Impact of wind turbine generator type in large-scale offshore wind farms on voltage regulation in distribution feeders

The goal of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) roadmap [1] is a 20% penetration of wind energy into the generation mix by 2030. Attaining this objective will help protect the environment and reduce fossil fuel dependency, thus improving energy security and independence. This paper discusses how the technology used in large scale offshore wind farms impacts voltage regulation in distribution feeders. Although the offshore wind farms are integrated into an interconnected power system through transmission lines, the system constraints can cause stability, resiliency and reliability issues. The major types of machine used in offshore wind farms are modeled using a generic model of General Electric (GE) wind machines. The transmission and distribution system models are based on the actual existing regional FirstEnergy/PJM power grid in Midwestern of United State. In addition, the impact of installing Static VAR Compensator (SVC) at Points of Interconnection (POI) on voltage regulation is investigated.