Why we analyze harmonics
Due to the tendency to renewable energies, wind power plants enjoy a continuously increasing importance. Our expectations are anything but modest. We want to ensure national as well as global power supply, sustainable and efficient. However, there is one factor, that tremendously impacts the efficiency of wind power plants connected to public grids, namely harmonics. Harmonics are multiples of the fundamental frequency causing resonances, premature aging, malfunctioning, and efficiency losses. Therefore, operators of wind power plants – whether on-shore or off-shore – frequently analyze harmonics to guarantee a high output efficiency and a long lifetime of components.
| “Harmonics are multiples of the fundamental frequency causing resonances, premature aging, malfunctioning, and efficiency losses.” |
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Regulations and standards in the wind power sector
Several standards and regulations by organizations such as the IEC control the wind power sector in general as well as renewables in specific. This includes for instance the definition of harmonics and their distortion. In the following, you can find a list of specific standards directly or indirectly affecting the need to analyze harmonics.
- Emission limit values for wind power plants are among others defined in IEC 61000-2-4, IEC 61000-3-6, and IEC 61800-3-6.
- A special focus on renewable energies is included for instance in IEC 61400-12 and IEC 61400-21.
- Moreover, IEC-61000-4-7 and IEC 61000-4-30 define the calculation methods for harmonics and their distortion.
DEWETRON’s solution to analyze harmonics
DEWETRON prepared an ideal setup specifically dedicated for measurements on wind power plants – whether on-shore or off-shore. This solution for synchronized measurements in the nacelle and on the ground includes two DEWE3-A4. For more information about wind turbine testing, please refer to this article. In the figure below, you can get a first idea about how to analyze harmonics with OXYGEN – DEWETRON’s data acquisition and analysis software.
Figure 1: Analysis of Harmonics and Interharmonics
