Introduction to WinGrid

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 861398.

The WinGrid consortium aims to train and launch the next generation of researchers on power system integration issues associated with the large-scale deployment of wind generation, focusing particularly on the modelling and control aspects of wind turbine and grid interface design, system stability and robust implementation.

The consortium comprises a wide-ranging expert group of 10 academics from 8 beneficiary organisations including 7 leading universities and one large company across 6 countries. It also includes 8 internationally renowned industrial partners (ABB, Vestas, EirGrid, SGCC, FTI, Rotem, Dansk Energi, and ESC) ranging from wind turbine developers, transmission system operators, power system analysts and renewable energy consultants from 6 countries.

Summary of research objectives

ATo develop advanced model reduction & robust control strategies to evaluate the dynamic interactions between individual wind turbines, between wind farm strings, and between wind farms and the grid.

 

  • Develop a holistic system stability analysis tool which quantifies non-linear dynamic interactions between wind turbines within a wind farm, mapping the contribution of individual wind turbines to oscillations.
  • Develop robust/adaptive control strategies, based around multiple-input multiple-output control design optimization, for harmonised wind farm interactions.

BTo develop technical solutions which maximise the potential for wind turbines to provide frequency control support services, when such systems are implemented at scale with high wind shares, and to assess the opportunities for deploying local energy storage for optimisation of ancillary service revenue streams and a reduction in the maintenance cost cycle. Also balancing services from wind-hybrid solutions including solar PV and energy storage will be developed.

  • Propose and evaluate power system operational strategies, for system-wide co-ordination of the aggregated wind response, recognising grid code and ancillary service enforcement / incentive mechanisms.
  • Assess interaction and coordination with converter protection systems for frequency support services, including power oscillation damping, as well as operation under network fault conditions.

CTo develop advanced modelling and control techniques for the emerging technologies of synchronverter based and hydrostatic transmission based wind turbines.

 

  • Develop analysis tools for grids (formed by wind turbines in a wind farm) comprising synchronverters with virtual friction and virtual damper windings, leading to design considerations for these, especially to reduce subsynchronous resonance.
  • Investigate control methods for the usage of local energy storage (accumulator reservoir, battery, supercapacitor) to expand wind turbine dynamic capability.

Work Packages

Subject: Wind farm dynamic interactions

Leader: Prof. Frede Blaabjerg

Subject: Wind farm Grid Interactions

Leader: Prof. Bikash Pal

Subject: Enhanced frequency support and balancing services from wind farms and energy storage

Leader: Dr. Anca Daniela Hansen

Subject: Grid integration and control of a hydrostatic wind turbine based farm.

Leader: Prof. Xiaowei Zhao

Subject: Novel control techniques for inverters.

Leader: Prof. Marco Liserre

Subject: Management

Leader: Prof. Xiaowei Zhao

Subject: Training and Recruitment

Leader: Prof. Marco Liserre

Subject: Dissemination, outreach, exploitation

Leader: Prof. Bikash Pal

ESR Projects

Subject: A controller-design-oriented analytical model for wind turbines under large and small disturbances , to be recruited by Aalborg University.

Supervisor: Prof. Frede Blaabjerg

Email: fbl@et.aau.dk

Subject: Dynamic model reduction of offshore wind power plants , to be recruited by DNV.

Supervisor: Dr. Ganesh Sauba

PhD Supervisor: Prof. Xiongfei Wang (Aalborg University)

Emails: ganesh.sauba@dnv.com; xwa@et.aau.dk

Subject: Robust/adaptive control of wind farm systems, to be recruited by Imperial College London.

Supervisor: Prof. Bikash Pal

Email: b.pal@imperial.ac.uk

Subject: Model reduction algorithm that will provide an efficient model analysing wind farm – grid interactions , to be recruited by Imperial College London.

Supervisor: Prof. Bikash Pal

Email: b.pal@imperial.ac.uk

Subject: WPP support for weather dependent active distribution networks, to be recruited by Technical University of Denmark.

Supervisor:Dr. Anca Daniela Hansen

Email: anca@dtu.dk

Subject: Damping of power system inter-area oscillations by large offshore wind farms connected through VSC-HVDC systems, to be recruited by University of Warwick.

Supervisor: Prof. Xiaowei Zhao

Email: xiaowei.zhao@warwick.ac.uk

Subject: Coordinated control and protection of wind turbine converters and grid interface, to be recruited by Aalborg University.

Supervisor: Prof. Xiongfei Wang

Email: xwa@et.aau.dk

Subject: Coordination of wind-hybrid power plants, with energy storage, for enhanced balancing market participation in support of power systems with high share of renewables, to be recruited by Technical University of Denmark.

Supervisor:Dr. Anca Daniela Hansen

Email: anca@dtu.dk

Subject: Control strategy for HVDC connected Wind Power Plants for providing fast inertial response, to be recruited by Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

Supervisor: Prof. Marco Liserre

Email: ml@tf.uni-kiel.de

Subject: Assessment of power system inertial support on wind turbine mechanical performance, to be recruited by University of Warwick.

Supervisor: Prof. Xiaowei Zhao

Email: xiaowei.zhao@warwick.ac.uk

Subject: Scheduling and coordination of the aggregated WPP inertial (fast frequency) response resource within a high variable renewables power system, to be recruited by University College Dublin.

Supervisor: Dr Damian Flynn

Email: damian.flynn@ucd.ie

Subject: Modelling & control of hydrostatic transmission based wind farms, to be recruited by University of Warwick.

Supervisor: Prof. Xiaowei Zhao

Email: Xiaowei.zhao@warwick.ac.uk

Subject: Network grid assessment of hydrostatic transmission based wind farms, to be recruited by University College Dublin.

Supervisor: Dr Damian Flynn

Email: damian.flynn@ucd.ie

Subject: Stability analysis of grid and its enhancement by virtual friction and damper windings, to be recruited by Tel Aviv University.

Supervisor: Prof. George Weiss

Email: gweiss@tauex.tau.ac.il

Subject: Damping strategy for sub-synchronous resonances, to be recruited by Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

Supervisor: Prof. Marco Liserre

Email: ml@tf.uni-kiel.de

Our current team

Get to know our project supervisors

Meet the team