Open AccessConstrained power reference control for wind turbines
Author(s) -
Zalkind Daniel S.,
Nicotra Marco M.,
Pao Lucy Y.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
wind energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1099-1824
pISSN - 1095-4244
DOI - 10.1002/we.2705
Subject(s) - control theory (sociology) , wind power , turbine , transient (computer programming) , power (physics) , controller (irrigation) , generator (circuit theory) , blade pitch , torque , wind speed , engineering , automotive engineering , computer science , electrical engineering , mechanical engineering , control (management) , physics , agronomy , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , meteorology , biology , operating system
The cost of wind energy can be reduced by controlling the power reference of a turbine to increase energy capture, while maintaining load and generator speed constraints. We apply standard torque and pitch controllers to the direct inputs of the turbine and use their set points to change the power output and reduce generator speed and blade load transients. A power reference controller increases the power output when conditions are safe and decreases it when problematic transient events are expected. Transient generator speeds and blade loads are estimated using a gust measure derived from a wind speed estimate. A hybrid controller decreases the power rating from a maximum allowable power. Compared to a baseline controller, with a constant power reference, the proposed controller results in generator speeds and blade loads that do not exceed the original limits, increases tower fore‐aft damage equivalent loads by 1%, and increases the annual energy production by 5%.