Flicker Suppression in Distributed Wind Turbines with Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology: Implementation and Feasibility Analysis

Small wind turbines (SWTs) are essential for harnessing localized wind energy, but their variable and intermittent power output and low inertia often cause voltage flicker. These fluctuations are primarily driven by variable wind speeds, especially when SWTs are connected to low-voltage distribution networks with high grid impedance, common in remote areas. Integrating energy storage solutions with SWTs can help balance supply and demand by storing excess energy during high wind periods and releasing it during low wind periods, potentially improving voltage flicker issues. This paper explores the use of hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs) to mitigate voltage and power flickers, in which the excess power from the SWTs can be used to produce green hydrogen, which can then be utilized during low wind periods to stabilize power via the HFCs. To that end, a detailed model of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG)-based SWT connected to a remote grid location using a back-to-back converter and energy storage devices- a battery, a HFC, and a combination of a HFC with supercapacitors- is developed in Matlab/Simulink. Time-domain simulations demonstrated that using a battery significantly mitigates flickers caused by variable wind speed. However, using HFCs alone proved inadequate due to its slow response time. To address the slow dynamics of HFCs, the integration of supercapacitors alongside them was also investigated. The simulations show that the combination of HFCs and supercapacitors as an energy storage system for flicker suppression performs comparably to using a battery.