Impact of the ULTC on the dynamic voltage collapse of an electric power system with large scale of wind generation

Voltage stability is predominantly a load stability phenomenon and solutions to voltage stability can be found by control of the load as seen from the bulk power network. A delay of the load restoration gives time for other corrective actions. The load restoration may be delayed and/or limited by certain countermeasures, such as blocking of Under Load Tap Changers (ULTC). In this paper it was studied the impact of the ULTC on the dynamic voltage collapse of an electric power system with large scale wind generation. It is used the Cigré Electric Power Network with 32 bus and three wind farms equipped with wind turbines, including pitch control coupled with a Fixed Speed Induction Generator (FSIG) and a shunt capacitor bank. The automatic voltage regulators (AVR) of the generating units and the turbine speed governors were modelled. Different load models were used and the ULTC were taken into account. Several significant disturbances were simulated in the test power network, such as the increase of the wind speed, the tripping of an overhead transmission line and three-phase short-circuits. The simulation results were obtained using the EUROSTAG software package. Finally, some conclusions that provide a better understanding of the ULTC effect on the dynamic voltage stability in a system with a large amount of wind power generation are pointed out.