Integration of large-scale windfarms into the German grid

The share of renewable energy, particularly of wind energy will grow essentially in the near future. In Germany it is planned to extend the windpower generation from about 14.000 MW at present to 45.000–50.000 MW in 2030. In the past wind power generation was located in MV distribution networks with relatively small sized windfarms below 100 MW. The new tendency is to install large power off shore windfarms with hundreds of MW power size. This new development results in a number of new issues to be solved in the near future. German utilities regard in their grid codes large windfarms as a large conventional power station. Consequently it is demanded that windfarms remain in operation after fault clearance in case of faults located near to the windfarm grid connecting point, taking into account conventional protection relay settings. This cannot be fulfilled at present by most of windmill types. New technology like a crowbar is necessary to fulfill the grid code demands.