Characterisation of large disturbance rotor angle and voltage stability in interconnected power networks with distributed wind generation

Wind generation in highly interconnected power networks creates local and centralised stability issues based on their proximity to conventional synchronous generators and load centres. This study examines the large disturbance stability issues (i.e. rotor angle and voltage stability) in power networks with geographically distributed wind resources in the context of a number of dispatch scenarios based on profiles of historical wind generation for a real power network. Stability issues have been analysed using novel stability indices developed from dynamic characteristics of wind generation. The results of this study show that localised stability issues worsen when significant penetration of both conventional and wind generation is present because of their non-complementary characteristics. In contrast, network stability improves when either high penetration of wind and synchronous generation is present in the network. Therefore network regions can be clustered into two distinct stability groups (i.e. superior stability and inferior stability regions). Network stability improves when a voltage control strategy is implemented at wind farms, however both stability clusters remain unchanged irrespective of change in the control strategy. Moreover, this study has shown that the enhanced fault ride-through strategy for wind farms can improve both voltage and rotor angle stability locally, but only a marginal improvement is evident in neighbouring regions.