Comparison of Wireless Power Controllers for Induction Aerogenerators Connected to a Smart Grid Based on GPRS and EGPRS Standards

In recent years, wind plants have undergone major changes due to new technologies developed for smart grids (SG). For its success, it becomes necessary the use of modern information and telecommunication infrastructure with bidirectional data flow. In Brazil, due to the high penetration of data networks based on GSM technology (Global System Mobile), such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EGPRS (Enhanced GPRS), it has attracted the interest of energy companies to carry out the tasks of measurement, monitoring, and control in SG. The use of cellular technology enables at first a significant reduction in the SG deployment costs while providing reliability and security of the information. In this context, the use of a cellular network for monitoring and control data sharing in intelligent wind farms has recently aroused great interest. This work proposes the analysis of a wireless control system based on GPRS and EGPRS data services for variable-speed squirrel-cage induction generators (SCIG) connected to the power grid. The wireless communication system is employed to send the reference power signals to the SCIG controller with the necessary reliability to ensure the power quality provided by the wind turbine. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated by several simulations and tests.