Wind turbine loads reduction using feedforward feedback collective pitch control based on the estimated effective wind speed

Abstract

Wind being the primary energy resource has a huge influence on the dynamic behavior of wind turbines. Therefore, the control algorithms can be further improved if the wind speed is known by the controller. Unfortunately, either no accurate direct online measurement of the effective wind speed is available or the measurement system is too expensive, which means that it should be estimated in order to make such improvement applicable on the control algorithm in practice. In this paper a new feedforward feedback collective pitch control algorithm based on the estimated effective wind speed and wind speed extrapolation is presented for improving the traditional collective pitch controller. The simulation results show that with the presented controller both fatigue loads and extreme loads can be reduced for the turbulent wind field and extreme operating gust respectively.