Power Maximization Analysis of a Wind Electric Water Pumping System using STATCOM and Modified Enhanced Perturb & Observe

Abstract

The following research work analyze the performance of an original technique for Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm applied to a Wind Electric Water Pumping System (WEWPS). The studied model is created under Matlab/Simulink software and contain a Wind Turbine, a Static Compensator (STATCOM) and a centrifugal water pump unit driven by a three phase Induction Motor. The main purpose of the proposed control strategy is to improve water flow rate by exploring the maximum amount of electrical power produced by the wind turbine in a wide range of wind speed. Theoretical analysis as well as simulation results have shown that the highest electrical power rate depends on the value of the consumed reactive power by the wind turbine. Modified Enhanced Perturb and Observe (MEPO) algorithm is then introduced in this application to calculate the optimal value of reactive power reference that STATCOM have to exchange with WEWPS to guarantee maximum electric power extraction and thus maximal water flow rate. Moreover, a comparison was made with the standard P&O algorithm to confirm the superior performance of the proposed technique.