Electricity supply to a remote village using grid-connected wind generators

Abstract

The optimum site for a wind turbine, accessing the best available wind, can be too remote for optimum connection to the grid. Unless there is a high-voltage transmission line nearby, the cost of connection to the 33 kV or 66 kV system can render a small wind farm uneconomic. As a result, small scale wind generation is often connected into the 11 kV rural distribution system. This can cause unacceptable voltage excursions. In this paper, a method is discussed for connecting generation capacity, whether wind-powered or otherwise, into a rural distribution system, and for solving the resulting voltage control problems. The method uses standard voltage control hardware. It has been implemented for wind generators in a remote location in North Wales. Records of voltage measurements are presented, and it is shown that the voltage stability is much improved. Some problems have been experienced, and solutions are proposed.