Impact of wind generator control strategies on flicker emission in distribution networks

Renewable power generators are increasingly being integrated to electricity networks to achieve future renewable energy targets in power generation. In particular, wind power generation has already reported substantial penetration levels in electricity networks. Traditionally, flicker phenomenon is considered to be one of the power quality issues in power distribution networks due to fluctuating consumer loads connected to the network. Large-scale integration of wind power generators may create significant voltage fluctuations in distribution feeders due to stochastic and intermittent nature of the wind resources. This study aims to investigate and characterize the flicker emission under different control strategies for DFIG based wind generators. This study demonstrates a direct correlation between flicker emission and wind generator control strategies under different wind and network conditions. Therefore, additional control strategies should be implemented together with the main control strategy to reduce flicker emission during variable wind conditions.