Advanced fault ride-through strategy by an MMC HVDC transmission for off-shore wind farm interconnection

In order to solve the problems brought upon by off-shore wind-power plants, it is important to improve fault ride-through capability when an on-shore fault occurs in order to prevent DC overvoltage. In this paper, a coordinated control strategy is implemented for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based off-shore wind farm, which connects to on-shore land by a modular multilevel converter (MMC)-based high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system during an on-shore fault. The proposed control strategy adjusts the DC voltage of the off-shore converter to ride through fault condition, simultaneously varying off-shore AC frequency. The grid-side converter detects the frequency difference, and the rotor-side converter curtails the output power of the DFIG. The surplus energy will be accumulated at the rotor by accelerating the rotor speed and DC link by rising DC voltage. By the time the fault ends, energy stored in the rotor and energy stored in the DC capacitor will be released to the on-shore side to restore the normal transmission state. Based on the control strategy, the off-shore wind farm will ride through an on-shore fault with minimum rotor stress. To verify the validity of the proposed control strategy, a DFIG-based wind farm connecting to the on-shore side by an MMC HVDC system is simulated by PSCAD with an on-shore Point of Common Coupling side fault scenario.