Energy storage system by means of improved thermal performance of a 3 MW grid side wind power converter

Wind speed variations make the power of wind turbine system to fluctuate, which could increase the thermal stress of the power converter and reduce its lifetime. In order to relieve this problem, short-term energy storage technologies are applied to improve the thermal performance of a 3 MW grid side wind power converter. The cost, weight and cycle life of the energy storage technologies are evaluated based on a typical low speed high turbulence wind profile. In detail, a wind turbine system model is established and its control strategy is illustrated, which is followed by the power control method of the energy storage system. Then the conventional thermal evaluation approach is simplified for evaluation with long term wind profile. The case studies are done to address the optimal power size and capacity of the energy storage system by comparing the improvement of the thermal performance. Also, the two promising candidates, ultracapacitors and batteries, are compared.