Wind Energy in Australia to Be Supported by Smart Grid System

Sep 4
11:01

2010

Ashly Sun

Ashly Sun

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Wind energy in Australia as provided by Vestas Australian Wind Technology is now expected to advance, following the smart grid interconnection provided by American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC).

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Under the agreement,Wind Energy in Australia to Be Supported by Smart Grid System Articles 24 dynamic reactive power (D-VAR) modules that have external smart-switched capacitor banks will be delivered over the coming year, the largest order A.M.S.C. has ever received for a grid interconnection system.

The smart grid system will facilitate the grid interconnection needs of the 206-megawatt Collgar Wind Farm that is currently being built at the southeast of Merredin in Western Australia.

Eight grid connection systems were already provided by the company in Australia.  The systems are linking around 60 MW of Australia’s wind power capacity to the grid or one-third of the country’s total wind power capacity of 1,700 MW at the end of 2009, as reported by the Global Wind Energy Council.

Emerging Energy Research predicted that Australia will have a total wind energy capability of 10,000 MW by 2020.  The Australian government has already ratified a law which requires the nation to produce 20 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources such as wind energy and solar energy by 2020.

A.M.S.C. global sales and business development senior vice president Timothy Poor anticipates countries around the globe to follow in implementing the same strict dynamic voltage control requirements, so that electricity flow from wind and solar farms will be effectively managed , resulting in the growth of the company’s market.

The company’s D-VAR systems has the ability to steady the power grid so that sudden incidents like voltage collapse will be avoided, and so that dynamic voltage control, post-contingency reactive compensation, and power factor correction will be supplied.  A.M.S.C.’s systems can also enhance the performance of wind farms, resulting in better wind energy that can meet a nation’s grid interconnection requirements.

The D-VAR reactive compensation system is also known as static compensators, which are part of the flexible AC-transmission system family of power electronic solutions for irregular current power grids.  These smart grid systems have the ability to find and repair voltage disturbances through putting leading reactive power into the grid.

A.M.S.C. offers proprietary technologies and solutions for producing electricity and megawatt-scale wind turbine designs and electrical control systems.  The company also provides different types of smart grid technologies for the improvement of the reliability, efficiency, and capacity of the power grid and for the smooth integration of renewable energy such as wind energy into the grid.

Vestas Australian Wind Technology is a subsidiary of Danish wind giant Vestas Wind Systems A/S.