Power converter comparison for wind system realization

• Main Author: Lee, Weng Yew.
• Other Authors: Loh Poh Chiang, Andrew
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/54237
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the rise in electrical energy consumption worldwide, there is a growing need to increase energy generation. Moreover, deregulation of energy resulted in reduced investment in large-scale power plants, suggesting the need to seek new energy sources may be high in the future. An alternative to solve these problems is to change the electrical power generation from conventional fossil sources to renewable energy sources. Among the available options, wind energy is one of the most promising and important sources since it is the most economical, clean and environmental-friendly technology. Power electronics play a vital role in the efficiency of energy transmission, and in recent times, have become pivotal in the renewable energy sector. It is responsible for the efficient conversion of mechanical energy to usable electrical energy in wind turbines. Main challenges in the development of power electronics lie in the efficiency and minimization of losses during transmission. An AC-DC-AC power converter is necessary for wind turbine system as the wind energy is variable during the system operation. Nowadays, numerous power converter methodologies have been developed for integrating the wind power with the electrical grid. The power electronic converter interface permits variable speed operation of the wind turbine by enabling a full (or partial) decoupling from the grid, and delivers superior power extraction. In addition, they are used in matching the characteristics of wind turbines with the requirements of grid connections, including frequency, voltage, control of active and reactive power, harmonics etc. Most importantly, the criteria of utilising such a technology in a wind energy conversion system (WECS) are reliability, efficiency and cost. It is therefore the intention and motivation of this project to review on power converters that have already been designed for wind energy systems, compare them, and make recommendation on a few most suitable topologies with the generator configuration in the WECS.