Supercapacitor-based coordinated synthetic inertia scheme for voltage source converter-based HVDC integrated offshore wind farm

Abstract

A supercapacitor-based coordinated synthetic inertia (SCSI) scheme for a voltage source converter-based HVDC (VSC-HVDC)-integrated offshore wind farm (OWF) is proposed. The proposed SCSI allows the OWF to provide a designated inertial response to an onshore grid. Under the SCSI scheme, a supercapacitor is added to the DC side of each wind turbine generator via a bidirectional DC/DC converter, varying its voltage along with the offshore frequency to synthesise the desired inertial response. The HVDC grid side VSC employs a DC voltage/frequency droop control to convey the onshore frequency information to DC voltage without communication. Meanwhile, the wind farm side VSC regulates the offshore frequency to couple with the conveyed onshore frequency, considering voltage drop across the DC cables. An offshore frequency switching algorithm is incorporated to avoid undesired SCSI maloperation under offshore faults. The key parameters of the proposed SCSI are optimised through a small signal stability analysis. The effectiveness of the SCSI scheme is evaluated using a modified IEEE 39-bus test system. The results show that the proposed SCSI scheme can provide required inertial support from WTG-installed supercapacitors to the onshore grid through the VSC-HVDC link, significantly improving the onshore frequency stability.