Multi-phase generators viability for offshore wind farms with HVDC transmission

Abstract

The interest in offshore wind farms has experienced a significant growth in recent years. Technical knowledge allow the design of wind farms at higher distances, making the high voltage dc (HVDC) transmission a real alternative to current high voltage ac (HVAC) transmission. When the network is decoupled from the wind farm by a dc link, there is no need for a mandatory use of three-phase generator. To the contrary, multi-phase generators can be used and the wind farm can benefit from inherent advantages and recent developments of multi-phase drives. This preliminary study shows some of the potential advantages of the dual three-phase generators in wind energy conversion systems (WECS).