2014 Ninth International Conference on Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies (EVER)

Review of Control Strategies for DFIG-Based Wind

Turbines under Unsymmetrical Grid Faults

Pavlos Tourou, Constantinos Sourkounis
Institute for Power Systems Technology and Power Mechatronics, Ruhr-University Bochum
Universittsstr. 150
44801 Bochum, Germany
Email: tourou@enesys.rub.de, sourkounis@enesys.rub.de


Abstract As the penetration of wind power and other
distributed generation sources increases, more demanding
grid code requirements are introduced by the network
operators in order to ensure the stability of the evolving
electrical networks. The most challenging requirement for
wind energy converter systems is the low voltage ride
through capability that expects generators to remain
connected during symmetrical and asymmetrical grid
faults and to contribute to the system recovery.
Asymmetrical voltage conditions and dips in the grid can
have significant negative effects on the performance of
doubly-fed induction generators. These effects can
decrease the lifetime of sensitive components in the wind
energy converter in the long term and in extreme cases
they can cause damages and tripping of the system, leading
to violation of the grid code requirements. Protective
measures must be taken so that the wind energy converters
remain connected and support the grid without putting the
reliability of the system at risk. Various control solutions
have been developed to deal with these challenges.
Although the most common voltage dips caused by grid
faults are asymmetrical, the majority of the control
solutions developed so far consider only symmetrical faults
and they cannot mitigate the problems faced under
asymmetrical conditions. This paper provides a
comprehensive overview of different linear vector control
methods for wind energy converter systems with doubly-
fed induction generators which have been proposed in the
literature to deal with the challenge of operating during
voltage asymmetry and riding-through all types of
voltage dips, symmetrical and asymmetrical.
Keywords doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG),
wind energy, grid integration, energy conversion, low
voltage ride through (LVRT), asymmetrical faults,
voltage unbalance, current control, power control,
voltage dips, control system, resonant controllers,
linear control, double synchronous reference frame
(DSRF), single synchronous reference frame (SSRF)

I. NOMECLATURE
:
s
, :

- stator and rotor voltage vectors

c

, c

- induced rotor emf space vector in the static and

rotor reference frames respectively
t
s
, t

- stator and rotor currents space vectors

s
,

- stator and rotor flux space vectors

R
s
, R

- stator and rotor resistances

- rotating speed of the arbitrary reference frame

- rotor electrical angular speed

I
m
- magnetizing inductance
I
s
, I

- stator and rotor self-inductances

[ - moment of inertia of the rotor and shaft
p - number of pole pairs in the generator
I
m
- mechanical torque applied at the generator shaft
I
c
- electromechanical torque of the generator

s
- time constant of the stator

II. INTRODUCTION
Wind power has been proven both technologically and
economically, as a reliable source for electricity
production. Significant amounts of clean electricity are
produced by wind energy converter systems (WECS)
without burdening the environment with greenhouse gases
that contribute to global warming and extreme weather
effects [1]. In 2011 WECS provided about 3.5% of the
global electricity demand and this figure is expected to rise
to 16% by 2030 under moderate scenarios [2]. In Europe it
is estimated that in 2013 an installed wind energy capacity
of 117 GW produced 257 TWh of electricity, enough to
cover 8% of the EUs electricity consumption [3]. As the
penetration of wind power and other renewable energy
sources in electrical grids increases, WECS and wind
farms are expected to behave more like conventional
978-1-4799-3787-5/14/$31.00 2014 IEEE

power plants by fulfilling stricter grid code requirements.
One of the most important requirements for the grid
stability in the case of grid faults is the low voltage ride
through (LVRT), by which the WECS must remain in
operation during symmetrical and asymmetrical voltage
dips. Additionally they must support the voltage recovery
by supplying reactive current to the grid during the fault
[4].
The LVRT requirement is particularly challenging for
WECS with doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG) due
to the limited rating of the power electronic converters that
are used to manage the electrical power. Most of the
WECS in the Megawatt range installed around the world
are based on the DFIG topology. Their popularity is
mainly due to the partial rating of the power electronic
converters which allows for a variable speed range that is
sufficient for maximum power conversion, while the
investment costs are significantly lower compared to
WECS with fully-rated power electronic converters.

Fig. 1: Typical configuration of a wind energy converter system with
a doubly-fed induction generator

As the stator terminals of the DFIG are connected
directly or through a transformer to the grid, significant
disturbances in the grid voltage induce very high
electromotive forces and currents in the rotor circuit which
can damage the power electronic converters if the system
remains connected to the grid. In the case of asymmetrical
(also called unbalanced) grid voltages, the rotor-side
converter (RSC) can saturate and significant power and
torque oscillations can arise. Therefore protective
measures must be taken so that the WECS remains
connected to the grid and fulfills the LVRT requirements,
without damaging sensitive components of the system.
Although a plethora of control systems have been
proposed in the literature, the majority of them deal only
with symmetrical grid faults which are extremely rare in
electrical grids in comparison to asymmetrical faults. This
paper presents various control systems and fault-ride
though strategies that can be applied during asymmetrical
as well as during symmetrical faults. The main objective
of these solutions is mitigating the negative effects on the
WECS caused by these abnormal grid conditions in order
to meet the various grid code requirements. Due to space
limitations, the current review considers only linear vector
control methods.
III. GRID FAULTS AND ASYMMETRICAL VOLTAGES
Faults in electrical power systems mainly occur due to
natural phenomena such as storms and lightning and to a
smaller extend due to animal behavior and technical
reasons [5], [6]. Four different types of short-circuit faults
can occur in three-phase power systems: single-phase-to-
ground (1), phase-to-phase (), two-phase-to-ground
(2) and three-phase-to-ground (3). Fault types 1, 2
and result in asymmetrical voltage dips, where the
voltage magnitude of the three phases is not the same
and/or the phase difference between successive phases is
not 120 as it is the case under normal operation. The most
common short-circuit faults in power are single-phase-to-
ground followed by two-phase faults [7].
Most of the voltage dips caused by such faults have a
very short duration because the source of the fault is often
temporary or due to the fast protection employed that
disconnects any lines affected by longer faults. These
voltage dips last until automatic reclosing equipment
reconnect the tripped lines. Less severe but sustained
asymmetrical voltage conditions can be common in remote
rural networks where wind farms are connected to the grid
though long transmission lines with asymmetric electrical
parameters [8] or in weak distribution grids which contain
high percentage of single phase loads [9], [10].
IV. NORMAL AND FAULT BEHAVIOUR OF THE DFIG
The behavior of the DFIG under normal operation and
unbalanced operation is explained based on the approach
developed in [11] and [12].
A. Normal operation
The DFIG is modelled in a static reference frame using
the following dynamic equations:
:
s
= R
s
t
s
+
d
dt

(1)
:

= R

+
d
dt

+ ]

(2)
The stator and rotor flux vectors can be expressed in
terms of the stator and rotor current vectors and the
magnetizing and leakage inductances:

s

= I
s
t
s
+ I
m
t

(3)

= I

+ I
m
t
s
(4)
In the above equations all the rotor quantities are
referred to the stator based on the stator-to-rotor turns
ratio. The rotor mechanical speed can be described
dynamically in terms of the external mechanical torque
from the wind rotor and the electromechanical torque
using the equation of motion:
[
d
dt

m
= I
c
- I
m
(5)
I
c
= 1.S p Rc|]
s

. t
s
| = -1.S p Rc|]

. t

| (6)
The rotor flux can be written in terms of the stator flux
and rotor current using (3) and (4)

=
L
m
L
s

s

+ oI

(7)
where is the leakage factor
o = 1 -
L
m
2
L
s
L
r
(8)
From (2) and (5) the rotor voltage is obtained
:

=
L
m
L
s
[
d
dt
- ]

+ _R

+ oI

[
d
dt
- ]

] t

(9)
The rotor voltage consists of the first term that is the
voltage induced by the variation of stator flux and the
second term that is the voltage drop across the rotor
resistance and the rotor transient inductance. If the rotor is
open-circuited the rotor voltage will be equal to the
induced emf
c

=
L
m
L
s
[
d
dt
- ]

(10)
The induced emf depends on the slip and on the
variation of the stator flux. In the case of a grid-connected
DFIG the stator flux variation is imposed by the grid
voltage. As a result any change in the grid-voltage will
affect the stator flux and consequently the induced emf in
the rotor. Abrupt and deep voltage dips can induce very
large voltages in the stator and rotor and they can lead as a
consequence to excessively large currents.
At normal operation the stator voltage is given by
:
s
= Ic
]o
s
t
(11)
If the stator resistance is ignored the stator flux space
vector is

s

= I
v
]o
s
c
]o
s
t
(12)
B. Behavior under dips in the grid voltage
The theory of symmetrical components is used to
analyze three-phase systems under symmetrical and
asymmetrical conditions. According to this theory any
asymmetrical set of N phasors can be decomposed into a
linear combination of N symmetrical sets of phasors [13].
In a three-phase system the decomposition results in the so
called positive, negative and zero sequence components.
An asymmetrical grid voltage at the Point of Common
Coupling (PCC) can contain all three sequences. As the
voltage propagates through the intermediate transformers
the negative sequence can be eliminated before it reaches
the terminals of the WECS. The voltage dip at the WECS
terminals, not only depends on the type of asymmetrical
voltage at the PCC but also on the winding connections of
the transformers, as well as on the winding connection of
the stator [14]. In most common wind farm configurations
the zero-sequence voltages are blocked and only positive-
sequence and negative-sequence voltages are experienced
by the WECS [15], [16]. Therefore zero sequence
components can be omitted in the subsequent
mathematical analysis of the DFIG.
In asymmetrical grid voltage conditions the stator
voltage consists of two components, a positive and
negative sequence components [11]
:
s
= I
1
c
]o
s
t
+ I
2
c
-]o
s
t
= :
s1
+ :
s2
(13)
During steady-state the forced stator flux will be
made of two components corresponding to the positive and
negative sequences of the stator voltage. Although the
voltage can change instantaneously at the start and end of
the dip, the stator flux is a continuous variable and an
abrupt decrease in the flux is not physically possible. If the
total stator flux immediately after the fault is not equal to
the stator flux immediately before the fault, then a
transient flux exists, called natural flux. The initial value
of this transient flux depends on the type and timing of the
fault. Its decay rate depends on the time constant of the
stator in the rotor open-circuit case. Therefore the total
stator flux is made of two steady-state and one transient
component [12], [17]

s

=
s1

+
s2

+
sn

=
1
]o
s
I
1
c
]o
s
t
+
1
]o
s
I
2
c
-]o
s
t
+
sn
. c
-t:
s
(14)
Similarly, the total emf induced by the variation of
stator flux in in the rotor terminals can be expressed in the
rotor reference frame as
c
r

r
=
I
m
I
s
I
1
. s. c
]s
s
t
+
I
m
I
s
I
2
. (s - 2). c
-](s-2)
s
t


+
L
m
L
s
[
1
:
s
+ ]

sn
. c
-[
1

s
-]o
r
t
(15)
The first term of the equation rotates with the slip
frequency and it is proportional to the positive sequence
voltage and to the slip. This emf is also present during
normal operation. The RSC is normally designed so that it
can produce voltages large enough to counteract this emf
and to regulate the rotor currents. The third term is a
transient emf that appears at the start and end of the dip
and it can occur in both symmetrical and asymmetrical
dips. The second term appears only in the presences of
asymmetrical voltage. It is proportional to the negative
sequence voltage and to (s-2). At severe unbalance the
total emf can be larger than the rated RSC voltage, leading
to loss of current regulation.
C. Active power, reactive power and generator torque
The apparent power at the stator is given by
S
s
= 1.S :
s
i
s

-
= P
s
+ ]
s
(16)
The active and reactive powers are given by
P
s
= 1.S|P
so
+ P
s,cos
cos(2
s
t) + P
s,sn
sin(2
s
t)] (17)

s
= 1.S|
so
+
s,cos
cos(2
s
t) +
s,sn
sin(2
s
t)] (18)
The components of the powers expressed in positive
and negative rotating reference frames are
l
l
l
l
l
l
P
so
P
s,cos
P
s,sn

so

s,cos

s,sn
1
1
1
1
1
1
=
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
:
sd
+
:
sq
+
:
sd
-
:
sq
-
:
sd
-
:
sq
-
:
sd
+
:
sq
+
:
sq
-
-:
sd
-
-:
sq
+
:
sd
+
:
sq
+
-:
sd
+
:
sq
-
-:
sd
+
:
sq
-
-:
sd
-
:
sq
+
-:
sd
+
-:
sd
-
-:
sq
-
:
sd
+
:
sq
+
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

l
l
l
l

i
sd
+
i
sq
+
i
sd
-
i
sq
-
1
1
1
1
(19)

Similarly, the electromagnetic toque is given by
I
c
= 1.Sp|I
co
+ I
c,cos
cos(2
s
t) + I
c,sn
sin(2
s
t)] (20)
_
I
co
I
c,cos
I
c,sIn
_ =
L
m
L
s
_
-
sq
+

sd
+
-
sq
-

sd
-

sd
-

sq
-
-
sd
+

sq
+
-
sq
-

sd
-
-
sq
+

sd
+
_
l
l
l
l

i
sd
+
i
sq
+
i
sd
-
i
sq
-
1
1
1
1
(21)
V. EFFECTS OF ASYMMETRIC CONDITIONS ON WECS
Asymmetric grid voltages can deteriorate the
performance, reliability and fault-ride through capability
of the DFIG-based WECS. If no protecting measures are
taken, the WECS is subject to different negative effects
including:
- Significant stator current unbalance even with low
grid voltage unbalance due to the low negative
sequence impedance of the generator at normal
operating slip speeds as it can be observed in
equation (15) [9]
- Unequal magnetic distribution in the stator and
rotor; can cause unexpected magnetic saturation,
thermal losses and excessive heating [8], [18]
- Electromagnetic torque oscillations; torsional
forces can reduce the lifetime of rotating parts on
WECS drive-train (shaft, couplings, gearbox,
blades) and create acoustic noise [19], [20]
- Reduction of the average torque and as a
consequence reduction of the maximum output
power capability of the DFIG [18]
- High GSC current unbalance even at low grid
voltage unbalance
- Voltage and current harmonics in the DC-link; can
trip the back-to-back power convert, shorten
lifetime of DC-link capacitor and lead to capacitor
failure [8]
- 100 Hz oscillations in the instantaneous active and
reactive power

VI. LINEAR VECTOR CONTROL
Vector control is the most common method used for
DFIG-based wind energy converters. Cascaded vector
control systems implemented in a synchronous reference
frame (SRF) have been extensively used for the power
converter control under normal operating conditions [21],
[22], [23], [24], [25], [17]. Reference and feedback
variables are transformed in a SRF (dq+-frame) that
rotates with the positive sequence space vector of the
stator flux (stator-flux orientation) or with the positive
sequence space vector of the grid voltage (grid-voltage
orientation) where they appear as DC values at steady-
state. Proportional-integral controllers (PI) are used in the
inner and outer loops as they provide satisfactory
performance when acting upon DC signals [26]. The
control system of the RSC includes fast inner control loops
regulating the rotor currents and slower outer loops
controlling active and reactive power at the stator. The
GSC outer loops are used to regulate the DC-link voltage
and the reactive power at grid side. This control structure
has been used extensively in combination with hardware
protection (e.g. rotor crowbar, DC-link chopper) to
maintain operation during symmetrical grid faults [27],
[28], [29].
During asymmetrical conditions, the presence of
negative sequence components in the voltages, currents

and fluxes deteriorates significantly the DFIG performance
as described in section V. To mitigate the negative effects
on the WECS and to improve its LVRT capability the
negative sequence currents in the DFIG must be controlled
simultaneously with the positive sequence currents. When
transformed in the positive sequence SRF, negative
sequence currents appear as double frequency signals
superimposed on the DC signals of the positive sequence
currents. PI controllers cannot regulate effectively the
negative sequence currents due to their limited closed-loop
bandwidth. The bandwidth can be increased by modifying
the gains of the PI controllers but this drives the current
loop to instability [30]. Various solutions have been
proposed in the literature which extend the vector control
concept in order to be applied under asymmetrical
conditions. These solutions mainly aim at a simultaneous
regulation of the positive and negative sequence
components in the rotor and grid-side converter currents.
VII. DSRF VECTOR CONTROL WITH PI CONTROLLERS
In [31] a model of the DFIG in terms of positive
sequence and negative sequence components is developed
and expressions for the powers and generator torque in the
case of asymmetrical conditions are obtained. A double
synchronous reference frame (DSRF) current control is
applied to the RSC of the DFIG. It uses a conventional
SRF aligned with the positive sequence stator flux and
rotating with grid angular frequency
s
to regulate the
positive sequence currents and an additional SRF rotating
with the same speed but in the opposite direction to
regulate the negative sequence currents as shown in Fig.2.
The reference currents are calculated using equations (19)
and (21) and four PI controllers regulate the four current
components. One of the following targets can be achieved
at one time: balanced stator current, constant stator active
power, constant torque, no rotor current oscillations. All
these targets increase the oscillations in the DC-link
current as a tradeoff and they can be fully achieved only at
moderate voltage unbalance. The voltage rating of the
RSC must be increased in order to effectively control the
negative sequence currents in the presence of high grid
voltage unbalance. The main disadvantage of this method
is the need for extracting the sequence components of the
currents. This introduces significant time delays and errors
in the magnitude and phase of the feedback signals. As a
result, accurate decoupling during transients cannot be
achieved and the stability of the system is limited [32].
The DSRF current control method is applied to both
power converters in [33] and [20]. Independent control of
the RSC and GSC is employed in [33] with the objectives
to limit torque pulsation and DC-link voltage ripple
respectively. A coordinated control between the two power
converters is proposed in [20] by taking account of the
grid code requirements and the control capability of the
converters. Supplying the positive-sequence reactive
current required by the grid codes during the fault and then
mitigating the torsional oscillations are the priorities
chosen for the RSC control. The GSC control prioritizes
positive-sequence current control to regulate the average
DC-link voltage and to contribute to the reactive current
requirement while the elimination of DC-link voltage
fluctuations is given a lower priority.
Fig. 2: Typical reference frames used in DSRF (-stationary,
r
-
rotor, dq
+
-positive sequence synchronous, dq
-
-negative-sequence
synchronous) [31]

A similar approach is used in [34] where a wind farm
made of DFIGs is configured to inject negative sequence
currents in the grid in order to decrease the asymmetries in
the PCC voltage. Four control strategies are proposed:
negative sequence current injection by the RSC only,
negative sequence current injection by the GSC only,
negative sequence current injection by both RSC and GSC
with priority given to the GSC and lastly minimization of
torque oscillation by the RSC while the GSC provides the
negative sequence voltage compensation. Simulation
investigations showed that the third strategy can provide
maximum grid voltage compensation with the tradeoff of
significantly increased torque oscillations while the fourth
strategy minimizes torque oscillations but it cannot
remove completely the negative sequence in the grid
voltage.
A coordinated control strategy and improvements to
the DSRF method and are reported in [32]. A conventional
current loop without any sequence extraction is employed
for the main controller in the positive SRF, thus avoiding
unnecessary computation and errors during normal
operating conditions. Sequence separation is still needed in
the auxiliary current controller operating in the negative
SRF which is activated only when significant voltage
unbalance is detected. The negative sequence current
references of the RSC control are calculated so as to
remove the torque oscillations. The negative sequence
currents of the GSC are controlled to compensate the
active power oscillations at the stator, and thus achieving

constant total active power. If both control targets are met
the oscillations in the DC-link voltage are also eliminated.
VIII. SSRF VECTOR CONTROL WITH PROPORTIONAL-
INTEGRAL PLUS RESONANT CONTROLLERS
A simple extension of the conventional single
synchronous reference frame (SSRF) PI-based vector
control was proposed in [35]. A high-Q second-order
resonant filter tuned at 100 Hz is used as a feedback
compensator in the current loop. This approach minimized
the torque oscillations at moderate voltage unbalances.
The current closed-loop gain bandwidth is increased
slightly by the addition of the compensator. As stated in
[30], this type of current compensation can be effective
only if the current controller bandwidth is larger than 100
Hz.
The current control proposed first in [32] is improved
in [36] by the addition of a resonant compensator parallel
to the PI controller (PI+R) in the positive synchronous
reference frame. The dc components in the synchronous
reference frame are mainly regulated by the PI controller
while the double-frequency ac signals due to the negative
sequence are fully controlled by the R compensator.
Simultaneous regulation of both positive and negative
sequences is achieved in the positive sequence reference
frame without the need for sequence extraction and for a
separate negative-sequence synchronous frame controller.
The introduction of the compensator increases the closed-
loop bandwidth of the current control slightly and the
phase margin is reduced by 20 which decreases the
robustness of the system especially during transients.
In [37] the PI+R concept is extended to a PI regulator
and a dual-frequency resonant compensator (DFR), tuned
at twice and six times the grid frequency designed to
regulate simultaneously the fundamental and fifth- and
seventh-order harmonic components of the currents. In this
way the system performance can be improved in the case
of asymmetrical as well as harmonically distorted voltage
conditions. A similar approach is adopted in [38] where a
more complex current control structure with resonant
controllers is used to compensate for asymmetric
conditions and higher order harmonics.
IX. STATIONARY REFERENCE FRAME VECTOR CONTROL
An alternative current control method, implemented in
the stationary reference frame, is first proposed in [39] for
application in DFIG-based WECS and it was further
investigated in [40]. In this case proportional-resonant
controllers (PR) are used, with two resonant components
tuned at frequencies of the positive and negative
sequences. PR implementation is challenging for the RSC
because the resonant frequencies vary with the mechanical
speed of the generator and they have current controller
must be continually tuned. The frequency adaptive
resonant controllers presented in [40] exhibit the same
dynamical response as the synchronous reference frame
controllers under normal operating conditions. Under
asymmetrical conditions the suggested method provides a
superior performance compared to classical PI control in
the SSRF as it can control simultaneously the positive and
negative sequence components of the rotor current. It is
also claimed in [40] that this type of controllers have a
better transient performance than solutions described in
sections VII and VIII. This is because the Frequency
Locked Loop (FLL) required for tuning the resonance
frequency is faster and more robust than the stator flux
estimator or Phase Locked Loop (PLL) which is needed to
provide the phase angle for synchronization with the SRF
[40].
Current control in the stationary reference frame is also
investigated in [41]. The objective here is to limit the
transient rotor inrush currents of DFIG at fault occurrence
and to minimize the negative sequence effects during
steady-state. The strategy presented consists of a
proportional-resonant (PR) controllers and auxiliary PR
controllers. The auxiliary controllers are activated only in
the case of grid faults in order compensate the output
voltage of the RSC and to limit rotor fault currents without
extracting dc and negative sequence components of the
stator flux as in [42]. Accurate detection of the rotor
angular frequency and very good tuning of control
parameters are required, otherwise the stability and
performance of the proposed control strategy deteriorates.
It should be notes that stationary reference frame current
control with resonant controllers is more commonly used
for grid-connected voltage source converters [43], [44],
[45] since the grid frequency is constant under normal
conditions and it can be a good solution for the GSC of
DFIG systems.
X. TRANSIENT FLUX DEMAGNETIZATION
The transient flux demagnetization method is first
proposed in [42] as an extension to the conventional
stator-flux-oriented vector control strategy to help the
DIFG ride-through grid faults. The RSC is used to
synthesize a rotor current space vector with appropriate
amounts of dc and negative sequence components in order
to oppose the respective undesired components in the
stator flux of equation (14) as shown in Fig.3. The
objective is to limit the overvoltages and overcurrents in
the rotor and to avoid the activation of a crowbar. Quick
demagnetization of the natural flux is achieved within 50
ms, which is faster than the uncontrolled case [46]. Over-
modulation of the RSC voltage and a rotor over-current up
to 2 p.u. are allowed during the fault. The DFIG can ride
through severe single-phase short circuit faults without the
need to apply a crowbar. With other fault types the
effectiveness of this method decreases with increasing

fault severity and increasing rotor speed. The converter
rating must be increased in order to maintain control of the
transient rotor currents otherwise the use of the crowbar
for RSC protection cannot be avoided. Design of the
generator with increased stator or rotor leakage inductance
is suggested for improving the effectiveness of the current
control and fault-ride through capability.

Fig. 3: Algorithm used in [42] to decompose the stator-flux vector
into positive, negative, and zero sequence (dc) components

The demagnetization method is used also in [47] and
[28] in coordination with the crowbar control. The
crowbar is used at the start of severe grid faults while the
demagnetization current required for maintaining current
control is estimated. As a soon as the estimated current is
within the current and voltage capability of the RSC, the
crowbar is deactivated and current control is resumed by
the RSC, injecting reactive current into the grid and
providing at the same time the necessary demagnetizing
currents to keep total rotor voltage below the limit of the
converter. This allows a faster reactive current injection
that meets the strictest grid code requirements [4].
Similar approaches with lower dependence on the
DFIG parameters are adopted in [48] , [49] and [50] in
order to damp the stator flux transients but as with [47]
and [28] only symmetrical voltages dips are considered.
Stator flux estimation and feed-forward transient
compensation of the current loops for both symmetrical
and asymmetrical dips is proposed in [51] but the method
is only tested under symmetrical grid voltage. Dc and
negative sequence components still have to be extracted
increasing computational time, slowing response speed
and reducing effectiveness of the decoupling during
transients.
The proportional-resonant (PR) current control strategy
in a stationary reference frame proposed in [41] claims a
much better performance in terms of transient flux
damping because no frame transformations are needed, no
coupling terms are affected by temperature and system
parameters and the compensation can be achieved without
extracting dc and negative sequence components of the
stator flux.
XI. CONCLUSION
The challenges faced by grid-connected wind energy
converter systems with doubly fed induction generators
in the case of asymmetrical voltage dips have been
presented. The fault behavior of the DFIG was briefly
analyzed and the impact of asymmetrical conditions on
the its operating performance and reliability were
discussed. Classical current control in a synchronous
reference frame cannot provide the required performance
under these conditions. An overview of state-of-the-art
linear vector control solutions was presented. The
developed solutions improve significantly the fault ride-
through performance of the DFIG-based WECS by
mitigating the negative effects caused by transients and
voltage asymmetries and they can be extended to
compensate also for higher harmonics. At extreme faults
the effectiveness of these control strategies decreases
with increasing grid voltage unbalance at which the
physical boundaries become the limiting factor.

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