Active Power Filtering Embedded in the Frequency Control of an Offshore Wind Farm Connected to a Diode-Rectifier-Based HVDC Link

Abstract

This paper presents a novel active power filtering (APF) scheme embedded in a centralised frequency control of an offshore wind farm (OWF) connected to a high voltage direct current link through a diode rectifier station. The APF is carried out by a voltage source converter (VSC), which is connected to the rectifier station to provide frequency control for the offshore ac-grid. The proposed APF scheme eliminates harmonic currents at a capacitor bank placed at the rectifier station. This leads to a significant reduction in the total harmonic distortion of the offshore ac-grid voltage, and thus, to an improvement in the OWF power. Hence, the rectifier passive ac-filter bank is not needed anymore. A new selective harmonic compensation method based on the dynamic phasor (DP) theory is used in the proposed APF scheme which allows the extraction of the phasor form of harmonics in dc-signals. Therefore, the well-known proportional-integral regulators are used for the harmonic current compensation. Moreover, the offshore ac-grid is modelled for the system harmonic analysis using a grid solution based on the DP theory. Finally, a VSC power rating analysis is studied. The performance of the proposal is validated by simulations in both steady-state and transient conditions.

Keywords

• offshore wind farm (OWF)
• active power filtering (APF)
• frequency control
• voltage source converter (VSC)
• dynamic phasor (DP)