Illustration of Modern Wind Turbine Ancillary Services

Abstract

Increasing levels of wind power penetration in modern power systems has set intensively high standards with respect to wind turbine technology during the last years. Security issues have become rather critical and operation of wind farms as conventional power plants is becoming a necessity as wind turbines replace conventional units on the production side. This article includes a review of the basic control issues regarding the capability of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) wind turbine configuration to fulfill the basic technical requirements set by the system operators and contribute to power system security. An overview of ancillary services provided by wind turbine technology nowadays is provided, i.e., fault ride-through capability, reactive power supply and frequency-active power control. © 2010 by the authors.