Method of controlling active power generation of a wind power plant and wind power plant

1. A method of controlling active power generation of a wind power plant coupled to a power grid, the wind power plant comprising a power plant controller for controlling a plurality of wind turbine generators, the method comprising:

generating reactive power, using a reactive power source, to compensate for a disturbance in the power grid;

monitoring, using the power plant controller, an operational status of the reactive power source;

determining, using the power plant controller and based on the operational status, that there is at least a partial failure in the reactive power source resulting in a reduced reactive power generation capability, and in response adjusting a plant reactive power capability value to reflect the reduced reactive power generation capability;

controlling, using the power plant controller and based on the plant reactive power capability value, the wind power plant to curtail the active power generated by the wind power plant by a curtailment amount corresponding to the reduced reactive power generation capability;

monitoring a grid frequency for a drop in the grid frequency; and

controlling the wind power plant to increase active power output, including use of the curtailment amount, to support grid frequency recovery.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising optimizing the active power generated by the wind power plant based on a grid code requirement.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising comparing the plant reactive power capability with the grid code requirement to optimize the active power generated by the wind power plant.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising obtaining the curtailment amount from a look-up table comparison.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the values of the curtailment amount in the look-up table are predetermined by a power system study.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein monitoring an operational status of the reactive power source comprises any one of monitoring operational capability of the reactive power source and monitoring communication between the reactive power source and the power plant controller.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a sampling rate of about 1 second in monitoring the operational status of the reactive power source.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising allocating the curtailment amount to a grid operator of the power grid as spinning reserve for supporting a grid frequency drop.

9. A wind power plant, comprising

a plurality of wind turbine generators;

a reactive power source configured to provide reactive power to compensate for a disturbance in a power grid and comprising a plurality of compensation modules; and

a power plant controller, configured for controlling the plurality of wind turbine generators, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing a program, which, when executed on the processor, performs an operation, the operation comprising:

monitoring an operational status of the reactive power source and determining based on the operational status that there is at least a partial failure in the reactive power source resulting in a reduced reactive power generation capability;

adjusting a plant reactive power capability value to reflect the reduced reactive power generation capability, in response to the determination that there is at least the partial failure in the reactive power source;

controlling, based on the plant reactive power capability value, the wind power plant to curtail an active power generated by the wind power plant by a curtailment amount corresponding to the reduced reactive power generation capability;

monitoring a grid frequency for a drop in the grid frequency; and

controlling the wind power plant to increase active power output, including use of the curtailment amount, to support grid frequency recovery.

10. The wind power plant of claim 9 , wherein the compensation modules can comprise any one of a capacitor module, a STATCOM module, a SVC module, or an inductor module.

11. The wind power plant of claim 9 , further comprising a data communication coupling between the power plant controller and the compensation modules.

12. The wind power plant of claim 11 , wherein the data communication coupling is provided between the power plant controller and each of the compensation modules.

13. A computer program product loadable into an internal memory of at least one digital computer provided in a wind power plant coupled to a power grid and configured to control a plurality of wind turbine generators, the computer program product comprising software code portions for performing an operation for controlling active power generation of a wind power plant when the computer program product is run on the at least one digital computer, the operation comprising:

generating reactive power, using a reactive power source, to compensate for a disturbance in the power grid;

monitoring an operational status of the reactive power source;

determining, based on the operational status, that there is at least a partial failure in the reactive power source resulting in a reduced reactive power generation capability, and in response adjusting a plant reactive power capability value to reflect the reduced reactive power generation capability;

controlling, based on the plant reactive power capability value, the wind power plant to curtail the active power generated by the wind power plant by a curtailment amount corresponding to the reduced reactive power generation capability; and

allocating the curtailment amount to a grid operator of the power grid as spinning reserve for supporting a grid frequency drop.

14. A method of controlling active power generation of a wind power plant coupled to a power grid, the wind power plant comprising a power plant controller for controlling a plurality of wind turbine generators, the method comprising:

generating reactive power, using a reactive power source, to compensate for a disturbance in the power grid;

monitoring, using the power plant controller, an operational status of the reactive power source using a sampling rate of about 1 second;

determining, using the power plant controller and based on the operational status, that there is at least a partial failure in the reactive power source resulting in a reduced reactive power generation capability, and in response adjusting a plant reactive power capability value to reflect the reduced reactive power generation capability; and

controlling, using the power plant controller and based on the plant reactive power capability value, the wind power plant to curtail the active power generated by the wind power plant by a curtailment amount corresponding to the reduced reactive power generation capability.