is clear from Tables III and IV that estimated current and
and the total harmonic current of the wind farm, calculated voltage harmonic values are smaller than their respective
according to the rules given in [2] (equation 5), is given in limits (according to [5, 8]).
Table III.
IV. ASSESSMENT OF POWER QUALITY AT THE PCC BASING
The effect of current harmonics on voltage distortion at the
ON MEASUREMENTS
PCC was assessed on the basis of test data of generator
harmonics emission [6] and determined frequency Measurements of power quality indices at the PCC were
characteristics of the network impedance at the PCC (Fig. 5). performed for continuous KWPP operation during the period
Table IV summarizes the results of calculations of voltage from 17.09.2009 (0:00 hrs) to 24.09.2009 on (0:00 h), using a
harmonics content and the total distortion factor THDU. For Fluke 1760 analyzer.
evaluation of THDU it was assumed that the maximum values
of each current harmonics occur simultaneously.
A. Flicker
1.0
The values of measured short-term and long-term flicker Measured
severity indices Pst and Plt are shown in Figures 6 and 7, Calculated
0.8
respectively and their characteristic values are summarized in
Table V. 0.6

Ih/In [%]
3.0 0.4

2.5 Pst L1
0.2
Pst L2
2.0 Pst L3
0.0
1.5 2 6 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50
Pst

harmonic number h
1.0

0.5 Figure 8. Comparison of current harmonics injected into the 110 kV network
by KWPP
0.0
17-10-09 18-10-09 19-10-09 20-10-09 21-10-09 22-10-09 23-10-09 24-10-09
0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00
Frequency spectrum of the measured current is in
t [d-m-r g:m]
compliance with the one contained in the "windtest" certificate
[6] up to the order of 35. The estimated values of individual
Figure 6. Values of Pst index in the measurement period
harmonics are bigger than the measured values due to the fact
that the algebraic summation of currents from individual wind
turbines were used. Relatively high values of harmonics close
3.0 to the order of 40 appear in the measurements, which are not
2.5
Plt L1 present in the “windtest”. It can be stated that these harmonics
Plt L2
Plt L3 are introduced by power electronic converters interfacing wind
2.0 generators with the supplying network.
1.5 Measured total current distortion factor of the wind power
Plt

plant is equal THDI = 0.844 % and is less than estimated on the

1.0 basis of calculation (THDI = 1.3229 %).
0.5 Figure 9 shows the comparison of voltage harmonic content
measured at the PCC and derived from calculations (Table V).
0.0
17-10-09 18-10-09 19-10-09 20-10-09 21-10-09 22-10-09 23-10-09 24-10-09
0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00 0:00
1.0
t [d-m-r g:m] Calculated
Measured
0.8
Figure 7. Values of Plt index in the measurement period
0.6
Uh [%]

TABLE V. FLICKER INDICES MEASURED VALUES 0.4

Plt Pst
Index 0.2
L1 L2 L3 L1 L2 L3
Percentile 0.99 0.229 0.237 0.237 0.235 0.239 0.238
Limit [7] 0 ÷ 0,8 not standardized 0.0
2 6 10 14 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50
harmonic number h
It can be noticed that the values of flicker indices derived
from measurements are much higher than the values estimated
on the basis of "windtest" certificate (Table II). The maximum Figure 9. Comparison of voltage harmonics at the PCC
values of Pst and Plt visible in Figures 6 and 7 had their origin
in a two-phase short circuit outside the network of KWPP. Significant values in frequency spectrum of the measured
voltage are related to harmonics characteristic for the most
common non-linear loads, i.e. of 5 and 7 order. Measured total
B. Current and voltage harmonics voltage distortion factor THDU = 0.925 % is higher than the
Measured current harmonics injected into the 110 kV estimated on the basis of calculation (THDU = 0.3324 %).
network by the wind turbines are presented in Figure 8 together
with their estimated values (Table III). The lack of correlation can be noticed when comparing
calculated and measured values of individual voltage
harmonics. This may results from a number of reasons,
including the following:
 • the impact of Kamiensk Wind Power Plant on voltage
distortion was overestimated due to the assumption that
the maximum values of current harmonics from all the
turbines occur at the same time,
• impedance frequency characteristic of the network
node was determined in the simplified way for the
limited area of the 110 kV network.
The harmonics close to the order of 40 present in current
course do not appear in the voltage course, which means that
also other current harmonics may not practically contribute to
the voltage distortion at the PCC. This observation leads to the
conclusion that the wind farm influences the supplying voltage
in small extent and measured voltage harmonics (Figure 9) may
come from other sources.
V. CONCLUSIONS
The analysis performed in accordance with the standardized
method specified in [2] proved that the requirements of DSO
[8] regarding the impact of KWPP on power quality at the PCC
are satisfied. The assessment of impact based on real
measurements performed for the operating wind power plant
led to the same conclusion.
Measured value of the voltage total distortion factor is
greater than the estimated one, even though that the
simultaneous occurrence of current harmonics maximum
values has been assumed for the calculations. This fact
indicates the existence of other sources of voltage distortion in
the electrical power system.
Basing on the above detailed conclusions it can be stated
that measurements performed during the wind power plant
operation do not allow full verification of its impact on voltage
quality at the PCC. For more correct assessment and
verification of the calculation method so called “voltage quality
background”, i.e. harmonics and flicker existing in the grid
prior the wind farm connection should be known. This
information may be provided by the system operator or can be
obtained by prior measurements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Mr Boguslaw Terlecki the
chairman of the Board of the Kamiensk Wind Power Plant for
his support in this work.
REFERENCES
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zarządzania energią w elektrowniach wiatrowych. Rynek Energii nr 1,
2011 (in Polish)
[2] EN 61400-21:2004: Wind turbine generator systems. Measurement and
assessment of power quality characteristics of grid connected wind
turbines
[3] IEC/TR 61000-3-6:2008. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part 3-
6: Limits - Assessment of emission limits for the connection of
distorting installations to MV, HV and EHV power systems
[4] IEC/TR 61000-3-7:2008. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) - Part 3-
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[8] The Instruction of Distribution Networks Operation and Maintenace
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