Coordination control of active crowbar for doubly fed induction generators

The paper analyzes the capability of a wind power plant, based on doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) with an improved control system, to fulfill low voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability of the wind turbines providing the reactive power support. According to grid code requirements, tripping of wind generators under grid faults is not allowed. The sensitivity of DFIGs to grid faults requires the use of crowbar protection for not damaging the electronic equipment. In this paper, the model of a wind power plant based on DFIG using active crowbar protection is developed in Matlab/Simulink. Nevertheless, the results indicate that DFIGs equipped with crowbar protection can protect the electronic equipment, but the rotor side converter is blocked due to crowbar activation and the reactive power control is lost. Therefore, for improving the LVRT, a coordinated control system of the grid side converter, active crowbar protection, and rotor side converter is implemented and proposed, The grid side converter of DFIG is controlled similar to a STATCOM, considering also the control parameters of the crowbar protection. The simulation results show that the proposed coordinated control grid side converter'active crowbar-rotor side converter can supply the reactive power in order to answer the grid codes requirement for LVRT. Therefore, this control system can be useful to improve the LVRT capability of wind power plants based on DFIG.