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Wind Power Plant Voltage Stability Evaluation: Preprint

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Wind Power Plant Voltage

Stability Evaluation
Preprint
E. Muljadi and Y. C. Zhang
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
To be presented at the International Conference on Wind Energy
Grid-Adaptive Technologies
Jeju, Korea
October 2022, 2014

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Conference Paper
NREL/CP-5D00-62568
September 2014

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308


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Wind Power Plant Voltage Stability Evaluation

Eduard Muljadi* and Yingchen Zhang*

Abstract Voltage stability refers to the ability of a power system to maintain steady voltages at all
buses in the system after being subjected to a disturbance during a given initial operating condition.
Voltage stability depends on a power systems ability to maintain and/or restore equilibrium between load
demand and supply. Instability that may result occurs in the form of a progressive fall or rise of voltages
of some buses. Possible outcomes of voltage instability are the loss of load in an area or tripped
transmission lines and other elements by their protective systems, which may lead to cascading outages.
The loss of synchronism of some generators may result from these outages or from operating conditions
that violate a synchronous generators field current limit, or in the case of variable speed wind turbine
generators, the current limits of power switches. This paper investigates the impact of wind power plants
on power system voltage stability through using synchrophasor measurements.

Keywords: Wind Power Plant, Voltage Stability, Phasor Measurement Unit

1. Introduction the equation S = VI* = P + jQ. Advanced computing power


and the worldwide availability of global positioning system
The U.S. power industry is undertaking several (GPS) time signals make it possible for a PMU to measure
initiatives that will improve the operations of the electric voltage and current at a precise time and output these
power grid. One of those is the implementation of wide- quantities in phasor form. GPS time signals can be accurate
area measurements using phasor measurement units (PMUs) within 1 microsecond (s) anywhere the signal is available.
to dynamically monitor the operations and status of the GPS time signals enable the synchronization of
network and provide advanced situational awareness and measurements across the very large distances that power
stability assessment. system interconnections span. This new technology not
Wind power as an energy source is variable in nature. only produces very accurate phasor measurements, but it
Similar to other large generating plants, outputs from wind also enables synchronized measurements in the same
power plants (WPPs) impact grid operations; conversely, instant [1-9].
grid disturbances affect the behavior of WPPs. The rapidly
increasing penetration of wind power on the grid has 2. WPP Voltage Stability Evaluation
resulted in more scrutiny of every aspect of WPP operations
and the demand that large WPPs should behave similarly to Voltage stability refers to the ability of a power system to
conventional power plants under normal and contingency maintain steady voltages at all buses in a system after being
grid conditions. The low-voltage ride-through requirement subjected to a disturbance from a given initial operating
for WPPs is one such example. Other proposed condition. Voltage stability depends on a power systems
requirements include frequency response and simulated ability to maintain and/or restore equilibrium between load
plant inertia. demand and supply. Instability that may result occurs in the
To completely describe the system condition (state) of form of a progressive fall or rise of voltages of some buses.
the electric power grid at any instant, it is necessary to Possible outcomes of voltage instability are the loss of
know the voltage (V), current (I), and apparent power (S) load in an area or tripped transmission lines and other
of every point (node/bus) on the system. All three quantities elements by their protective systems, which may lead to
in an alternating-current power system are complex cascading outages. A loss of synchronism of some
numbers that can be represented by phasors with both a generators may result from these outages or from operating
magnitude and a phase angle. Of the three phasor quantities, conditions that violate a field current limit of synchronous
only two (any two) are needed to derive the third based on generator; or in the case of variable speed wind turbine
generator, the current limits of power switches. Voltage
* National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA
stability may vary during the event; it can be short term (<
(Eduard.Muljadi@nrel.gov, Yingchen.Zhang@nrel.gov)
1 minute), or it may evolve during many hours [1011].

1
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
2.1 Parallel Compensation And the reactive power can be commanded to follow the
rules:
Reactive power losses in a transmission line can be Q = P tan (/2)
supplied from Bus 1 or Bus 2, or they can be shared by P = V2 sin /Xs
both sides. Parallel compensation can be implemented on
both sides. Reactive compensation can be implemented by With an active adjustment of reactive power generated
controlling the generator itself, or it can be provided from by reactive power compensation at Bus 1 and Bus 2, the
external compensation, such as adjustable capacitor banks, voltage level can be kept constant at varying wind power
synchronous condensers, and static power compensation output. Note that this control helps to keep the voltage
(static VAR compensator, SVC, or static compensation, adjusted, but the power angle is not affected for the same
STATCOM). amount of power delivery. Figure 2 shows an example of
controlling reactive power to maintain equal contribution of
V1 I jXs V2
reactive power from both sides of the buses.
V1

I jXs I (a) Low wind speeds


V1

(a) All reactive V2


jXs I power is supplied by
V1
Bus 1
I
V2
I jXs I (b) High wind speeds
I V1


jXs I (b) All reactive V2
power is supplied by
Bus 2
V2
Figure 2. Voltage phasor diagram with equal
V1
contribution of reactive power from both sides
jXs I (c) All reactive power is
1 I supplied equally by both
2
Bus 1 and Bus 2
2.2 Series Compensation
V2

Reactive power compensation can also be accomplished


Figure 1. Two-bus system with available reactive power
by using series compensation (see Figure 3). The advantage
resource
of this is that the voltage and current rating of the series
compensation is relatively small considering that it is
Two possible compensations are commonly implemented
intended to compensate for the voltage drop of the line
in a WPP: one is reactive compensation at the turbine level
impedance. Series compensation is commonly used to
(mostly in Type 1 and Type 2 wind turbine generators); the
compensate long transmission lines; however, care must be
other is at the plant level (usually at the low side of the
taken not to make it prone to cause subsynchronous
substation transformer). Plant-level compensation is usually
resonance.
added when a WPP is connected to a weak grid. Type 3 and
Type 4 wind turbines are equipped with power converters I jXs

that can provide controllable reactive compensation. jXc V1C


V1 V2
Consider Figure 1 (c), which shows that the voltage at V1C
Bus 1 and Bus 2 is maintained constant, and there is equal
jXC I By adjusting XC = 0.5 Xs, it is possible
magnitude at 1.05 p.u. The reactive power is supplied by I to generate an improved power factor at
Bus 1 and reduce the power angle
both Bus 1 and Bus 2. The voltage is adjusted to be V1 between Bus 1 and Bus 2 for the same
power delivery.
constant; thus, as the output power from Bus 1 fluctuates,
V2
the reactive power must also be adjusted to follow the
output power generated by Bus 1. Figure 3. Single-line diagram of a series-compensated
In this case: system and a diagram of its voltage phasor

1 = 2 = /2 A typical WPP representation is shown in Figure 4. Note


Thus, the reactive power generated by Bus 1 must follow: that the equivalent generator, pad-mounted transformer, and
collector system can be derived easily from the actual
Q = V1 I sin (/2) collector system schedule [1215].

2
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
34.4/230-kV
Station Transformer 34.5-kV Collector
230-kV Line 1 0.6/34.4-kV Equivalent
Rt, Xt. System Equivalent
Infinite Bus R1, X1, B1 GSU Transformer
Re, Xe, Be Rte, Xte

Ideal
Gen
Gen
4
1 230-kV Line 2 2 3 5 100-MW Equivalent
R2, X2, B2 Wind Turbine Generator
Station-Level Shunt Turbine-Level Shunt
Compensation Compensation

Figure 4. WPP represented by a single generator

2.3 PV and PQ Curves

In this section, we show how to perform power-voltage


(PV) and voltagereactive power (VQ) power system Figure 5. Voltage at the generator during stiff-grid and
stability analysis on a WPP. We use a single-turbine weak-grid conditions
representation of a WPP. The WPP uses 1.5-MW Type 3
(variable-speed doubly-fed induction generator) wind In this investigation, we operate a Type 3 wind turbine at
turbines operated in variable-speed mode with a constant a unity power factor, thus generating only real power at the
power factor, PF = 1.0. The total output power of the WPP terminals. No other reactive power compensation is
is rated at 204 MW. The WPP is connected to the rest of the provided at the turbine level or at the WPP level. The PV
power system via its point of interconnection. Two grid curves shown in Figure 5 were derived by measuring the
conditions are used in this study: the stiff-grid and weak- bus voltage at the generator as we varied the output power
grid conditions. The stiff-grid condition is simulated by of the wind turbine. Figure 5 shows both the weak grid and
connecting both of the transmission lines between Bus 1 stiff grid. The real power margin for the grid is measured
and Bus 2. The weak-grid condition is simulated by from the rated power (P = 1.0 p.u.) to the knee point at
disconnecting one of the parallel lines between Bus 1 and which the voltage collapses. Usually the computation does
Bus 2. The transmission lines are overhead lines with a not converge beyond the knee point. In the simple case we
very small shunt capacitance. study, the real power margin for the stiff grid is Pmargin-STIFF
The collector system is built with underground cables = 1.4 p.u. (= 280 MW) at voltage V = 0.77 p.u. Similarly,
and some overhead lines. Because the size of the WPP area the real power margin for the weak grid is Pmargin-WEAK = 1.1
is very large, the effective impedance between the p.u. (= 220 MW) at voltage V = 0.82 p.u. The voltage
substation and a turbine is different for each turbine. characteristic indicates that for a stiff grid we can increase
the level of generation to 125% of rated power while
2.3.1 PV Capability Curve keeping the bus voltage above 0.9 p.u.; however, for a weak
grid the level of generation can be adjusted up to 97% rated
A PV capability curve is normally conducted to measure before the voltage drops below 0.9 p.u.
the proximity of the rated operating condition of a WPP to Wind turbine generators are operated in unity power
the voltage collapse. In a large power system network, the factor mode; thus, no reactive power is supplied by the
level of the output power of a group of generators in the generator to the grid to compensate for the reactive losses
area and zone of interest are usually varied, and the other within the collector systems inside a WPP, in the
group of generators is reduced by the same amount of transformers, and the transmission lines. As shown in
power to develop net-zero additional output power. For a Figure 6, the reactive power losses are supplied by the grid
WPP, a PQ characteristic map of the WPP is generally used, (Bus 1 as the infinite bus). In both cases, the reactive power
and the WPP is operated from a low-wind to higher-wind is shown to exhibit a nonlinear (slightly quadratic) function
condition with a pair of P&Q from the PQ characteristic of the WPP output power, which is expected. Note that the
map. Most wind turbine generators (Type 1 and Type 2) are reactive power needed for an output of 1.0 p.u. real power
normally compensated to have a unity power factor is 38% rated power for a stiff grid and 56% for a weak grid.
operation by using a switched capacitor. Type 3 and Type 4
wind turbine generators are built with the capability to vary
reactive power and can be operated to control voltage,
reactive power, or the power factor output via a power
converter control. Additional information related to PV and
VQ curves as discussed in this section and the next and can
be found in the references [1011].

3
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
normal operating region (0.95 p.u. < V < 1.05 p.u.). We
1.4
Q @Bus 1 Stiff-Grid assume that the participation factor for the generator in this
Q @ Bus 1 Weak-Grid
1.2
case is 100% for each wind turbine generator; therefore, the
1 output reactive power contribution for each individual
Reactive Power (p.u.)

0.8 generator is equal to each other.


The reactive power margins, at the minimum points of
0.6
the curves, are shown by the different colors in Figure 7.
0.4
The reactive margin for the stiff grid is Qmargin-STIFF = 0.32
0.2
p.u. (= 64 MVAR) at V = 0.69 p.u. Similarly, the reactive
0 margin for the weak grid is Qmargin-WEAK = 0.113 p.u. (= 22
0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5
Real Power (p.u.) MVAR) at V = 0.75 p.u. This simple margin measurement
is intended as an illustration only. For a larger network, the
Figure 6. Reactive power comparison at the infinite bus area and zone considered with many generators and loads
during weak-grid conditions need to be included.

The above exercise is conducted by setting the generator 2.4 PMU-Enhanced Dynamic Stability Assessment
to produce a unity power factor output power. It will give
different results if the WPP is operated at different modes PV and VQ capability curves are used without the need
(e.g., constant power factor, constant voltage, constant to know the phase angle of the phasor voltage. However,
reactive power). with the recent large-scale synchrophasor deployment, the
availability of the phase angles can be used to enhance the
2.3.2 VQ Capability Curve prediction of voltage instability in a power system network.
To conduct a simple analysis performance in Positive
A VQ capability curve is normally investigated to Sequence Load Flow (PSLFTM) computer program, we use
determine the reactive power adequacy in a WPP. Reactive the same network shown in Figure 4. We observe three
power capability is an important aspect of controlling the conditions:
voltage and influencing the PV characteristic behavior. 1. A stiff power system network in which both parallel
As mentioned previously, the WPP uses Type 3 wind lines connecting the infinite bus and substation
turbine generators. All of the wind turbines are controlled transformer are online
to regulate Bus 3 (at the low side of the substation 2. A stiff power system network with a reduction of
transformer). The setting point of the regulated voltage is infinite-bus voltage by 4%
varied from 0.6 p.u. to 1.0 p.u., and the reactive power is 3. The same initial condition as (1), but representing a
plotted against the regulated voltage. The grid voltage weak power system by removing one line of the
(infinite bus) is set to 1.05 p.u. all the time, and the parallel lines connecting the infinite bus and the
generator real power output is set to 1.0 p.u. substation transformer
Then, at constant reactive output power, we increase the
generation from 50% to above 100%, until the load flow
does not converge, indicating the voltage collapse when the
system reaches its instability limit. The operation is
repeated at different values of reactive power. As expected,
the power system reaches its instability operation at
different output power levels depending on the size of
reactive power.

2.4.1 Impact on the Voltage Magnitude

As we vary both the real and reactive power output of the


WPP, the voltage magnitude and the phase angle at the
Figure 7. VQ characteristics of a wind turbine generator generator change as the level of real power generation and
during stiff-grid and weak-grid conditions the reactive power generation varies. Because the voltage is
usually maintained within a tight range (0.95 p.u. < V <
Figure 7 shows the VQ curve of the wind turbine 1.05 p.u.), whereas the phase angle has a wider range, it is
generator for both stiff- and weak-grid conditions in the common practice to keep the voltage as steady as possible.

4
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
Figure 8. Voltage characteristics of a wind turbine Figure 9. Voltage characteristics of a wind turbine
generator during stiff-grid conditions generator during stiff-grid conditions with the infinite bus
reduced by 4%
As shown in Figure 8 through Figure 10, the reactive
power output has a major impact on the generator voltage
compared to the impact from the real power output.
0.5

Figure 8 illustrates an operation of a WPP connected to a


stiff grid. First, consider that the WPP is operated at 1.0 p.u.
REACTIVE POWER OUTPUT (P.U.)

0.3

output real power and the reactive power is set from Q = -


0.3 p.u. (generator-absorbing reactive power), which is
0.1
increased to Q = 0.5 p.u. As shown on the contour map, the
operating point moves along the vertical black line, and the 0

generator voltage increases with additional reactive power - 0.1

supplied to the grid from Vt = 0.75 p.u. to 1.14 p.u. when


the reactive power output is close to 1.14 p.u. This method - 0.3
0.5 0.72 0.94 1.16 1.38 1.6 1.82 2.04
of operation is also represented by the black line in Figure 7, REAL POWER OUTPUT (P.U.)
which shows the VQ characteristic of the wind turbine
generator operated with a stiff grid at rated power P = 1.0. Figure 10. Voltage characteristics of a wind turbine
Similarly, when the generator is operated at unity power generator during weak-grid conditions
factor (Q = 0.0 p.u.) and the real power output is varied
from 0.5 p.u. to 1.4 p.u., the operating point moves along Figure 9 represents a condition similar to that shown in
the horizontal blue line. As shown, the generator voltage Figure 8; however, the entire surface map shows a
decreases from 1.01 p.u. to 0.75 p.u., at which point it is reduction in voltage. It is probably easier to view this in
obvious that the voltage collapses (Vt = 0.75 p.u. at P = three-dimension (3D) with the mountain shown in Figure 8
1.14 p.u.). This characteristic is illustrated in Figure 5 as shrunk as the voltage at the reactive power of Q = 0.5 p.u.
the PV characteristic of the wind turbine generator operated drops from 1.15 p.u. to 1.11 p.u. The voltage collapse area
with a stiff grid at unity power factor. is shown to be slightly larger than it was in the previous
On the other hand, if the voltage is maintained at 1.0 p.u., one. Note that the shape of the curves remains very similar
the operating point follows the red line, the amount of to those shown in Figure 8, but the new trajectory of Vt =
reactive power varies from Q = -0.02 p.u. to Q = 0.5 p.u., 1.0 p.u. (represented by the green curve) must be shifted
and the voltage collapse does not yet occur. Note that at Q upward in parallel to the old one (red curve) by
= 0.5 p.u., the output power that can be transferred through approximately 4%.
the transmission line is P = 1.75 p.u. (stable operation). Figure 10 also represents a condition similar to that
shown in Figure 8; however, one of the parallel lines is
tripped offline. This figure shows the higher slope of the
voltage contour, larger area of the voltage collapse, and the
equipotential line previously represented by the red line
becomes the equipotential line represented by the blue line.
Also shown is that the red line that was previously located

5
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
in the stable region during a stiff-grid condition (Figure 8) of the WPP under different grid conditions, and eventually
is now part of the red line that enters the unstable (voltage- use these maps to guide the operation of the WPP and the
collapse) area, indicated by the area encircled by the dashed proximity to an instability condition.
line.

2.4.2. Impact on the Voltage Angle

As we vary both the real and reactive power output of the


WPP, the voltage magnitude and the phase angle at the
generator change as the level of real power generation and
the reactive power generation varies. The contour map in
Figure 11 shows the phase-angle variation as the real and
reactive power is varied during stiff-grid conditions. The
rated output power P = 1.0 p.u. at voltage V = 1.0 p.u.
requires a reactive power of 0.1 p.u. and voltage angle of
= 23. Compare this to the weak grid shown in Figure 12.
In Figure 12, obtaining the voltage of V = 1.0 p.u. requires
Q = 0.15 p.u. of reactive power and the voltage angle of
Figure 12. Angle characteristics of a wind turbine
30. The line angle from Figure 11 was transferred to
generator during weak-grid conditions
Figure 12 for reference. The stiff = 23o becomes weak = 31
with a lower slope. As shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12
for different grid strengths, the operating point in the PQ Stiff Grid Stiff Grid - with reduced voltage (4%)

plane is represented by a pair of V, . Thus, by operating the


generator in the normal operating voltage range, we can 1 1
Voltage Magnitude (p.u.)

Voltage Magnitude (p.u.)


observe the value of the voltage angle; an increase angle
after an event for the same power indicates a weaker grid
0.8 0.8

condition. 0.6
P = 0.5 p.u.
P = 0.75 p.u. 0.6
P = 0.5 p.u.
P = 0.75 p.u.
P = 1.0 p.u. P = 1.0 p.u.
P = 1.2 p.u. P = 1.2 p.u.
P = 1.4 p.u. P = 1.4 p.u.
0.4 0.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50
0.5
Delta Angle (degrees) Delta Angle (degrees)
=2

.u.
3

.0 p Figure 13. Voltage-angle characteristics for a stiff grid


=1
0.3

Vt with a change in the voltage magnitude

0.1
P = 1.0 p.u. Figure 13 illustrates the movement of the operating point
Q = 0.1 p.u.
0 when there is a voltage reduction downstream. Assume that
- 0.1
the operating Point A of the WPP is at rated power (P = 1.0
p.u., V = 1.0 p.u., Q = 0.1 p.u.) on a stiff grid with the star
symbol ( = 23). If there is a voltage reduction at the
- 0.3
0.5 0.72 0.94 1.16 1.38 1.6 1.82 2.04 infinite bus by 4% without any changes in the line
REAL POWER OUTPUT (P.U.) impedance, without changing the reactive power output of
the generator the operating point moves to Point B (the
Figure 11. Angle characteristics of a wind turbine voltage is reduced to 0.96 p.u. and the phase angle is
generator during stiff-grid conditions increased = 25). To maintain the voltage at V = 1.0 p.u.,
the reactive power must be increased by 0.1 p.u. (Point B),
In addition, the increase of reactive power needed to with the phase angle ( = 24) slightly higher than the
maintain per-unit voltage will always be an indication of a original Point A. Figure 14 shows the significant change in
weaker grid. Caution must be taken when considering the angle because of the exposure to a weaker grid. Assume
impact on the size of the voltage-collapse area. A weaker that instead of a voltage reduction at the infinite bus, a
grid means a larger voltage collapse area. One way to parallel line is disconnected and we are exposed to a weak
gauge the operating condition is to run or record an grid. The operating point of the WPP at rated power (P =
operation in a normal condition as the baseline, find a set of 1.0 p.u.) moves from Point A (V = 1.0 p.u.; = 23) to
weaker grid conditions to map the operating characteristics Point C (V = 0.97 p.u.; ~ 30). There is a significant

6
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
change in the phase angle = 7 from A to C. Increasing substation. This is because, to provide reactive power, the
the reactive power Q by 0.05 p.u. will return the voltage sending end will have higher voltage, and if the line
back to 1.0 p.u. and initiate a small reduction of the phase impedance between the turbine and the substation
angle = 28). transformer is too large, the voltage limit of the power
converter is sometimes reached before the amount of
Weak Grid
reactive power demand can be supplied.

1
Acknowledgement
Voltage Magnitude (p.u.)

0.8
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of
0.6
P = 0.5 p.u.
P = 0.75 p.u.
Energy under Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308 with
P = 1.0 p.u.
P = 1.2 p.u. the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
P = 1.4 p.u.
0.4
0 10 20 30 40 50

Delta Angle (degrees) References


Figure 14. Voltage-angle characteristic for a weak grid
[1] Kundur, P.; Paserba, J.; Ajjarapu, V.; Andersson,
With this understanding, we can trace the operating point G.; Bose, A.; Canizares, C.; Hatziargyriou, N.; Hill,
and understand the changes that occur in the power system D.; Stankovic, A.; Taylor, C.; Van Cutsem, T.;
network. Vittal, V. Definition and Classification of Power
System Stability. IEEE/CIGRE Joint Task Force
on Stability Terms and Definition, IEEE
3. Summary Transactions on Power Systems (19:2), May 2004.

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1982.
The use of power converters basically isolates the
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maintain steady voltages at all buses in a system after being Fault Analysis at a Wind Power Plant for One Year
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power when the upper limit of the exciter or the limitation Energy Society General Meeting, July 2429, 2011,
of switched bank capacitors has been reached to provide a San Diego, California.
fine adjustment to match the required reactive [7] Muljadi, E.; Nguyen, T.B.; Pai, M.A. Impact of
compensation. Wind Power Plants on Voltage and Transient
The same limitation is also applicable to WPPs, because Stability of Power Systems. Preprint. Presented at
the IEEE Energy 2030 Conference, Nov. 1718,
there is a current-carrying limit of the ability of the power
2008, Atlanta, Georgia.
electronic switches to carry the instantaneous reactive
current demand needed. Another factor in WPPs is that the [8] Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Order 661.
size of a WPP can be very large, as such that the farthest Appendix G: Large Generator Interconnection
Agreement, LVRT requirement.
wind turbine generator from the substation cannot provide
reactive power as effective as the turbine closest to the

7
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.
[9] Muljadi, E.; Butterfield, C.P.; Parsons, B.; Ellis, A. Eduard Muljadi received his Ph.D. in electrical
Effect of Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Generator engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
on Stability of a Weak Grid. IEEE Transactions on From 1988 to 1992, he taught at California State University,
Energy Conversion (22), 2007; pp. 2936. at Fresno. In June 1992, he joined the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colorado. His current
[10] WECC Undervoltage Load Shedding Task Force,
research interests are in the fields of electric machines,
Technical Studies Subcommittee. Under-Voltage
power electronics, and power systems in general, with an
Load Shedding Guidelines. July 1999.
emphasis on renewable energy applications. He is member
[11] WECC Reactive Power Reserve Work Group, of Eta Kappa Nu and Sigma Xi, a fellow of the Institute of
Technical Studies Subcommittee. Voltage Stability Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and an editor
Criteria, Under-Voltage Load Shedding Strategy, of the IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion. He is
and Reactive Power Reserve Monitoring involved in the activities of the IEEE Industry Application
Methodology. May 2008. Society (IAS), Power Electronics Society, and Power and
Energy Society (PES). He is currently a member of various
[12] WECC Wind Generator Modeling Group. WECC
committees of the IAS, and a member of the Working
Wind Power Plant Power Flow Modeling Guide.
Group on Renewable Technologies and the Task Force on
May 2008.
Dynamic Performance of Wind Power Generation, both of
[13] WECC Modeling and Validation Work Group, the PES. He holds two patents in power conversion for
Renewable Energy Modeling Task Force. WECC renewable energy.
Wind Power Plant Dynamic Modeling Guide.
Yingchen (Y.C.) Zhang received his B.S. from Tianjin
January 2011.
University, in Tianjin, China, in 2003, and his Ph.D. degree
[14] Brochu, J.; Larose, C.; Gagnon, R. Generic from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in
Equivalent Collector System Parameters for Large Blacksburg, in 2010. He is currently with the National
Wind Power Plants. IEEE Transactions on Energy Renewable Energy Laboratory. His research interests
Conversion (26:2), June 2011. include power system stability with large-scale integration
of renewable energies, power system wide-area monitoring,
[15] Brochu, J.; Larose, C.; Gagnon, R. Validation of and PMU applications for renewable integrations. Zhang
Single- and Multiple-Machine Equivalents for previously worked for the California Independent System
Modeling Wind Power Plants. IEEE Transactions Operator developing and implementing steady-state and
on Energy Conversion (26:2), June 2011. dynamic analysis tools to improve power system situational
awareness. He has been a member of IEEE since 2007.

8
This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

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