Dipl.-Ing. Ök. Arne Gloe

2021

• Grid Support with Wind Turbines: The Case of the 2019 Blackout in Flensburg

  Gloe, A., Jauch, C., & Räther, T. (2021). Grid Support with Wind Turbines: The Case of the 2019 Blackout in Flensburg. Energies, 14(6), 1697. http://doi.org/10.3390/en14061697

  Abstract

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  The work presented in this paper aims to show how modern wind turbines can help to control the frequency in a small grid which suffers from large power imbalances. It is shown for an exemplary situation, which occurred in Flensburg’s distribution grid in 2019: a major blackout, which occurred after almost two hours in islanding operation, affecting almost the entire distribution grid, which supplies approximately 55,000 households and businesses. For the analysis, a wind turbine model and a grid support controller developed at the Wind Energy Technology Institute are combined with real measurements from the day of the blackout to generate a fictional yet realistic case study for such an islanding situation. For this case study, it is assumed that wind turbines with grid support functionalities are connected to the medium voltage distribution grid of the city. It is shown to what extent wind turbines can help to operate the grid by providing grid frequency support in two ways: By supplying synthetic inertia only, where the wind turbines can help to limit the rate of change of frequency in the islanded grid directly after losing the connection to the central European grid. In combination with the primary frequency control capabilities of the wind turbines (WTs), the disconnection of one gen set in the local power station might have been avoided. Furthermore, wind turbines with primary frequency control capabilities could have restored the grid frequency to 50 Hz shortly after the islanding situation even if the aforementioned gen-set was lost. This would have allowed connecting a backup medium voltage line to the central European grid and thereby avoiding the blackout.

• Influence of Continuous Provision of Synthetic Inertia on the Mechanical Loads of a Wind Turbine

  Gloe, A., Jauch, C., Craciun, B., Zanter, A., & Winkelmann, J. (2021). Influence of Continuous Provision of Synthetic Inertia on the Mechanical Loads of a Wind Turbine. Energies, 14(16), 5185. http://doi.org/10.3390/en14165185

  Abstract

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  In many electrical grids, the share of renewable energy generation increases. As these generators are typically connected to the grid via inverters, the level of grid inertia decreases. Such grids may therefore suffer from high rates of change of frequency during power imbalances. Modern wind turbines can help in controlling the frequency in such grids by providing synthetic inertia. A controller to provide synthetic inertia with wind turbines was developed at the Wind Energy Technology Institute in collaboration with Suzlon Energy. For this controller the influence of providing synthetic inertia on the mechanical loads of the wind turbine is assessed for different grid frequency scenarios. Such a scenario-based load analysis has not been published before, especially as the scenarios are derived from real measurements. The effect of the loads strongly depends on the analyzed grid frequency behavior. Ten months of high quality grid frequency measurements of the Indian grid are analyzed in order to derive inputs for the load calculation. Different types of grid frequency abnormities are identified and categorized with respect to their severity. Based on the observed occurrences of the grid frequency abnormities, realistic scenarios for the load calculations are chosen. The load calculations are performed for a state-of-the-art Suzlon wind turbine generator. The load increases caused by the supply of synthetic inertia are calculated for individual components assuming an otherwise undisturbed power production of the wind turbine in turbulent wind. Furthermore, a hardware-in-the-loop test bench is used to show how the measured grid frequencies are actually perceived by the control system of a typical wind turbine. The original frequency data were recorded with high quality measurement equipment, which is faster and more accurate than a multi-function relay, often used in wind turbines. For exemplary time traces, the effect of the reduced measurement accuracy on the reaction of the wind turbine is shown. This aspect has not been investigated in the literature yet. The results show that wind turbines can provide synthetic inertia without a considerable effect on the lifetime of the wind turbine. However, there are still problems with providing synthetic inertia reliably at high power operating points, which have to be solved.

• Grid Frequency Data – WETI

  Thiesen, H., Gloe, A., & Jauch, C. (2021). Grid Frequency Data – WETI. http://doi.org/doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/JBK82

  Abstract

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  The presented grid frequency data is part of research activities at the Wind Energy Technology Instiute (WETI) at the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. The measurement campaign is conducted in Flensburg, Germany. Hence, the grid frequency of the synchronous area of Continental Europe is tracked. A Dewetron 2010 measurement system is used to record and compute the data. The measurement system computes the grid frequency by tracking the grid voltage with a high sampling rate of 50 kHz. Every 164 ms the software fits a sinusoidal curve into the recorded voltage measurement points using the least-square-sums approach. The period of the resulting sinusoidal function is used as a measure for grid frequency.