Investigating the Maximum Instantaneous Fault Current in Power Systems with High Penetration of Type-4 Wind

Abstract

The increased attention towards Renewable Energy Sources (RESs), such as wind generation, has become a priority for systems operators and policymakers worldwide. Type-4 wind generators are considered one of the most common types of wind for large-scale integration of RESs. Type-4 wind generators employ converters for their interface to the AC grid. In such generators, the power exchange with the grid is fully controlled by the converter interface that utilizes power electronic switches of limited current-carrying capability during normal and faulty conditions. Hence, type-4 wind generators have different and limited fault current contributions compared to the traditional conventional generation units based on Synchronous Generators (SGs). In future scenarios where such RESs are extensively integrated, and the SGs are also decommissioned, the SC current behavior of the systems would be affected significantly, and a fault level reduction would be witnessed too. The maximum instantaneous SC current is one of the key SC current components that should be monitored in such scenarios due to its importance for several applications such as faults detection, proper settings of the protection settings, and the design of circuit breakers …etc. This paper is aimed at investigating the effect of the increased penetration of type-4 wind generation on the maximum instantaneous fault current in power grids with the increased penetration of type-4 wind RESs. The results and findings of this research are tested on the IEEE 9-Bus test system modeled in Matlab.