Musselroe wind farm – voltage control system
Client: Hydro Tasmania
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Date: August 2012 – February 2013
Designing a voltage-control scheme to allow optimum operation of a wind farm under all network conditions.
Background
The 168 MW Musselroe Wind Farm was commissioned in 2013 after five years of detailed planning, design and construction activities. The economics of the project led to growth in the installed capacity, requiring a sophisticated voltage control scheme to comply with the National Electricity Rules.
Solution
Entura was engaged to develop a voltage control system to allow the wind farm to operate without constraint under all normal network conditions, by managing the reactive power demand sharing within the farm and stabilising the voltage in the local network.
Entura’s solution, the Musselroe Voltage Control Scheme (MRVCS), is technically innovative in the way it combines the many elements of primary electrical plant. The scheme represents world-best practice in utilising hardware assets and minimising additional capital expense while attaining high levels of grid compatibility.
The design of the MRVCS was based on a modelling approach. The implementation of the model and parameters were developed based on the specification of the plant. The model was used along with models provided by other plant manufacturers to finalise the connection study.
Outcome
The application of the MRVCS has led to unconstrained operation of the Musselroe Wind Farm under almost all network conditions and thus is contributing to maximising its energy output.
A more traditional approach to voltage control may have resulted in the output being constrained in ramp-rate and maximum output under a wide range of power system conditions.
Entura’s extensive knowledge of wind turbine generator technology, dynamic reactive support devices and mathematical model writing and power system modelling and analysis makes us ideally suited to design voltage control schemes supporting weak grid connection points for new wind farms.
