Wind energy conversion systems as active filters: Design and comparison of three control methods

This work deals with the steady-state operation of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) used simultaneously as active filters (AFs) and power generators. This application is motivated by the increasing number of non-linear loads (NLLs) on the power grid and by the possibility to offer an economical alternative to the installation of dedicated filters that sink the harmonic currents injected by such loads. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: (i) three different control systems that allow the simultaneous use of the WECS as AF and power generator are presented; (ii) compensation of triplen harmonics is addressed; (iii) additional power losses due to AF operation, leading to the derating of the WECS, are quantified; (iv) results based on numerical simulations are provided.