Wind energy is currently the fastest-growing energy source in the world. However, the inherent characteristic of intermittent energy production, due to the stochastic nature of wind, still comprises the main drawback of wind power. To avoid such problems, various configurations have been reccomended in order to reduce output power variation. The paper concentrates on performance benefits of adding energy storage system with the wind generator in order to regulate the electric power delivered into the power grid. Compared with other means of energy storage, the flywheel energy storage system (FESS) is the best choice to solve power quality problems. In this paper, a FESS associated to a variable speed wind generation (VSWG) is investigated by presenting two control strategies applied to the storage system equipped with an induction machine; both techniques are studied and developed and consist of a field control (FOC) and a Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC). Simulation model is established in MATLAB/Simulink and comparative results are then reported.
RT-lab based real-time simulation of flywheel energy storage system associated to a variable-speed wind generator