Date of Award

2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Engineering Science

Program

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Supervisor

Professor Amimaser Yazdani

Abstract

Electrification of off-grid remote communities is commonly accomplished through diesel generators. The method may even be employed in cases where there exists an un­ reliable connection to the power grid. Regardless, the method is environmentally-hostile, typically costly, and likely risky. Therefore, to mitigate the reliance on diesel fuel, uti­ lization of renewable energy resources has been considered in recent years. This thesis investigates the feasibility of and technical considerations involved in the employment of a specific class of variable-speed wind-power systems, integrated with battery energy stor­ age, for remote electrification applications.

The wind-power system under consideration is based on the doubly-fed induction gen­ erator (DFIG) technology, which features a number of characteristics that render it at­ tractive for the incorporation of battery energy storage. This thesis identifies the control strategy, different control sub-functions, and the controllers structures/parametes required to accommodate the battery energy storage. The developed control strategy enables the operation of the wind-power/storage system in the off-grid (islanded) mode of operation, as well as the grid-connected mode of operation. Under the developed control strategy, the wind-power/storage system can operate in parallel with constant-speed wind-power units, passive loads, and induction motor loads. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy has been demonstrated through comprehensive simulation studies enabled by the commercial software package PSCAD/EMTDC.

In addition to the control aspects, this thesis studies the reliability aspects of the pro­ posed wind-power/storage system, for an example remote electrification system. Thus, a new reliability assessment method has been developed in this thesis, which combines the existing analytical and simulation-based probabilistic approaches. The reliability analysis conducted indicates that the battery energy storage capacity, the wind magnitude and pro­ file, and the load profile impose remarkable impacts on the reliability of the electrification system. It also indicates that a connection to the power grid, however unreliable, signifi­ cantly mitigates the need for a large battery to achieve a given degree of reliability.

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