Controller hardware-in-the-loop validation for a 10 MVA ETO-based STATCOM for wind farm application

This paper reports experimental validation of a static synchronous compensation (STATCOM) by controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) testing with a real-time digital simulator (RTDS). The controller is designed and developed for a 10 MVA STATCOM for voltage regulation at the PCC of a 50 MW wind farm connected to a 69 kV utility grid. Emitter Turn-off (ETO) thyristors are switching devices in the multilevel inverter. The STATCOM controller was developed for a cascade multilevel inverter and has been validated on a laboratory test-bench. The CHIL testing of the controller is done with detailed scaled model of the 50 MW wind farm and 69 kV utility system. The experimental results from the RTDS for both steady state and dynamic changes in the STATCOM output validate the STATCOM controller design and performance.