Communication Architecture for Grid Integration of Cyber Physical Wind Energy Systems

As we move toward increasing the grid integration of large-scale wind farms (WFs), reliable monitoring, protection, and control are needed to ensure grid stability. WFs are considered to be large and complex cyber physical systems owing to coupling between the electric power system and information and communication technologies (ICT). In this study, we proposed a framework for a cyber physical wind energy system (CPWES), which consists of four layers: a WF power system layer, data acquisition and monitoring layer, communication network layer, and application layer. We performed detailed network modeling for the WF system, including the wind turbines, meteorological mast (met-mast), and substation based on IEC 61400-25 and IEC 61850 standards. Network parameters and configuration were based on a real WF (Korean Southwest offshore project). The simulation results of the end-to-end delay were obtained for different WF applications, and they were compared with the timing requirements of the IEC 1646 standard. The proposed architecture represents a reference model for WF systems, and it can be used to enable the design of future CPWESs.