Power-quality issues and the need for reactive-power compensation in the grid integration of wind power

This article addresses the technical issues which arise whenever the wind power is to be integrated into a national grid. These issues in general, and the power quality and the need for reactive-power compensation in particular are explored in the context of a realistic case study for a proposed 50 MW wind farm' integration to the Pakistan׳s national grid. The test systems are modelled in MATLAB/Simulink for this study. The article also highlights the role of static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) as a smooth reactive-power provider in improving the power quality of this wind-integrated power system.