Cap 2.

Energia eoliana
2.1 Istoric
Vntul este rezultatul activitii energetice a Soarelui i se formeaz datorit nclzirii
neuniforme a suprafeei Pmntului. Micarea maselor de aer se formeaz datorit
temperaturilor diferite a dou puncte de pe glob, avnd direcia de la punctul cald spre cel
rece.
Fiecare or Pmntul primete 1014 kWh de energie solar. Circa 1-2% din energia
solar se transform n energie eolian. Acest indiciu ntrece de 5-10 ori cantitatea energiei
transformat n biomas de ctre toate plantele Pmntului.
Omenirea utilizeaz energia eolian pe parcursul a ctorva milenii. Vntul aciona
morile de vnt, mica corbiile cu pnze. Energia cinetic a vntului a fost i este accesibil
practic n toate prile pmntului. nc la orizontul civilizaiei energia vntului se utiliza n
navigaia maritim. Se presupune c egiptenii strvechi mergeau sub pnze nc 5.000 ani n
urm. n jurul anului 700 pe teritoriul Afganistanului maini eoliene cu ax vertical de
rotaie se utilizau pentru mcinarea gruntelor. Cunoscutele instalaii eoliene (mori cu elicele
conectate la turn) asigurau funcionarea unor sisteme de irigare pe insula Creta din Marea
Mediteran. Morile pentru mcinarea boabelor, care funcionau pe baza vntului, sunt una din
cele mai mari performane a secolelor medii. n sec. XIV olandezii au mbuntit modelul
morilor de vnt, rspndite n Orientul Mijlociu, i au nceput utilizarea larg a instalaiilor
eoliene la mcinarea boabelor.

Fig. 2.1. Moara de vant (Germania de Nord)

n 1854 n SUA apare o pomp de ap, care funciona pe baza energiei vntului. Ca
construcie, aceast pomp semna cu modelul morilor de vnt, dar avea mai multe pale
(brae) i un fluger pentru determinarea direciei vntului.
Ctre anul 1940 n SUA peste 6 milioane de instalaii de acest tip se utilizau pentru
pomparea apei i producerea energiei electrice. Este socotit o premiz a cuceririi Vestului
slbatic, datorit posibilitii de asigurare cu ap a fermelor zootehnice. ns la mijlocul
secolului XX vine sfritul utilizrii largi a energiei vntului, venind n schimbul ei o surs
energetic modern - petrolul.
Interesul ctre energetica vntului reapare dup cteva crize petroliere trite de
omenire timp de cteva decenii. Acest lucru se petrece la nceputul anilor '70, datorit
creterii rapide a preurilor la petrol cnd SUA a adoptat mai multe programe destinate s
ncurajeze valorificarea ei. n California, la sfrsitul anului 1984, functionau deja 8469 de

turbine eoliene. Capacitatea total a acestor unitti este de aproximativ 550 MW. Ele erau
construite n locuri cu vnt puternic, grupate n asa-numitele wind farms"
Turbinele de vnt pot fi folosite pentru producerea electricittii individual sau n
grupuri, denumite ferme de vnt. Fermele de vnt, care n prezent sunt complet automatizate,
asigur, spre exemplu, 1% din necesarul de energie electric al Californiei, adic 280 de mii
locuinte.
Turbinele eoliene aveau ns si cteva probleme: modificrile mari al vitezei vntului
provocau variatii ale intensittii curentului electric, defectnd uneori sisteme de transmisie;
palele rotorului colectau n timp substante strine, particule de praf etc. care reduceau
randamentul.
2.2. Stadiul actual in domeniul energiei eoliene
a. Evolutia sectorului eolian la nivel mondial, european si national
Wind power has experienced dramatic growth[14] over the last years, and in 2007
there are five EU countries Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Germany which have
more than 5% of their electricity demand covered by wind energy. The development of wind
power is not different from the initial development stages of other power sources. Figure 2.2
shows the global development of wind energy (1991-2006) compared with nuclear power
(1961-1976)

Figure 2.2 Wind energy development vs. nuclear development [14]

The strong development of wind power to date can continue in the coming years as
long as the clear commitment of the European Union and its Member States to wind power
development continues to strengthen, and as long as this support is translated into the
construction of wind farms. It is vital for the future development of wind power in Europe
that the European Parliament and the Council swiftly adopt the new EU Renewables Energy
Directive.
Evolution of the wind sector worldwide, [15] indicates that by 2010 the total installed
capacity was 190,000 MW.

Figure 2.3 Installed power[15]

In ultimii 10 ani evolutia puterii nou instalate la nivel mondial a crescut exponential
de la 2178MW in 1998 la aproape 38000MW in finele anului 2007

Figura 2.4
Capacitatea globala cumulata de energie eoliana la nivel european este redata in
imaginea de mai jos.

Figura 2.5

Spre sfritul anului 2003, UE-15 a instalat o capacitate de mai mult de 28.000 de
megawai (MW) n turbine eoliene. Spre sfritul lui 2007, Europa extinsa la 27 a avut o
capacitate de peste 56.000 MW. Aceti 56.000 MW acoper 3.7 % din cererea totala de
energie electrica din UE,
Distributia pe tari a capacitatilor instalate in 2008 este redata in figura de mai jos

Tendinta crescatoare de noi capacitati instalate a continuat si-n anul 2008. Ponderea noilor
capacitati instalate fata de celelate tipuri de energii in anul 2008 este redata in figura de mai
jos.

Wind power installations in the Europe indicate:

4

 Annual installations of wind power have increased steadily over the last 17 years( figure )
from 814 MW in 1995 to 9,616 MW in 2011, an annual average market growth of 15.6%;

Figure Annual wind power installations in the EU in GW[13]

A total of 93,957 MW is now installed in the European Union, an increase in installed
cumulative capacity of 11% compared to the previous year;
Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain,
France, Italy and the UK;
Growth in onshore installations in Germany and Sweden, and offshore in the UK together
with continuing strong performance from some emerging onshore markets in Eastern Europe
have more than offset the fall in installations in mature markets such as France and Spain;
The wind capacity installed by the end of 2011 would, in a normal year, produce 204 TWh
of electricity, representing 6.3% of electricity consumption up from 5.3% the year before.
In 2000, the annual wind power installations of the three pioneering countries
Denmark, Germany and Spain represented 85% of all EU wind capacity additions. In 2011,
this share has decreased to 34%.The picture of the total wind power installed in Europe by
end of 2011 (cumulative) is show in figure.

Figure Wind power installed in Europe by end of 2011 (cumulative)

During 2011, 10,281 MW of wind power was installed across Europe, of which 9,616
MW was in the European Union, similar to the previous year. Of the 9,616 MW installed in
the EU, 8,750 MW was onshore and 866 MW offshore. In 2011, the annual onshore market
remained stable compared to the previous year, whilst the offshore market decreased slightly
(-1.9%).
In terms of annual installations, Germany was by far the largest market in 2011,
installing almost 2,100 MW of new capacity. The UK came in second with just under 1,300
MW, 752 MW of which (58%) offshore, followed by Spain with 1,050 MW. Italy (950 MW),
France (830 MW) and Sweden (763 MW) are followed by Romania (520 MW). Among the
emerging markets, after Romania, Poland installed the second most capacity in 2011 (436
MW).
The wind capacity installed at end 2011 will, in a normal wind year, produce 204
TWh of electricity, representing 6.3% of the EUs gross final consumption[17] .Denmark
remains the country (figure13.8) with the highest penetration of wind power in electricity
consumption (almost 26%), followed by Spain (15.9%), Portugal (15.6%), Ireland (12%) and
Germany (10.6%).

Figure Wind share of total electricity consumption

According to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans wind energy will supply
14% of Europes total electricity demand in 2020, up from 2.3% in 2005, 4.2% in 2009 and
6,5% in 2012.
2.3 Perspective pana in 2020 a Energiei Eoliane(Statistici EWEA):
Din ponderea diferitelor surse regenerabile de energie la nivelul anului 2020 energia
eoliana va avea 34%

n conformitate cu Planul de aciune privind energia din surse regenerabile, productia de

energie eoliana va reprezenta 14% din consumul UE fata de 2,3% n 2005;

Adding up the 27 NREAPs, total wind power capacity increases from just under 84.5
GW in 2010 to 213.4 GW in 2020[13]. From 2.5 GW forecast in 2010, 43.3 GW of offshore
wind energy capacity is set to be operating by 2020.

Figure 13.5 Cumulative wind power instalation in EU[13]

Cumulativ puterea instalata
Capacitatea instalata de la 84.5 GW la sfritul anului 2010 va ajunge la 213.4 GW n 2020,
- Capacitate cumulativ onshore va creste constant, de la 92 GW n 2011 la 170 GW
n 2020
- Capacitate cumulativ offshore va crete constant, de la 3,7 GW n 2011 la 43.3 GW
n 2020

The net increase in onshore wind power capacity will peak in 2011 and then decline
on average by just over 1.5% per year. The increase in offshore wind capacity, on the other
hand, is forecast to grow steadily up to 2020 with net annual increases starting at 1.1 GW in
2011 and reaching 6.5 GW in 2020; an annual increase in capacity of 21.5%.
Based on EWEAs calculations[13] , onshore re-powering (the replacement of old
turbines with new models) which is not made apparent by the NREAPs - will represent an
increasing part of the annual market from 2010 onwards. Re-powering hits 1 GW in 2015
and continues to grow steadily to over 4 GW by 2020.
According to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans wind energy will supply
14% of Europes total electricity demand in 2020, up from 2.3% in 2005, 4.2% in 2009 and
6,5% in 2012.
Repartizarea pe fiecare stat UE a cresterii procentuale a energiei eoliene

Romania va ocupa locul 10 in randul statelor UE in privinta ponderii energiei eoliene

cu un procent de 11.4%
Irlanda va fi statul membru cu cel mai mare nivel de penetrare a energiei eoliene n
2020 la 36,4% din cererea de energie electric total, urmat de Danemarca la 31%.
Slovenia este tara UE cu cea mai mic penetrare prognozata de energie eolian, cu
doar 1,3% din consumul de energie electric

Capacitatile nete anuale de turbine eoliene ce vor fi instalate vor crestere in medie de 3,1%;

- Capacitii eoliene onshore va avea o o scdere medie de 1,5% pe an de la 10 GW

n 2011 la 8.9 GW n 2020,
- Cretere anual net a capacitii de energie eolian offshore va creste constant de la
1,1 GW n 2011 la 6.5 GW n 2020, o cretere medie net de 21,5% pe an
Anual piaa de energie eolian ar crete, de la 11,6 GW n 2011 la 19.6 GW n 2020
2.4 Oportunitati de finantare in domeniul energiei pentru atingerea obiectivelor
1. 7th Framework Programme -FP7 este cel mai important program al UE de
sprijinire a C & D aciuni i este mprit n patru sub-programe: Cooperare,
Capaciti, Oameni i Idei. Are un buget total de 50,521 miliarde de euro.
FP7 ofer sprijin prin intermediul unor subvenii n numerar. Cu toate acestea,
aproape niciodat nu acoper toate costurile de proiect: ratele variaz de la 50% la 100%, n
funcie de tipul de activiti, aa cum sa subliniat de ctre tabelul de mai jos:

10

FP7: Cooperarea ; Energie

- Topic ENERGY.2012.2.3.1: sisteme inovatoare de conversie eoliene (10-20MW) pentru
aplicaii offshore.
- Topic: NMP.2012.2.2-4: cost-eficienta materiale pentru pale mai mari pentru off-shore
aplicaii energiei eoliene.
2. Fondurile Structurale

Fondurile structurale sunt compuse din :

FEDR (Fondul European de Dezvoltare Regional) ,
FSE (Fondul Social European)
Fondul de Coeziune
In engleza aceste fonduri sunt :
ERDF (European Regional Development Fund),
ESF (European Social Fund)
Cohesion Fund.
FEDR ofer finanare pentru:
ajutoare directe pentru investiiile n ntreprinderi (n special IMM-uri) pentru a crea
locuri de munc durabile;
infrastructuri legate, n special pentru C & D, telecomunicaii, mediu, energie i
transport;
Instrumente financiare (fondurile de risc pentru capital , fondurile de dezvoltare
local, etc) pentru a sprijini dezvoltarea regional i local i s favorizeze cooperarea
ntre orae i regiuni;
Msurile de asisten tehnic
FSE sprijin aciuni n urmtoarele domenii:
sistemele de nvare pe tot parcursul vieii i rspndirea organizaiilor de lucru
inovatoare;
Accesul la ncadrarea n munc pentru solicitanii de locuri de munc, a omerilor,
femeilor i a emigranilor;
Integrarea social a persoanelor dezavantajate i combaterea discriminrii pe piaa
muncii;
Consolidarea capitalului uman prin reforma sistemelor de educaie i crearea unei
reele de instituii de nvmnt
Fondul de coeziune sprijin statele membre cu un venit naional brut (PIB) pe cap de locuitor
mai mic de 90% din media UE. Pentru perioada 2007 - 2013, Fondul de coeziune se refer la
Bulgaria, Cipru, Republica Ceh, Estonia, Grecia, Ungaria, Letonia, Lituania, Malta, Polonia,
Portugalia, Romnia, Slovacia i Slovenia.
Fondul de Coeziune finaneaz activiti n urmtoarele categorii:
Reele transeuropene de transport, n special proiectele prioritare de interes
european, identificate de ctre Uniunea European;
Mediu i energie, i anume eficiena energetic, utilizarea energiei regenerabile,
dezvoltarea transportului feroviar, de sprijin de transport intermodal, consolidarea de
transport public, etc
Regiunile de convergen sunt cele cu un PIB (produs intern brut) pe cap de locuitor mai mic
de 75% din media comunitar.Harta de mai jos prezinta regiunile UE incluse n "obiectivul
de convergen" (adic cele n rou) i n "Obiectivul Competitivitate regional " (adic cele
n albastru):

11

ntre 2007 - 2013, alocaiile UE vor fi de aproximativ 10,7 miliarde au fost fcute pentru
proiecte n domeniul energiei:
4,8 miliarde pentru energiile regenerabile (eolian, solar, biomas, hidro i
geotermal),
4, 2 miliarde pentru eficiena energetic, co-generrii i gestionrii de energie
1,7 miliarde pentru investiii n sursele tradiionale de energie, din care 674 m,
este alocat pentru investiiile n reelele transeuropene de energie (electricitate i
gaz).
Urmtorul tabel furnizeaz o defalcare a distribuiei fondurilor structurale ale UE pentru
perioada 2007 - 2013 i subliniaz alocarea a fiecrui stat membru pentru proiecte de energie
Romania din 19 miliarde euro are 603 milioane euro pentru energie adica 3,1% din
care RES 1% , eficienta energetica 1,3% si 0,5% surse traditionale (traditional energy
sources TEN) modernizari?

12

13

2.5 Potenialul eolian

2.5.1 Evaluarea resurselor eoliene
Evaluarea resurselor eoliene pentru zone vaste, se face pentru stabilirea att a
resurselor regionale disponibile ct i n depistarea celor mai bune teritorii din regiunea
respectiva. Evaluarea include totodata i estimarea produciei de energie pentru
amplasamentele specifice.
Energia eolian, sau energia vntului, poate fi considerat o form de energie solar,
deoarece vntul este produs n principal de nclzirea neuniform a atmosferei terestre, de
ctre Soare. Ali factori care contribuie la producerea vntului sunt neregularitile scoarei
terestre i micarea de rotaie a Pmntului n jurul axei proprii
Infrared
radiation
Reflected
to space
50 000

80 000

40 000
From
Sun

Solar
radiation

120 000
Absorbed on
Earth

300

100

From
Earth

From
Planetary
motion

30
Geothermal

Gravitation,
orbital motion

Sensible
heating

Solar water heaters

Solar buildings
Solar dryers
Ocean thermal energy

Latent heat
and potential
energy

Hydropower

Kinetic energy

Wind and wave turbines

Photon
processes

Heat

3
Tidal motion

Biomass and biofuels

Photovoltaics

Geothermal heat
Geothermal power

Tidal range power

Tidal current power

Figura Natural energy currents on Earth, showing a renewable energy system.Units terawatts
(1012)
Vantul este descris prin viteza lui care este un vector . Ca orice vector are un modul si
o directie. Cauza principal a formrii vntului este diferena presiunii atmosferice ntre dou
regiuni. Aerul cald fiind mai uor se nal producndu-se un minim de presiune, locul lui va
fi preluat de masele de aer din zona rece (maxim de presiune atmosferic), pn cnd se va
egala diferenta de presiune dintre cele dou regiuni. Aceast circulatie a maselor de aer st la
baza aerodinamicii. Intensitatea vntului depinde direct proporional de diferena de presiune
dintre cele dou zone geografice. Directia vntului este influenat de fora Coriolis care ia
natere prin rotaia pmntului, deviind, de exemplu, vnturile spre vest n emisfera nordic.
Un alt factor care schimb direcia i eventual temperatura vntului sunt obstacolele
topografice ca: muni, vi etc " Roza vanturilor "este termenul dat de modul n care viteza
vntului se distribuie ca intensitate , directie si durata

14

Roza vntul poate fi gndita ca o roat cu spie, distanate, , la 30 de grade. Pentru fiecare
sector, vntul este considerat separat. Durata pentru care vntul vine de la acest sector este
indicat de lungimea spitei si viteza este demonstrata de grosimea spitei.
Descrierea de mai sus s-a concentrat pe viteza vntului i rozei vantului. Alt parametru
important care determin producia unui parc eolian este distributia vitezei vntului ca
intensitate. Aceast distribuie descrie durata de timp cand viteza vntului este ntre diferite
niveluri.

a. Buna

b. Slaba

15

Aceast distribuie este importanta, deoarece aceasta este o combinaie de distribuie

viteza vntului i de curba de putere a turbinei propuse, care determina impreuna de producie
de energie.
Pentru masurarea vitezei vantului si a temperaturii se poate utiliza Data Logger care
este un instrument electronic ce inregistreaza datele, in timp si in coreletie cu locatia
sensorilor si a traductorilor dintr-o locatie data , prelucreaza cu microprocesor pe baza logicii
programabile si afiseaza pe display sau transmite intr-un PC aceste date. Data Logger este
utilizata in achizitia datelor in cazul marimilor lent variabile, avand fecventa maxima de
achizitie de 1Hz motiv pentru care nu-i considerata o achizitie de date in timp real. Datele
prelucrate de Data Logger sunt stocate pe o memorie flash sau EEPROM Principalele
aplicatii ale acestui sistem sunt pentru inregistrarea vitezei vantului, a temperaturii si
umiditatii. Blocurile principale si logica sistemului Data Logger, pentru masurarea si
prelucrarea datelor privind viteza vantului cu utilizarea soft-ului de programare HyperWare
sunt indicate in figura

Figura Masurarea vitezei

Implementarea hardware a sistemului de masura a vitezei vantului si temperaturii
include conectarea intrarilor de la senzorii in microprocesorul PIC18F452 ce poate prelucra
10MIPS , are 8 canale de intrare pentru conversia analog-numerica. Informatia prelucrata de
procesor este vizualizata la un display unde pot fi selectate marimile ce se vizualizeaza.
Datele prelucrate de procesor pot fi stocate pe un card de memorie sau printr-o conexiune cu
RS 232 transferate intr-un calculator
Variabilitatea anual a rozei vnturilor i distributia vitezei vntului este, de asemenea,
importanta n evaluarea incertitudinii n producia de energie anual a unei ferme eoliene.

16

Spre exemplu inregistrarile pe 20 de ani in Malin Head- Ireland

Din grafic rezulta o valoarea minima medie si maxima a vitezei vantului .Ferma se
proiecteaza la valoarea medie a vitezei vantului (in cazul prezentat 8,3 m/s) .Rezulta ca
pentru o ferma de 10MW proiectata la viteza medie a vantului productia acesteia a fost
scazuta in 1987 la 89% si ridicata la 113% in 1986

In general masuratorile se fac pe o perioada de 1 an sau maxim 3 ani La masuratorile

pe un an abaterile vitezei vantului in estimarea productiei sunt de 10-14% pe cand daca se
monitorizeaza pe 3 ani aceste abateri sunt de numai 3-4%..
2.5.2 Resurselor regionale disponibile
Potenialul eolian major este observat pe litoralurile marine, pe ridicturi i n muni.
Dar exist multe alte teritorii cu un potenial eolian necesar pentru utilizare. Ca surs
energetic vntul poate fi mai greu de calculat spre deosebire de soare, dar n anumite
perioade prezena vntului se observ pe parcursul ntregii zile. Asupra resurselor eoliene
influeneaz relieful pmntului i prezena barierelor (obstacolelor) plasate la nlimi de
pn la 100 metri. De aceea vntul, ntr-o mai mare msur, depinde de condiiile locale
(relief) dect de soare. n localitile montane, spre exemplu, dou suprafee pot avea
potenial solar egal, ns potenialul vntului poate fi diferit datorit diferenei n relief i
direciile curenilor maselor de aer.
La nivelul Europei vestice o harta a potentialului eolian este redata in figura de mai
jos

17

Energia vntului de asemenea este supus schimbrilor sezoniere a timpului. Lucrul

unei asemenea instalaii este mai efectiv iarna i mai putin efectiv n lunile de var (n cazul
sistemelor solare situaia este invers). n condiiile climaterice din Danemarca sistemele
fotoelectrice sunt efective la 18% n ianuarie i la 100% n iulie. Eficacitatea lucrului staiei
eoliene este de 55% n iulie i 100% n ianuarie. Astfel, varianta optim este combinarea ntrun sistem a instalaiilor eoliene i solare. Asemenea sisteme simbiotice asigur o
productivitate a energiei electrice mai nalt n comparaie cu instalaiile eoliene sau
fotoelectrice, luate n parte.
O harta a potentialului eolian a fost publicata de ICEMENERG in anul 1993, din care
se pot trage unele concluzii privind eventualele amplasamente ale turbinelor eoliene:
In zonele muntoase inalte viteza medie a vantului este de peste 8,5 m/s;
In zona Marii Negre cat si a litoralului viteza medie a vantului este de peste 78 m/s.

18

Potentialul eolian in Romania

O harta a intensitatii si directiei vantului la nivelul Romaniei este redata mai jos

Fig. Potentialul eolian in Romania

Foarte importanta este estimarea resurselor eoliene site-ul in care se instaleaza ferma
eoliana
Pentru dezvoltatorul parcului eolian, harti regionale eoliene sunt instrumente valoroase
pentru a gsi site-ul, dar nu sunt suficient de precise pentru a justifica finanarea dezvoltrii.
Aici va fi indicat faptul c cea mai important caracteristic unic a unui site este viteza
19

vntului, i c performana a unei ferme eoliene este foarte sensibila la incertitudini i erori
n estimarea de baz viteza vntului.
Pentru majoritatea fermelor eoliene prospectiv, dezvoltatorul trebuie s efectueze o
msurare a resurselor eoliene i un program de analiz. Aceasta trebuie s ofere o predicie
robust a produciei de energie preconizate a lungul vieii fermei eoliene.
La nceputul procesului de dezvoltare a proiectului, pe termen lung, viteza vntului medie
la site-ul este necunoscuta. Pentru a ilustra importana vitezei vntului pe termen lung medie,
tabelul I.2.2 prezinta producia de energie a unui proiect de 10 MW pentru o serie de variatii
cu durat anual a viteze medii a vntului

Se poate observa c, atunci cnd pe termen lung viteza medie a vntului a crescut de la 6
la 10 m / s, adica cu aproximativ 67 % iar productia de energiei crete cu 134 % .
Viteza vntului la locul ales, nalimea stlpului turbinei i eficacitatea produciei
determina producia de energie. Astfel, simpla cretere a nalimii turbinelor a permis o
producie de energie electrica mai ridicata . De asemenea, metodele de masura i de evaluare
a vitezei vntului ntr-un loc dat s-au ameliorat n mod semnificativ n ultimii ani, i astfel s-a
ameliorat amplasarea i factorii economici ai noilor turbine.
In figura se reprezinta procesul schematic de analiza pentru amplasarea unei ferme
eoliene
Pas 1 Prognoza vitezei vantului pe termen lung
In stanga se prezinta actiunile dezvoltatorului
-se alege locatia de amplasare a punctelor de masura
-se instaleaza piloni de masura i instrumentele
-se fac masuratori ale vitezei vantului
Datele culese se compara pentru prognoza cu cele oferite de statiile meteo din zona prin
cumpararea masuratorilor acestora
Datele astfel obtinute se compara si se ia prima decizie referitoare la prognoza pe termen
lung a vitezei vantului
Pas 2 Modelul topografic al fermei-amplasarea turbinelor distante dintre ele, impact
mediu ca- Se estimeaza in final Producia brut a parcului eolian
Pas 3 se stabileste Producia net a fermei eoliene

20

2.5.2 Costuri
Cheltuielile financiare ale proiectelor eoliene terestre, sunt dominate de costul turbinei
eoliene. Costul specific total al investiiei pentru o turbina medie instalata n Europa este n
jur de 1,23 milioane de /MW, cuprinznd toate costurile suplimentare pentru fundaii,
instalaie electrica i consiliere (preurile n 2006). Costurile principale se mpart dupa cum
urmeaza
(niveluri aproximative) :
turbina - 76 la suta,
conectarea la reea - 9 la suta si
fundaiile - 7 la suta.
Alte componente de pre, cum ar fi sistemele de control si terenul, reprezinta o mica parte din
costurile totale. Costul total pe kW la o capacitate generatoare din energie eoliana difera n
mod
semnificativ de la o ara la alta, ntre 1000 /kW pna la 1350 /kW.

21

n ultimii ani, trei tendine importante au dominat dezvoltarea turbinelor eoliene racordate la
reea :
1. Turbinele au devenit mai mari i mai nalte ;
2. Eficacitatea produciei turbinelor a crescut serios ;
3. n general, costurile investiiei pe kW au scazut, cu toate ca a existat o inversare a
acestei tendine n ultimii trei sau patru ani.
n 2007, turbinele de clasa MW (de peste 1 MW) au reprezentat o parte de piaa de
mai mult de 95 la suta,lasnd mai puin de 5 la suta pentru instalaiile mai mici n gama MW,
turbinele de capacitate de 2,5 MW sau superioare, devin din ce n ce mai importante, chiar i
n cazul aplicaiilor terestre.
Actualmente, costul de producie al energiei pentru o turbina eoliana din gama de 2
MW este de 5,3 pna la 6,1 Euroceni/kWh n funcie de resursele eoliene i de amplasarea
aleasa . si se ateapta ca gama costurilor sa se diminueze ntre 4,3 si 5,5 eurocenti/kW/ora
pna n 2015.
Eolienele din larg (offshore) reprezint doar n jur de unu la sut din capacitatea
eolian total instalat n lume, iar implantarea s-a facut n principal n jurul Mrii Nordului
i a Mrii Baltice. La sfritul lui 2007, exista o capacitate de mai mult de 1000 MW situat
n largul a cinci ri : Danemarca, Irlanda, Olanda, Suedia i Marea Britanie. Majoritatea
instalaiilor au fost efectuate n ape nu prea adnci (n jur de 20 m) i nu mai departe de 20 de
km de arm, pentru a reduce la minimum costurile fundaiilor i ale cablurilor submarine.
Costurile unei uniti eoliene maritime, ca i cel al turbinelor terestre, a crescut n ultimii ani.
Costul investiiei pentru o nou central eolian n larg este estimat n medie la 2,0 pn la 2,2
milioane de /MW pentru o unitate nu prea ndepartata de arm i n ap nu prea adnc. n
comparaie cu turbinele terestre, principalele diferene n structura costurilor sunt legate de
fundaiile mai scumpe, transformatoarele i cablurile submarine. Costul energiei electrice
generate n larg se situeaz ntre aproximativ ase i opt ceni/kWh i se datoreaz n principal
diferenelor de adncime a mrii, distanei de la arm i
costului investiiei.

22

Evolutia costurilor de productie a diferitelor surse de energie pentru perioada 2015-2030 este
redata in figura urmatoare

Principalii producatori de turbine eoliene sunt redati mai jos

23

2.6 Conversia energiei vntului

Turbinele eoliene par a fi maini simple, dar n realitate trebuie sa satisfaca nite cerine
fundamentale, ceea ce confera acestei ramuri de inginerie un caracter cu totul special,
deosebind-o de toate celelalte.
Maina trebuie sa funcioneze ca o centrala electrica nesupravegheata i sa furnizeze
reelelor electrice mai mult dect simpla energie.
Vntul variaza pe scara timpului de la secunde la ani, ceeea ce introduce un factor de
incertitudine n orice aspect, de la sarcina mecanica la producia de energie ;
Aceasta tehnologie trebuie sa fie competititva in privina costurilor, n comparaie cu
celelelate energii regenerabile i cu modului de producie convenional.
Principalele elemente care determina n prezent designul sunt:
Compatibilitatea cu reelele electrice,
costul energiei (care include i fiabilitatea),
emisiile acustice,
impactul vizual i compatibilitatea cu condiiile amplasamentului.
Cu toate acestea, multe probleme tehnice ramn nca nerezolvate. De exemplu, turbinele
mari, aflate actualmente n producie, includ :
Concepte cu diametru rotoric mare, generatoare cu turaie joas
Concepte referitoare la generatoare de turaie mare i multiplicatoare de turaie i
Soluii intermediare cu generatoare de turaie medie i o treapta redusa de
multiplicare.
Designul centralei eoliene este o problema critica att n ceea ce privete reducerile de
costuri, ct i gradul de acceptare de catre public, indiferent ca este vorba de mare sau de
uscat, mai cu seama n cazul celor care depaesc prin dimensiunile lor marile centrale
electrice convenionale.
2.6.1 Bilanul transformrilor energetice n sistemele eoliene
Aero-generatorul utilizeaza energia cinetica a vntului pentru a antrena arborele
rotorului sau, aceasta este transformata n energie mecanica, care la rndul ei este
transformata n energie electrica de catre generatorul cuplat mecanic la turbina eoliana .

24

Un sistem eolian din punct de vedere energetic transform energia cinetic a vntului n
energie electric.

Figura 5 Componentele sistemului eolian

Pentru a realiza aceast conversie sistemul eolian conine urmtoarele componente(figura
5)
Elicea turbinei alctuit din :
o Pale ce sunt realizate dintr-un amestec de fibr de sticl si materiale compozite.
Ele au rolul de a capta energia vntului si de a o transfera rotorului turbinei..
o Butuc ce este prevzut cu un sistem pasiv (aerodinamic), activ (hidraulic) sau
mixt (active stall) care permite orientarea palelor pentru controlul vitezei de
rotaie a turbinei eoliene ;
Arborele primar este arborele rotorului turbinei eoliene. Se mai numete arborele lent,
deoarece el se rotete cu viteze de ordinul a 20 - 40 rot/min. Prin intermediul
multiplicatorului, el transmite micarea, arborelui secundar;

Multiplicatorul mecanic de vitez permite transformarea puterii mecanice, caracterizat

de cuplu mare si viteze mici specifice turbinei eoliene, n putere de vitez mai ridicat,
dar cuplu mai mic. Viteza turbinei eoliene este prea mic, iar cuplul prea mare, pentru a fi
aplicate direct generatorului electric. Multiplicatorul asigur conexiunea ntre arborele
primar (al turbinei eoliene) i arborele secundar (al generatorului);
Arborele generatorului sau arborele secundar antreneaz generatorul electric .El este
echipat cu o frn mecanic cu disc (dispozitiv de securitate), care limiteaz viteza de
rotaie n cazul unui vnt violent;

25

Generatorul electric asigur producerea energiei electrice. Generatoarele de curent

alternativ sincrone pot fi n construcie clasic sau cu magnei permaneni, funcionnd la
viteza fix sau variabil.
Sistemul energetic de transformare al puterilor pentru un sistem eolian este indicat in
figura 6 n care puterea vntului P w este aplicat turbinei iar la axul acesteia se obine puterea
mecanic Pm la vitez unghiular a turbinei m. Puterea de ieire la axul turbinei nu este n
mod normal utilizat direct, ci este cuplat ca sarcin printr-un mecanism de transmisie sau
cutie de viteze. Sarcina este generatorul electric.

Figura 6 Schema bloc de transformare a puterilor

Puterea de ieire din blocul de transmisie P t este dat de produsul dintre puterea de
ieire a turbinei Pm i randamentul transmisiei m :
Pt m Pm

Similar, puterea de ieire a generatorului Pe este dat de produsul dintre puterea de

ieire a transmisiei i randamentul generatorului g: Pe g Pt
Ecuaiile puterilor pot fi concentrate ntr-o singur ecuaie fcnd legtura ntre puterea
electric de la ieire i puterea vntului de la intrare:
Pe C p m g Pw

Rezulta, astfel ca sistemul energetic de transformare al energiilor pentru un sistem

eolian contine urmatoarele blocuri functionale:
Un bloc al turbinei n care puterea vntului Pw este aplicat turbinei iar la axul acesteia
se obine puterea mecanic Pm la vitez unghiular a turbinei m.
Un bloc al mecanismului de transmisie (cuplaj turbina-generator)in care puterea de
ieire la axul turbinei este transmisa generatorului electric.
Un generator electric
Un sistem de comanda ,monitorizare protectie,masura si control
Modelul general al unei configuratii eoliene[2] este redat in figura si poate fi descris
ca o serie de subsisteme ce trebuie controlate , monitorizate si protejate in procesul de
conversie.

26

Figura Modelul general al eolienei cu posibilitatile de control

2.6.2 . Energia si puterea turbinei
Elicea turbinei eoliene cuprinde energia curentului vntului, care se afl lng el. Energia
eolian provine din energia cinetic a vntului. Se consider c energia cinetic a unei mase
de aer m ce se deplaseaz cu o vitez v , este:
1
E c mv 2
2
Dac, ntr-o perioad de timp, aceast energie ar fi complet recuperat cu ajutorul unei elice
care face o suprafata A perpendicular pe direcia vntului, puterea eolian instantanee este:
dE 1 d ( Al ) 2 1
1
P

v ( Av )v 2 Av 3
dt 2
dt
2
2
unde este densitatea aerului ( 1,25 kg/m3)

27

Este evident c cu ct suprafaa este mai mare cu att cantitatea energiei electrice
poate fi mai mare. Astfel, suprafaa de contact a elicei se mrete proporional diametrului
elicei la puterea a doua - la instalaia eolian mai mare de dou ori se poate produce de patru
ori mai mult energie.
ns procesul de mrire a suprafeei nu poate fi redus la simpla lungire a aripelor. La
prima vedere se pare, c aceasta este o cale mai simpl de mrire a cantitii energiei. Dar,
mrind suprafaa cuprins la rotire, noi mrim greutatea asupra sistemului la aceeai vitez a
vntului. Pentru ca sistemul s reziste la greutate este necesar de a ntri toate componentele
mecanice ale lui, ceea ce duce la cheltuieli suplimentare.
Viteza vntului este cel mai important factor de influen asupra cantitii de energie.
Viteza mai mare a vntului mrete volumul maselor de aer - cu mrirea vitezei vntului
crete cantitatea energiei electrice produse. Energia vntului se schimb proporional cu
viteza vntului la puterea a treia. Astfel, dac viteza vntului se dubleaz, energia cinematic
produs crete de 8 ori.
Obs Cantitatea energiei produse pe baza vntului depinde de densitatea aerului, de suprafaa
de elicei i viteza vntului la puterea a treia.
Progresele tehnice rapide sunt mai vizibile la tehnologia turbinelor eoliene precum
dimensiunile turbinei, puterea i complexitatea acesteia s-au dezvoltat vertiginos, dezvoltare
ilustrata prin creterea mrimii turbinei comercializate cu un factor de 100 n ultimii
20 de ani (Figura S.4).

28

2.6.2.1 Relatii matematice privind aerodinamica

Pentru a studia aerodinamica turbinei eoliene sunt necesare cunotine de dinamica
fluidelor si anume
Ecuatia de conservare a energiei pentru un tub de curent

Variatia energiei potentiale plus lucrul mecanic al fortei de presiune este egal cu variatia
energiei cinetice plus pierderile(caldura generata prin frecare) pe tubul de curent

Daca se neglijeaza frecarea se obtine ecuatia Bernoulli

Sau cu masura in metri sub forma

Ecuatia de conservare a debitului

Debitul masic

29

2.6.2.2 Randamentul maxim al turbinei (coeficientul de putere)

Din figura de mai sus rezulta ca prezenta unui corp in calea de curent modifica forma liniilor
de curent

Rezultat al acestei modificari o parte din energia curentului de aer se transmite corpului.

Daca se considera ca la distanta mare de disc viteza U a vantului si presiunea p , in

fata discului rezultat al scaderii vitezei la valoarea Ud are loc in baza relatiei Bernoulli o
crestere a presiunii pe disc p+d. Aceasta presiune in spatele discului tinde catre p iar viteza
se modifica la valoarea Uw.
Putem defini astfel trei zone de la infinit ,disc si-n spatele discului.
Aplicand relatia Bernoulli

intre
-zona de la infinit si disc

-zona de disc si imediata vecinatate a discului

Rezulta diferenta de presiune

30

2
Forta de presiune este F pAd dar in expresie apare U w
. Aceasta viteza trebuie
exprimata in functie de viteza vantului U
Din analiza pierderii de viteza (figura) notand a factor axial de inducere al curgerii
adica trece aU in spatele discului rezulta

Conform ecuatiei de conservare a debitului masic:

2
2
F ( AU
AwU w
) ( AU U AwU wU w ) Ad U d (U U w )
Intrucat forta de presiune este F pAd

Cu U d U (1 a) rezulta
F pAd

1
1
Ad (U 2 U w2 ) Ad (U U w )(U U w ) ( Ad U d (U U w )
2
2

Din relatia
1
Ad (U U w )(U U w ) Ad U d (U U w )
2

Rezulta
1
(U U w ) U d U (1 a)
2

Obtinand
U w U (1 2a )

Ceea ce indica ca jumatate din viteza curentului de aer se pierde in fata discului si
jumatate in spatele discului
Forta asupra discului devine
2
F Ad U (1 a )(U U (1 2a )) Ad U
(1 a ) 2a

si ne permite determinarea puterii extrase din energia vantului

P FU d Ad U 2 (1 a)2a U (1 a) 2 Ad U 3 (1 a) 2 a

Coeficientului de putere este

2 Ad U 3 (1 a) 2 a
Cp

4a(1 a) 2 4a(1 2a a 2 ) 4a 8a 2 4a 3
1
1
Ad U 3
Ad U 3
2
2
P

Valoarea maxima a coeficientului de putere se numeste limita Betz

dC p
da

4 16a 12a 2 4(1 4a 3a 2 ) 0

4 16 12
sau
6
4 16 12
4 16 12 1
a1
1 respectiv a 2

6
6
3

Din care rezulta a1,2

Valoarea maxima a coeficientului de performanta devine

31

1
1
4 4 16
C p max 4 (1 ) 2
0,5925
3
3
3 9 27

Se poate defini si un coeficient de cuplu

2.6.2.3 Efectul numrului de pale al rotorului

Limita lui Betz constat c o turbin eolian ideal poate extrage din vnt o
putere nu mai mare de 59,3 %, dar analiza fcut mai sus nu indic regimul de
funcionare a turbinei sau ce construcie trebuie s aib rotorul ca maximumul
factorului de putere s fie atins.
n continuare vom face o analiz calitativ a regimului de funcionare a turbinei
i a efectului numrului de pale sau factorului de soliditate asupra valorii factorului de
putere.
Eficiena conversiei energiei fluxului de aer n energie mecanic va fi mai mic
dect valoarea optimal dac:
1. Rotorul turbinei are un numr de pale mare (factorul de soliditate este mare)
sau rotorul rotete cu o vitez foarte mare i fiecare pal se mic ntr-un flux de aer
distorsionat (turbulent) de ctre pala din fa.
2. Rotorul turbinei are un numr de pale mic (factorul de soliditate este mic)
sau rotorul rotete cu o vitez foarte mic i fluxul de aer traverseaz suprafaa
rotorului fr a interacioneaz cu acesta.
Soliditatea unei elice exprima raportul dintre aria palelor si aria cercului de rotatie al
acestora . Coeficientul de performanta al elicei este dependent de aceasta soliditate

32

Rezult, c pentru a obine o eficien maximal de conversie a energiei trebuie

ca viteza de rotaie a rotorului s fie corelat cu viteza vntului. Pentru a caracteriza
turbinele eoliene cu diferite caracteristici aerodinamice se utilizeaz parametrul
adimensional, numit rapiditatea turbine (n englez tip speed ratio).
Prin acest parametru se exprima Coeficientul de performanta de viteza
rotorului
Rapiditatea leag ntr-o singur formul trei variabile importante ale turbinei:
viteza de rotaie ,
raza rotorului (sau diametrul) R i
viteza vntului V
i se definete ca raportul dinte viteza liniar a vrfului palei pe viteza vntului
viteza relativa tip speed ratio
adica

R R

U
V

O turbin de o construcie oarecare poate funciona ntr-o gam larg de

variaie a rapiditii , dar va avea eficiena maximal Cp numai pentru o valoare
optimal a rapiditii, altfel spus, dac viteza liniar U=V va fi egal cu viteza
vntului nmulit la valoarea optimal a rapiditii.
Coeficientul de putere se reprezinta in functie de pentru fiecare tip de elice

n figura sunt prezentate caracteristicile Cp , pentru turbine cu un numr diferit de

pale.

Figura Coeficientul de performan al elicelor

Analiza acestor caracteristici ne permit s facem urmtoarele concluzii:

1. Cu ct este mai mic numrul de pale cu att mai mare este rapiditatea

33

optimal pentru care factorul de putere sau eficiena conversiei energiei este maximal
2. Dou turbine cu puteri egale, dar cu un numr diferit de pale se deosebesc
prin aceia, c turbina cu multe pale va dezvolta un moment mai mare i va avea viteza
de rotaie mai mic i invers turbina cu puine pale va dezvolta un moment mic, dar
va avea o vitez de rotaie mai mare.
3. Turbina cu trei pale are cel mai mare factor de eficien. Diferenele dintre
factorii de eficien maximali ai turbinelor cu 2-5 pale nu este semnificativ.
Avantajele turbinelor cu dou sau cu o singur pal const n posibilitatea funcionrii
ntr-o zon mai larg de variaie a rapiditii, n care factorul de eficien are valoare
maximal sau aproape de cea maximal.
4. Factorul maximal de eficien a turbinei cu 12-18 pale este mai mic dect a
turbine cu 3 pale i nu depete 0,35.
F

Similar se poate defini coeficientul fortei de ridicare(rotire) C F 0.5 R 2v 2 ce

poate fi reprezentat in functie de
Din cele prezentate rezulta ca puterea de la axul eolienei este dependenta de viteza
vntului si coeficientul de performanta conform relatiei
P

1
R 2v3C p ( )
2

si a caror reprezentare grafica [ ]este redata in figura a si b

Figura Puterea in funcie de viteza vntului

2.6.3 Forta de Lift si Drag (ridicare si impingere/tractiune)
Asupra oricarui corp aflat intr-un flux de curent se exercita doua forte :una de ridicare si
una de impingere caz a. Cazul b prezinta liniile de curent in miscarea laminara pentru
reducerea fortei de impingere(Drag) cazul c indica cresterea fortei de impingere iar d
cresterea fortei de ridicare si reducerea fortei de impingere

34

Asupra elicei
actioneza doua forte una de tractiune si una de ridicare, forte
asemanatoare cu cele ce actioneaza asupra unei ambacatiuni cu panze

Figura. Forta de ridicare si tractiune

Orice obiect in calea unui curent de aer prezinta o rezistenta la inaintare , dependenta
de forma si aria obiectului. Forta care se opune curentului de aer are expresia

Iar puterea

Unde Cd este coeficientul de drag

35

n cazul n care un obiect se misca cu u viteza de influena a vntului n aceeai

direcie ca i vntul, fora de tractare este
Iar puterea necesara este
In figura doua forte principale actioneaza asupra unei elice, forta de ridicare FL
ortogonala fata de viteza vantului v care actioneaza asupra elicei si forta de tragere FD, ce are
aceeasi directie cu viteza vantului

Aceste forte reprezinta functii patratice ale vitezei vantului, iar amplitudinea
acestora este puternic influentata de forma barierei de aer, precum si de unghiul de atac ,
unghiul sub care elicea este afectata de actiunea vantului, v.unde:
vl viteza libera a vantului
v viteza vantului ce actioneaza asupra elicei
FL forta de ridicare
FD forta de tragere
unghiul de atac
In cazul eolinelor putem defini o forta de impingere si o forta de ridicare cu
urmatoarele relatii de calcul

36

Si un raport al fortelor

Aerodinamica elicei joaca un rol hotarator in conversia energiei vantului in energie

mecanica
In cazul in care forma barierei de aer este data, viteza vantului si unghiul de atac
vor determina amplitudinea celor doua forte mai sus mentionate.
La unghiuri mici de atac forta de ridicare este mare iar cea de tragere mica .
Cresterea unghiului de atac conduce la cresterea fortei de tragere Daca se introduce
coeficientul de ridicare CL si cel de tragere CD, ca functii ale unghiului de atac pentru
profilul ales al elicei dependenta acestora de unghiul de atac este redata in figura

Figura Coeficientii de ridicare si de tragere ca functii ale unghiului de atac.

Constatm:
1. Coeficientul lift CL crete liniar odat cu creterea unghiului de atac pn la 18o.
Prin reglarea unghiului de atac , n turbinele moderne, se asigur reglarea puterii furnizate
de turbin la viteze mici ale vntului se impune un unghi de atac mai mare i invers. Acest
tip de reglare se numete reglare a pasului elicei (n englez pitch control).
2. Pentru unghiuri de atac mai mari de 18 0 coeficientul lift scade brusc, iar cel de
rezisten crete, respectiv scade fora de ridicare i puterea mecanic dezvoltat de
rotor. Acest regim de funcionare a turbinei se folosete cu scopul limitrii puterii
turbinei n cazul vnturilor puternice cu viteze mai mari dect viteza de calcul. Acest
tip de reglare se numete reglare prin frnare (n englez stall control).
3. Coeficientul de rezisten CD are valori minimale pentru unghiuri mici de atac, circa
0,02. Calitatea profilului unei pale sau aripi de avion se caracterizeaz cu raportul CL/CD cu
ct este mai mare acest raport cu att mai eficient este profilul dat. Pentru profilul dat
valoarea maximal a raportului lift/drag este egal cu 23 i corespunde unghiurilor de atac
cuprinse ntre 0 i 20.
Cresterea fortei de tragere si de ridicare are efecte puternice asupra elicei in sensul
tensionarii ei , tensionare cauzata de forta de ridicare si-n sensul presiunii exercitate
asupra elicei cauzata de forta de tragere. In acest sens trebuie cunoscute fortele limita la
care rezista elicea , forte dependente de soliditate elicei.

37

2.6.4 Energia electric care poate fi obinut de la vnt

Cantitatea de energie care poate fi produs de o turbin eolian pe o perioad definit de
timp, de exemplu un an, se calculeaz uor dac viteza vntului n localitatea dat ar fi
constant i egal cu viteza de calcul a turbinei. Pentru acest caz teoretic, energia electric
produs va fi:
n realitate viteza vntului este o variabil aleatorie sau probabilistic Pentru a calcula
cantitatea deenergie electric, care poate fi produs, trebuie s cunoatem :
curba de putere P(V) a agregatului eolian
dependena puterii electrice generate de turbine eolian de viteza vntului la nlimea
axei turbinei.
De obicei, curba de putere este furnizat de productor n form grafic sau
tabelar. n figura este prezentat curba de putere a agregatului eolian V90-2 cu puterea
nominal de 2000 kW, viteza nominal de calcul a vntului 12 m/s, diametrul rotorului 90 m
Principalele puncte de reper ale caracteristicii P(V) sunt:
viteza de cuplare a vntului (cut- in wind speed) egal cu 4 m/s;
viteza nominal a vntului egal cu 12 m/s (rated wind speed) i
viteza de scoatere din funciune egal cu 25 m/s (shut down wind speed).

38

Cantitatea de energie electric care poate fi produs cu turbina eolian V90-2 se

determin cu integrala luat de la produsul dintre funcia densitate de probabilitate a vitezei
vntului f(V) la funcia curbei de putere P(V) obtinand :

Unde
funcia densitate de probabilitate a vitezei vntului f(V) este

2.7 Designul turbinelor

Turbinele eoliene se pot mpri dup poziia axului pe care se rotete turbina n dou
mari clase:
- turbine cu axul vertical;
- turbine cu axul orizontal.
Turbinele cu ax vertical au rotorul n poziie vertical, iar principalele avantaje
al acestora sunt:
- generatorul i/sau cutia de viteze pot fi poziionate dedesubtul turbinei, lng sol,
astfel nct turnul nu trebuie s le susin i pe acestea;
- turbina nu trebuie orientat dup direcia vntului

39

Turbine cu ax orizontal
Spre deosebire de turbinele cu ax vertical, cele cu axul orizontal au generatorul i
axul principal montate n vrful unui turn, i trebuie poziionate n direcia vntului prin
diferite mijloace
Sunt turbinele folosite la ora actual n ntreaga lume pentru generarea curentului
electric. Dezvoltarea lor este n continu cretere att n ceea ce privete capacitile
turbinelor (cele mai mari ajungnd la 5MW), ct i n ceea ce privete echipamentele
componente.
Turbinele eoliene moderne se mai pot diferenia i dup alte criterii cum ar fi dup
puterea eolienei ct i dup posibilitatea conectrii sau nu la reea:
a)
Tip

dup puterea turbinelor:

Diametrul rotoric

Puterea

Micro

< 3m

50W 2KW

Mici

3m -12 m

2KW-40KW

Medii

12m 45 m

40KW-999KW

Mari

> 45m

>1MW

b)

dup posibilitatea conectrii la reea:

cu posibilitate de conectare la reea (grid connect) n
general turbine de capacitate mare;
2.
izolate - fr posibilitatea de conectare la reea (no grid
connect) turbinele mici folosite la ncrcarea acumulatorilor sau pentru
consumatorii mici.
Doua tipuri de retele pot fi utilizate:
Retele izolate in care puterea generatoarelor eoliene este cuprinsa intre 10KW si
200KW
Retele izolate se regasesc in zonele in care costul este ridicat pentru transportul
combustibilului diesel. Aceste tipuri de retele sunt hibride utilizand cuplajul eoliana-diesel.
Energia vantului este utilizata ca sursa primara avand rolul de reducere a consumului de
combustilil diesel. Un astfel de sistem este redat in figura 15 a si b
1.

Fig. 15. a)-Reatea izolata de 6x65 KW; b)-Retea izolata de 50KW

Retele nationale in care puterea generatoarelor eoliene este cuprinsa intre 200KW si 2MW.
Cele mai multe aplicatii ale eolienelor le regasim conectate in reteaua nationala in care
turbinele sunt conectate in ferme de vant. O astfel de ferma este alctuita dintr-un numar de
turbine plasate perpendicular pe directia vantului, interconectate in substatii

40

Chapter 10: Electrical control systems

10.1 Mechanical Part Control

10.1.1 Stall control
10.1.2 Active stall control
10.1.3 Pitch control
10.2 Control engineering in wind turbines
10.2.1 Fixed-speed wind turbine equipped with SCIG
10.2.2Limited variable speed equipped with dynamic rotor resistance (Singly
Fed Induction Generator)
10.2.3 Variable-speed wind turbine equipped with DFIG
10.2.4 Variable-speed wind turbine equipped with Full Converter
10.3 Scalar and vector control for electric generators
10.3.1 Scalar control V/f
10.3.2Vector control
10.3.2.1 Field-oriented control
10.3.2.2 Direct torque control
References

41

Chapter 10: Electrical control systems

A wind turbine converts kinetic energy in a moving air stream to electric energy.
The main components of a wind turbine system are illustrated in Fig.10. 1, and including a
turbine rotor, a gearbox, a generator, a power electronic system, and a transformer for grid
connection.

Figure 10.1 Wind turbine systems [1]

Since the wind speed is not constant, a variety of control mechanisms are employed
to manage the conversion process and protect the mechanical and electrical equipment from
conditions that would result in failure or destruction.
Total control of wind turbines in all weather conditions is vital in supplying reliable
and high quality renewable energy. The control system is the central brain of the wind
turbine. It has two primary functions:
sure safe and reliable automatic operation and optimize output by regulation of
yaw and pitch according to real weather conditions ;
Handle all communication interfaces and make collected and stored operation
data available for further analysis and optimization.
A generalized wind turbine model is shown in Figure 10.2, and illustrates the major
subsystems and control hierarchy that may influence the behaviour of a single wind turbine.

Figure 10.2 Wind turbine control elements and hierarchy[2]

42

10.1 Mechanical Part Control

Wind turbines capture the power from wind by means of turbine blades and convert it
to mechanical power. Mechanical torque created by aerodynamic lift force from the turbine
blades is applied to a rotating shaft. An electrical generator on the same rotating shaft
produces an opposing electromagnetic torque (figure 10.3).

Figure 10.3 Simplified model of wind turbine mechanical system[3]

The power extracted from the air stream by the turbine blades can be characterized by
Equation 10.1:
P

1
R 2 v 3C p Tb b
2

where
= air density (nominally 1.22 kg/m3)
R = radius of area swept by the turbine blades
= speed of moving air stream
Cp = coefficient of performance for the composite airfoil (rotating blades).
The extracted aerodynamic torque (Tb) is computed as a function of the air density (),
the blade length, the wind speed (v) and the power coefficient factor (Cp) as,
Cp 1
Cp
Cp
1
1
Tb R 2 v 3
R 2 v 2
R R 3 v 2
b R
2
b 2
2

v
Where the tip speed ratio () is expressed as a function of the blade length (R) and the blade
angular velocity (b) as,
R
b
v
The relations among the developed electrical torque (Tg), the mechanical torque (Tm) and the
extracted aerodynamic torque (Tb) can be described as functions of the angular velocities of
the wind turbine rotor (r ) and the generator shaft (g) as,
d r
Tb Tm J b
dt
Tm Dmc ( r g ) K mc ( r g )dt

43

Tm Tg J g

d g
dt

Where the constants ( Jb, Jg, Dmc and Kmc ) are assigned for wind turbine rotor inertia,
generator shaft inertia, mechanical coupling damping and mechanical coupling stiffness
respectively.
In steady operation, the magnitude of the mechanical torque is equal to that of the
electromagnetic torque, so the rotational speed remains constant, real power (the product of
rotational speed and torque) is delivered to the grid form of active power. The common way
to convert the low-speed, high-torque mechanical power to electrical power is using a
gearbox and a generator with standard speed. The gearbox adapts the low speed of the turbine
rotor to the high speed of the generator, though the gearbox may not be necessary for
multipole generator systems
From the point of view of mechanical system , the turbine must be protected from
rotational speeds above some value that could lead to catastrophic failure. Mechanical brakes
are provided for stopping the turbine in emergency conditions (high speed) , but are not used
in normal operations. Controlling the power (and hence, torque) extracted from the moving
air stream is the primary means for protecting the turbine from over-speed under all but
emergency shutdown conditions. The force developed on a blade is a function of: free wind
speed, turbine rotational speed and the blade pitch angle. These three quantities determine the
angle of attack. Based on this fact, different control strategies can be introduced.
All wind turbines are designed with some sort of power control. There are different
ways to control aerodynamic forces on the turbine rotor and thus to limit the power in very
high winds in order to avoid damage to the wind turbine
10.1.1 Stall control
The simplest, most robust and cheapest control method is the stall control (passive
control), where the blades are bolted onto the hub at a fixed angle. The design of rotor
aerodynamics causes the rotor to stall (lose power) when the wind speed exceeds a certain
level. Since wind speed and air density cannot be controlled, and the radius of the blades is
fixed, the performance coefficient is the only means for torque control. The performance
coefficient Cp itself is not a constant for a given airfoil, but rather is dependent on a parameter
, called the tip-speed ratio, which is the ratio of the speed of the tip of the blade to the speed
of the moving air stream. Figure 10.4 an example of a Cp() curve and the shaft power as a
function of the wind speed for rated rotor speed can be seen.

Figure 10.4.The coefcient of performance, Cp, as a function of the tip speed ratio
In some wind turbines, blades are designed so that Cp() falls dramatically at high wind
speeds. This method of aerodynamic torque control is known as stall regulation, and is

44

limited to preventing turbine over-speed during extreme gust conditions and limiting
maximum shaft power to around the rating value in winds at or above the rated value.
Figure 10.5 shows the lift and drag coefficients C L and CD, respectively, as functions
of the angle of attack for a chosen blade profile. The air flow around the blade is, for the
presented blade profile, fairly laminar up to the angle of attack at about 10 deg. The drag
force coeficient is very low in this region. When the angle of attack reaches the value of
about 15 deg the air flow on the trailing edge of the blade becomes more turbulent and the
value of the lift coefficient decreases as a consequence of this effect, which is called stalling.
The drag force coefficient now starts to increase.

Figure 10.5 Lift and drag coefficients as functions of the angle of attack.
This method is used in fixed speed system based on the design of the rotor blades, to
limit the upper power level (figure 10.8 a). The disadvantage is the peak average power that
occur at wind speeds around rated wind speed and the power level at the highest wind speeds.
10.1.2 Active stall control
Another type of control is the active stall control. The performance coefficient can
also be changed by adjusting the angle of attack of the blades , as is done on some modern
propeller-driven aircraft..

Figure 10.6 Coefficient of performance Cp (, ) for a modern wind turbine blade assembly
as a function of tip-speed ratio () and blade pitch (, in degrees).

45

Figure 10.6 shows Cp(, ) as a function of and for a modern wind turbine. Blade
pitch adjustment allows the energy capture to be optimized over a wide range of wind speeds
(even if the rotational speed of the shaft is relatively constant), while still providing for overspeed protection through large adjustments in pitch angle.
The various Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) that are able to obtain
maximum power output [10] for varying wind speeds(figure 10.7a) . A variable speed wind
turbine follows the Cpmax to capture the maximum power up to the rated speed by varying the
rotor speed to keep the system at opt . The optimal tip-speed-ratio (TSR) is defined as:
opt

opt R
v

The maximum power coefficient for a given wind speed is obtained at the optimal
value tip-speed-ratio.

a. Maximum power extraction [4] b. Power =P((v, )[5]

Figure 10.7 Power extraction
In order to always produce rated power whenever it is available in the wind, active
stall control can be employed. Another often used name for this aerodynamic control
principle is combi-stall control. Turbine blades are, in such a case, slightly pitched during
high wind speed periods in order to obtain the desired nominal power. In Figure 10.7b a pitch
angle between 0 - 4 deg represents the corresponding control range [5].
Active stall control enables better exploitation of the wind turbine system during high
wind speed periods. Moreover, the slope of the power curve for these high wind speed
periods is such that a variation in wind speed will introduce a rather modest variation in
output power. Another advantage of the pitching method is that it makes emergency stopping
and starting of the wind turbine easier.
10.1.3 Pitch control
The third possible control strategy is pitch control (active control), where the blades
can be turned out or into the wind as the power output becomes too high or too low,
respectively. Large wind turbines employ this method of aerodynamic torque regulation that
has benefits in addition to preventing mechanical over-speed. The objective in this case is to
keep a fairly laminar air flow around the blades for the whole wind speed operational range
and, in the pitch angle is controlled for limiting the generated power for larger wind speed
over the predetermined normal one.
Generally, the advantages of this type of control are good power control, assisted start
up and emergency stop. From an electrical point of view, good power control means that at
high wind speeds the mean value of the power output is kept close to the rated power of the
generator. Some disadvantages are the extra complexity arising from the pitch mechanism
46

and the higher power fluctuations at high wind speeds. The instantaneous power will, because
of gusts and the limited speed of the pitch mechanism, fluctuate around the rated mean value
of the power. The pitch angle now varies within a wider range, in Figure 10.7 this range is
roughly between 0 - 35 deg.
The overall conversion of wind energy to electric power is normally described by a
turbine power curve, which shows turbine electrical output as a function of steady wind
speed (Figure 10.8). Such a representation is accurate only for steady-state operation, since
the inherent dynamics of the mechanical and electrical systems along with all possible
control functionality is neglected.

Figure 10.8. Power characteristics of fixed-speed wind turbines [1].

(a) Stall control. (b) Active stall control. (c) Pitch control.
Such a representation is accurate only for steady-state operation, since the inherent
dynamics of the mechanical and electrical systems along with all possible control
functionality is neglected.
Wind turbine control is typically divided into four primary regions, as seen in Fig.
10.9. Region 1 spans operation from start up to the cut-in wind speed where the generator is
turned on and starts producing power. When wind speeds are above cut-in, but still too low to
produce maximum power, the turbine is said to be in Region 2. In this below rated region the
objective is to maximize aerodynamic efficiency to capture as much energy as possible from
the wind stream. In Region 3, wind speeds are high enough to drive the generator at its rated
power output; in this case, the goal is to regulate speed and power safely at rated levels.
Region 4 occurs when the turbine shuts down due to high wind speeds to prevent damage to
the turbine

Figure 10.9 Wind power, turbine power, and operating regions [6]

47

Throughout these regions, the speed and power of the turbine are controlled by
varying the generator load torque and the blade pitch angles based on measurement of the
generator shaft speed.
Wind turbine configurations can also be classified with both the speed control ( fixed
or variable speed) and aerodynamic power control criterion (stall, active stall or pitch
control). Each combination of these two criteria receives a label (Table 1) ; for example, Type
A0 denotes the fixed-speed stall-controlled wind turbine. The grey zones, in table 1, indicate
combinations that are not in use in the wind turbine industry today [7].
Speed control
Fixed speed
Variable speed

Type A
Type B
Type C
Type D

Stall
Type A0
Type B0
Type C0
Type D0

Table 1Wind turbine concepts

Power control
Pitch
Active stall
Type A1
Type A2
Type B1
Type B2
Type C1
Type C2
Type D1
Type D2

The control scheme employed to operate the turbine to produce grid-quality electricity
varies among turbine manufacturers. No one control scheme is the best. Each has
advantages and disadvantages; however, they all successfully deliver energy into utility grids.
10.2 Control engineering in wind turbines
The generator converts the mechanical power into electrical power, which being fed
into a grid possibly through power electronic converters, and a transformer with circuit
breakers and electricity meters. The two most common types of electrical machines used in
wind turbines are induction generators and synchronous generators.
The dynamic properties of a wind turbine depend on its construction and on the
control system structure and parameters. Mostly it depends on the type of generator employed
and how it is connected to the grid; whether directly connected or via power electronics
converter.
From this perspective there are four (4) main types of wind turbine will be analyzed
(Table 2)
Type
A

Speed
Fixed

Limited variable
speed
Variable
Variable

C
D

Table 2 The main type of wind turbine

Generator type
Grid connection
Squirrel-cage induction
Direct
generator (SCIG)
Wound-rotor induction with
Direct
dynamic rotor resistance
Doubly-fed induction
Partial converter
Synchronous or induction
Full converter
generator

10.2.1 Fixed-speed wind turbine equipped with SCIG

The squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG) is the most common type used in fixedspeed wind turbines. This configuration denotes the fixed-speed wind turbine with an
asynchronous squirrel cage induction generator (SCIG) directly connected to the grid via a
transformer (Figure 10.10). Since the SCIG always draws reactive power from the grid, this
48

configuration uses a capacitor bank for reactive power compensation. A smoother grid
connection is achieved by using a soft-starter. The high starting currents of induction
generators are usually limited by a thyristor soft-starter. The current limiter or soft-starter,
based on thyristor technology, typically limits the rms value of the inrush current to a level
below two times of the generator rated current. The soft-starter has a limited thermal capacity
and it is short circuited by a contactor , which carries the full-load current, when the
connection to the grid has been completed. In addition to reduce the impact on the grid, the
soft-starter also effectively dampens the torque peaks associated with the peak currents, and
hence reduces the loads on the gearbox..
This type of wind turbine is not equipped with generator control systems, and
therefore is more reliable than other types. Regardless of the power control principle in a
fixed-speed wind turbine, the wind fluctuations are converted into mechanical fluctuations
and consequently into electrical power fluctuations. In the case of a weak grid, these can
yield voltage fluctuations at the point of connection. Because of these voltage fluctuations,
the fixed-speed wind turbine draws varying amounts of reactive power from the utility grid
(unless there is a capacitor bank), which increases both the voltage fluctuations and the line
losses.

Figure 10.10Fixed-speed wind turbine with SCIG[7]

Since the excitation for a SCIG is sourced directly from the grid it continually absorbs
reactive power (increasingly with speed) and is incapable of controlling its terminal voltage.
In such a case, the terminal voltage or reactive power may not be directly controlled, and the
induction generators may suffer from voltage instability problem, which is becoming a
significant concern with large-scale wind farm penetration.
In steady state, the voltage level is influenced by reactive power. Impossibility of the
reactive power regulation make cannot be controlled the voltage level. Considering a wind
system with a SCIG connected to a grid with nominal voltage UN. The problem regarding the
deviation of the voltage [8] comes from the fact that the fixed speed system does not allow
reactive power consume control. Subsequently, the voltage will be affected in the common
point by the UPCC connection. This is shown from the Figure 10.11

Figure 10.11. A turbines connection to the network

49

Applying Kirchoff law voltage result the equations:

U PCC U N R g I jX g I I I d jI q
Where:
UN-nominal voltage of the grid; UPCC -voltage at the point of common connection (PCC); Pactive power produced; Q-reactive power consumed; Rg-grid resistance; Xg-grid reactance
The impact over the voltage level can be determined by voltage drop expression (U)
depending on power, which indicates a longitudinal tension drop Ul and a transversal
voltage drop Ut..
PRg X g Q
X g P Rg Q
U (

) j(

) U l jU t
UN
UN
UN
UN
Except for the cable and low frequency lines, in transport lines the line resistance is
much smaller than the reactance R g X g case in which the voltage drops become:
X g Q
Xg P
U l
U t
UN
UN
Transversal voltage drop is proportionally to the active power and leads to the alteration of
slip and implicitly to the Joule losses in the machine. The longitudinal voltage drop is
dependent on reactive power and reduces voltage level in the connection point. The increase
in the reactive power (consumed) at the same active power capacity, implies a bigger
reactive current which will determine an increase in the voltage drop in keeping as well as a
UPCC, voltage drop according to relation :
U PCC U N X g I q
When the generators speed increases during a fault, the reactive power absorption of the
induction generator also increases and can lead to unacceptably low voltages.
Induction generators with cage rotor can be used in the fixed speed wind turbines due to
the damping effect. However, compared with other types the stability performance of wind
turbines which use the SCIG(directly coupled to the grid) is relatively poor. The problems
which can occur with SCIG equipped wind turbines are :
during a fault the rotor speed increases and can become excessive, and
after a fault is cleared the terminal volts may not recover, both of which can cause
it to be disconnected from the grid.
The dynamic response of an induction generator to a fault will be examined using the
torque-slip curve shown in Figure10.12 and the equation that describes the motion of the
generator shaft:
J g o

ds
Tg Tm
dt

here Jg is the sum of constant inertia of the rotating mass in per unit, s is the slip, Tg is
the electromagnetically torque ,Tm is the mechanical torque from the turbine hub and o
synchronous speed
In steady-state operation the electromagnetically torque Tg is equal to the mechanical
torque Tm and the generator operates at constant slip so.
When a fault occurs at to, Tg collapses to zero (ignoring the electrical transients), while
the slip at that instant remains the same. The collapse of Tg results in a net increase in the
accelerating torque on the rotor (since Tg<Tm in motion equation) and a continuous increase in
slip. If the fault is cleared at time t1, when slip has increased to s1, then Tg will recover from
zero to a point on the torque-slip curve that is greater than Tm.This will cause a net decrease in

50

acceleration torque (due now to Tg>Tm in motion equation) and the rotor will return to its
original slip so (assuming that the voltage is the same as what it was prior to the fault). If the
voltage is low, it affects the torque-slip, and if the electromagnetically torque is less than the
torque mechanically decouples the generator from the grid

Figure 10.12 The torque-slip curve[9]

For an induction generator the electrical torque Tg of the generator is proportional to
the square of the generator terminal voltage. On the other hand, if the fault is cleared at slip s2
then when Tg recovers from zero it will always be less than Tm and the generator will continue
to accelerate, causing it to trip due to over speed. Therefore, the slip scr is the critical clearing
slip for this operating condition at which the SCIG is capable of recovery from a fault.
Assuming that the mechanical torque Tm remains the same during a fault, the acceleration of
the generator is determined by the moment of inertia of the rotor and the shaft stiffness.A
wind turbine has high inertia and low stiffness of the shaft between the turbine and generator
[9]. The low stiffness means that during steady-state operation the shaft stores a substantial
amount of potential energy, which is due to the rotational displacement caused by the two
opposing torques Tg and Tm. When Tg collapses during a fault, the stored potential energy in
the shaft is transferred as kinetic energy to the rotor, which contributes significantly to its
acceleration. The contribution of the shaft stiffness of the wind mill drive train to the
acceleration of the generator cannot be ignored and the paper [10] suggests that the maximum
speed change of an induction generator immediately after a fault is calculated with relation:
g

Tm Tg

K mc J g

Where g is the speed change of the generator at the faults inception, Kmc is the shaft
stiffness and JG is the moment of inertia of the generator rotor.
The maximum post-fault speed fg g g of an induction generator is
determined by adding the steady state speed g with the maximum speed change [10]. If
fg exceeds the critical clearing speed cr then the generator could become unstable and
should trip due to over speed [11].
Industrial application. All three versions (Type A0, Type A1 and Type A2) of the fixedspeed wind turbine Type A are used in the wind turbine industry, and they can be
characterised as follows[7]:

Type A0. Stall-controlled wind turbines cannot carry out assisted startups,
whichimplies that the power of the turbine cannot be controlled during the connection
sequence.
51

Type A1: The main advantages of a pitch control turbine are that it facilitates power
controllability, controlled start up and emergency stopping. Its major drawback is that, at high
wind speeds, even small variations in wind speed result in large variations in output power.
The pitch mechanism is not fast enough to avoid such power fluctuations. By pitching the
blade, slow variations in the wind can be compensated, but this is not possible in the case of
gusts.
Type A2: active stall control .These have recently become popular. This configuration
basically maintains all the power quality characteristics of the stall-regulated system. The
improvements lie in a better utilisation of the overall system, as a result the use of active stall
control. The flexible coupling of the blades to the hub also facilitates emergency stopping and
startups. One drawback is the higher price arising from the pitching mechanism and its
controller.
10.2.2Limited variable speed equipped with dynamic rotor resistance (Singly Fed
Induction Generator)
The type of wind turbine being discussed here employs a wound-rotor induction
generator (WRIG) which is equipped (singly-fed) with a converter to control the resistance of
the rotor. This solution still needs a soft-starter. Rotor resistance- controlled wounded
induction generators need to operate at a super synchronous speed to generate electricity. He
draw reactive power that might be supplied from the grid or from installed compensation
equipment, such as capacitor banks.
The torque-slip Tg(s) curves of the induction generator can be expressed by the Kloss relation

Where: maximum torque is independent of rotor resistance but dependent on the square ratio
voltage / frequency:

; Critical slip is proportional to:

; Slip in normal

operation is :

Figure 10.13 Torque-speed characteristic with increasing rotor resistance

Rotor resistance change only affects critical slipping. Increased resistance increases
the critical slip This is shown in Figure 10.13.There are three torque-slip curves plotted for
different (increasing) values of the external rotor resistance; where Rr is the rated short-circuit
resistance of the rotor and Rrmax is the equivalent rotor resistance with maximum external
resistance applied.

52

Figure 10.14Dynamic slip-controlled wound rotor generators

Dynamic slip-controlled wound rotor generators use extra power electronic controlled
resistance, which is added in the rotor circuit to create a different characteristic of torquespeed. Power converter for slip controller is designed for low voltage and high-current
condition [12].These generators are normally connected directly to the ac system and needs
reactive power compensator and soft starting systems.
The ability to vary the rotor resistance allows for the control of generator slip and
rotational speed and a blade pitching system is used to maintain optimal rotational speed of
the wind wheel. This type of wind turbine is referred to as partly-variable-speed [13].
Industrial application. Vestas [14] uses this concept in a wind turbine called
OptiSlip. The variable resistance is connected to the rotor terminals of a slip-ring induction
machine and is controlled by a rotor current controller. In Vestas the system is called Vestas
Rotor Current Control (VRCC) and consists of resistances, a B6 Diode-bridge, an IGBT and
the control unit (Figure 10.14). The IGBT, as controllable switch at the DC side, is used for of
varying rotor resistance on the rotor terminal of the generator is created controlling the rotor
current flow though the external rotor resistances. Switching the complete external rotor
resistance the slip of the generator can be increased up to approx. 12%. For normal control
purposes at rated power of the wind turbine only an increase up to slip value of 10% is used.
However in fault situations with increased rotor current the IGBT will stop switching and the
total resistance will be connected to the rotor terminals.
The input for the VRCC is the rotor current reference value, which is received from
the power controller and the measured rotor current(figure 10.15). The output of the VRCC is
the duty cycle for switching the IGBT. The reference for the resistance control is given by the
overall wind turbine control, which consists of speed control, pitch control and the power
controller. In Figure 10.15 description of the total control system is shown.

53

Figure 10.15 A sketch of the Vestas OptiSlip wind turbine control system [14]
During start-up a large amount of torque is required to take the speed of rotation of the
induction generator from stand-still to above synchronous. At start-up the blade pitching
system is used and the generator is effectively soft-started by increasing rotor resistance to a
maximum. A large rotor resistance at start-up achieves a high starting torque.
The Power Control. When the wind turbine is connected to the grid, the power control
is active.The power control represents the outer control loop to the VRCC. The input for the
PI power controller is given by a calculation of the power reference on the basis of the
generator slip.

0
for slip 0%
Prated
Pref
slip for 0% slip 2%
slip 2%
for slip 2%
Prated
Partial load operation (between cut-in and rated speed). During start of the wind
turbine the wind might not be high enough to produce enough torque on the turbine for
running on rated power and the wind turbine is in partial load operation mode. The power is
controlled to increase with a generator slip of 2% as shown in Figure 10.16. If the wind speed
rises to a point where rated power can be produced, the wind turbine will switch to rated
operation mode.

Figure 10.16. Power Slip reference curve of the power controller

In rated operation mode the power of the wind turbine will be controlled to a constant
rated power output, while the rated slip will be controlled by the pitch control to 4%. Short
time speed changes at rated power output are controlled by possible slip changes between
rated slip of the generator which is approx. 0.5% with no external connected resistance and
the max. Allow able value of slip=10%.At full load when the power extracted from the wind
by the wind wheel changes the rotor converter alters the generator slip to compensate. In
54

effect the surplus of energy is transformed into the potential energy in the rotating shaft,
causing the rotor speed to increase. The external rotor resistance is increased by the converter
(increasing slip) to keep the output power of the generator constant, hence dampening power
variations caused by the wind. The external rotor resistance and the slip are eventually
returned to what they were prior to the increase in wind speed. The generator slip must be
kept as low as possible to maximise efficiency. During disturbances oscillations may appear
in the output power due to the dynamic mechanical forces which act on the wind wheel, that
are determined by its mechanical characteristics. These mechanical oscillations manifest
themselves in the rotor as torsion oscillations and some travel through the shaft and the
generator and appear as harmonics on the grid
The Speed Control. The speed reference and the power reference increase
proportionally until the rated values are reached. The rated speed reference is default 4%. If
the wind speed and the power output are below the rated values, the slip will be below 2%
and the pitch will be controlled from a parameter list based upon the wind speed. If the wind
speed is above the rated value, the power output will be almost constant at nominal power
and the generator speed is controlled to follow the reference speed by changing the pitch. The
speed non-linearity increases the gain if the slip is below or above the rated slip value
( fig.10.17). The increased gain below or above will speed up the pitch control. The increase
above is to avoid over speed errors of the turbine, while the increase below increases the
power production by returning fast to rated conditions.

.
Figure 10.17 Speed controller of the wind turbine control
The pitch Control. The turbine has a pitch control system for each blade. Each pitch
control system is a servo loop which will make the pitch follow a given reference as quickly
as possible and with sufficient damping. The pitch control can be accomplished simply with
a PI controller, whereas the pitch servo is modelled with a first order delay system with a
time constant Td as shown in Fig. 10.18 . The pitch control was at his way; minimize
unwanted thrust loads on the system.

Figure 10.18 Pitch angle control schematic

Wind turbine power curve with used control features is show in figure 10.19.

55

Figure 10.19Power curve VRCC

The Vestas V44-600kW, launched in 1996, is an upwind turbine with three blades and
an electrically driven yaw system. Its rotor has a diameter of 44 m, a weight of 8.4 t and a
rated rotational speed of 28 rpm. A hydraulically actuated pitch system is used for speed
control, optimization of power production, for start-up and for aerodynamic braking of the
turbine. Additional breaking functionality is provided by a disc brake located on the highspeed side of the gearbox.
A more efficient method of taking advantage of this varying slip is to extract the
maximum amount of power from the wind at the partial load operation. During partial
loading (between cut-in and rated speed) the rotor resistance varies between Rr rated and Rrmax
and the blade pitch angle is controlled to achieve an optimal rotation speed of the turbine
which extracts maximum power from the wind. At partial load the rotational speed of the
wind wheel of a variable speed wind turbine is controlled around at opt to maximise the
power coefficient Cp(,) and hence maximise the power extracted from the wind.
Fig. 10.20 shows this kind of MPPT controller, which needs the wind speed measured
by an anemometer. The controller regulates the wind turbine speed to maintain an optimal tipspeed-ratio ( TSR) . However, the accurate wind speed may be difficult to obtain. In addition,
the use of an external anemometer increases the complexity and cost of the system.

Figure 10.20 Block diagram of the TSR control

The control of generator slip is achieved by continuous monitoring of the input torque
to the generator.
If the change in mechanical torque from the wind wheel with respect to speed is positive
dTm
0 then to maintain an optimal tip-speed-ratio the generator slip is increased by
ds
increasing the rotor resistance.

56

dTm
0 then the generator speed is reduced by decreasing the effective rotor
ds
resistance.
dTm
0 the rotor resistance is held constant. The addition of a pitch controller is used
If
ds
to optimise the rotational speed of the wind turbine at partial load
The micro-interruption is a disconnection of the electric grid for a short moment. For
the case of the generating operation of an asynchronous machine the electric grid interruption
makes the system similar to a standalone induction generator. In this case the amplitude and
the frequency of the generator will not be assisted any more by the electric grid. That makes
the generators terminal voltage values depending on magnetizing and speed of the generator.
On this fact the influence of a micro-interruption on a wind turbine depends on the used
structure of generator (SFIG or asynchronous generator directly connected to the grid).
Under micro-interruption between the network and the wind turbine the amount of power
delivered to the electric grid will be forwarded towards the rotor. This amplifies excessively
the rotor current and consequently increases the stator tensions.
For the active and reactive powers, during a sudden increase in the rotor current
caused by a micro-interruption, a peak with a positive value appears in the active power curve
and a peak with negative value appears in the reactive power curve.

If

10.2.3 Variable-speed wind turbine equipped with DFIG

A usual generator with short-circuit rotor terminals or squirrel-cage is only able to
have a minimal rotor speed variation (approx. 1%) dependent on the frequency at the stator
terminals of the generator. The Singly Fed Induction Generator with dynamic rotor resistance
system already extends this small rotor speed variation range to a variability of 10%. Using a
doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) allows a variation of the rotor speed from -40% to
+30% of the synchronous speed, depending on the size of the frequency converter.
The doubly-fed generator concept utilises a wound rotor induction machine with an
AC current applied to the rotor windings, thus it can be regarded as a traditional induction
generator with a nonzero rotor voltage. Variable speed operation is enabled by controlling the
frequency of the current applied to the rotor with respect to that of the stator. The stator of the
generator is directly coupled to the grid at a fixed frequency whereas the rotor is supplied via
a converter at a different frequency. As such the generator is said to be doubly-fed. The
converter, which is connected between the rotor circuit and the grid, effectively decouples the
grid frequency from the rotor mechanical frequency
The configuration use of the doubly-fed induction generator (figure10.21) corresponds
to the limited variable speed wind turbine with a wound rotor induction generator (WRIG)
and partial scale frequency converter (rated at approximately 30% of nominal generator
power) on the rotor circuit. An advantage of this wind turbine is that since the frequency
converter only has to deal with the rotor power than it needs only to be partially rated. This
wind turbine does not need either a soft starter or reactive power compensation.

57

Figure 10.21 DFIG basic configurations [15]

Reactive power can be supplied by the generator to support grid voltages. The
controllability of reactive power help the DFIG equipped wind turbine play a similar role to
synchronous generators. The partial scale frequency converter performs the reactive power
compensation and the smoother grid connection. The converter makes it possible to supply or
obtain power from the grid through the rotor terminals. This prevents the generator from
switching to motor operation while driving at sub synchronous speed. In the so called over
synchronous operation the generators speed is higher than synchronous speed. In this
operation power from the stator terminals as well as power from the rotor terminals is
supplied to the grid. In fact, the doubly-fed machine is a special case of a synchronous
machine which runs at a slip determined by the frequency applied to the rotor fr and that
applied to the stator fs(both in Hz) such that:
f
s r
fs
The induction machine with squirrel cage in the rotor circuit the frequency is 1-2 Hz
according slip s=2-4%. In the doubly-fed machine if the converter produces , in the rotor
circuit, 15 Hz frequency and the stator having 50 Hz frequency the slip is s = 30%
The speed in revolutions per minute (n) can be determined by the frequency (f) of the
source in hertz (Hz) and the number of pairs of poles (p) in the machine such that
n

60 f
p

The magnetic field produced by the stator phase windings in a three-phase machine
with 2p=6 (p=3) supplied at 50 Hz , have the speed in revolutions per minute ns=1000 rpm.
The magnetic field produced by the rotor phase windings in a three-phase machine
with 2p=6 (p=3) supplied at by convertor with 15 Hz, have the speed in revolutions per
minute nr= 300 rpm.
In over synchronous mode the two magnetic fields are added together and the rotor
speed must be 1300 rpm. This corresponds to over-synchronous speed:
nsup

60
( fs fr )
p

58

In sub-synchronous mode the two fields are decrease together and the rotor speed
must be 700 rpm. This corresponds to sub -synchronous speed:
n sub

60
( fs fr )
p

Depending on whether the wind speed is high or low the rotor frequency and phase
with respect to the stator frequency the DFIG will rotate either above or below synchronous
speed. As a result the wind turbine can be controlled to rotate at an optimal speed which
extracts the maximum power from the wind. The power transfer between the DFIG and the
grid is determined by its speed.
About the balance of power, the ideal stationary power distribution through the
generator is dependent on the slip of the generator as shown in equation:
1 s
PS PR
s

P
PS M PM o
1 s
r
s
PR PM PS PM
sPS
1 s
PM r Te PR

With:
PM -obtained mechanical power through the shaft of the generator
PS -power through the stator of the generator
PR -the power through the rotor of the generator
o -synchronous speed
r -rotor angular speed
s- slip (s>0, r o and s<0 , r o )
PEL -total to the grid supplied power
In the over synchronous speed r o the mechanical power flows through stator
and rotor generator(PR delivered, PS delivered)but in sub synchronous operation, when the
speed of the generator is below synchronous speed r o , a part of the stator produced
power is fed back into the rotor of the generator through the converter (PR absorbed, PS
delivered) as shown in Figure10.22

a. over synchronous speed r o

b. sub synchronous speed r o
Figure 10.22 Power flow of an ideal DFIG
The prevalent DFIG protection scheme is crowbar protection. A crowbar is a set of
resistors that are connected in parallel with the rotor winding on occurrence of an

59

interruption, bypassing the rotor-side converter. The role of the crowbar is to protect the
power electronics and to current limit. The result is that at controllability is lost and the
machine becomes a standard induction generator. Rcrow is the equivalent rotor resistance with
crowbar connection over Rr rated. The crowbar is a device mounted in parallel with the
rotor converter, as sketched in Fig. 10.23 which comprises a three phase diode bridge that
rectifies the rotor currents and a single thyristor in series with a resistor Rcrow

Figure 10.23 Crowbar arrangement

Industrial aplication. Nowadays wind turbines equipped with slip-ring induction generators
and doubly-fed control are widely used. Vestas introduced their first wind turbine with
doubly-fed control, the so called OptiSpeed TM control [16] in 1999 for the wind turbine type
V80 2MW. The electrical configuration shown in Figure 10.24 consists of an autotransformer,
a rotor converter, a grid convertor and the DFIG.

Figure 10.24 Electrical configuration of the Vestas 2MW OptiSpeedTM turbine [16]
The DFIG control basically it can be separated into two parts. Firstly the Vestas
Converter System (VCS) control, consisting of power controller, rotor current controller and
60

the grid converter controller. The other part is the overall wind turbine control, consisting of
speed controller, full-, partial load controller, pitch controller and logic.
Vestas Converter System (VCS) for 4- quadrants have two convertors, one Rotor
Converter Control and one Grid Converter Control(figure 10.25)

Figure 10.25 Vestas Converter System (VCS) control

The DFIG Rotor Converter Control. The active - and reactive power flow of the
machine can be controlled through the rotor converter, with the control of the rotor currents.
Using the Parks Transformation and orientating all machine equations to the stator field for
the control brings mainly two advantages. First of all the alternating time values of current,
voltage and flux become DC values, which are easily to control and secondly it is possible
for a decoupled control of active and reactive power, through the two d, q - components.
With this theory (field orientating), the stator voltage d-component is very small and
can be neglected. The q component of the stator voltage can be approximated to be constant
under rated condition. The active and reactive power can be calculated with the d, q
components. In these conditions the active power can be controlled by the q-component of
the stator current and the reactive power can be controlled by the d-component of the stator
current. Similar, the torque can be controlled as the active power through the q-component of
the stator current.
The power controller is a PI-controller, with input the calculated grid power error and
as output the reference rotor current for the rotor current control ( irq is proportionally with
isq). The rotor controller is as well a PI-controller with input the rotor currents error and
output is the rotor voltage.
The DFIG Grid Converter Control. The main task of grid converter control is to
control the DC voltage of the DC link, while exchanging power with grid. Changes of the DC
link voltage will occur e.g. when changing the generator torque. The rotor converter control
supplies power into the rotor of the generator or the opposite.
The power exchange with grid can be controlled by control of the grid current i L or the
grid converter current iG. If the grid current and the power exchange with the grid is not
corrected fast enough the DC link voltage will decrease or increase. The DC voltage
variation can be determinate from the current through the DC-link capacitor where the
current through the DC-link capacitor e can be calculated from the rotor power of the
generator and the grid power:
dU DC
P
1
1 P
(i RDC iGDC ) ( R G )
dt
C
C U DC U DC
The DC link voltage control is the outer loop of the cascaded control structure shown
in Figure 10.26. The output of the DC-link voltage control gives the input to the grid current
controller.

61

Figure 10.26DC-link voltage control

A consequence of a decreased DC voltage can lead to a failure of the generator
control or an increased current, which could lead to a damage of the power electronic
modules. The increase of the DC voltage can lead to overloading of the DC link capacitor,
which can give hardware damages and a loss of control capabilities of the grid control
Wind turbine control. Maximum energy from the wind is obtained when the rotor is
operating at its aerodynamic optimum. The aerodynamic optimum is reached, if the tip-speed
ratio opt and the pitch angle opt are at their optimum. To keep the tip-speed ratio at its
optimum the rotor with the radius R has to be operated with a rotor speed opt proportional
to the wind velocity v.
opt v
opt

The stationary power obtained by the blades on this optimum condition is:
1
PEL R 2 v 3 C p _ opt
2

However, it is not always beneficial or possible to operate the turbine at a point for maximal
energy gain. The operational wind speed area is limited, due to the turbines operation area.
The operation area can be defined by introducing rotor speed limits. Between the minimum
and rated rotor speed [ min , max ] four different control strategies apply[17].

a generator speed vs. wind speed b power curve vs. generator speed
Figure 10. OptiSpeedTM wind turbine
The first is an operation at wind speeds less than the wind speed correlated to the minimum
rotor speed v1 . The rotor cannot operate on its optimal tip-speed and therefore the controls
main task is to keep the minimum rotor speed:
v1

R min
opt

62

In the partial operation range between minimum rotor speed and maximal rotor speed, the
turbine is controlled to operate with the optimal tip-speed ratio:
v2

R rtd
opt

If the wind speed is above defined v 2 the turbine cannot operate further with the optimal tipspeed ratio, since the speed is restricted to the rated generator speed
With further rising of the wind speed, the turbine switches from the partial load operation into
full load operation (fourth control strategy). Consideration about the optimal rotor efficiency
are in the last control areas not necessary, hence the power is limited to the rated power.
The shift between the different control areas is done with a logic block (Figure 10.28).
This logic decides between the partial load controller, which is designed to keep the turbine
operating on an optimal power set point, and the full load controller, which is controlling the
speed, while the power is limited to the rated power. Both controllers are very similar to the
described controllers used in the OptiSlip wind turbine model

Figure 10.28 Wind turbines overall control strategy

In Figure 10.29 a simple sketch of the total Vestas OptiSpeedTM wind turbines overall
control strategy is shown.

Figure 10.29 Sketch of the Vestas OptiSpeed control

63

Wind turbines with this control have the advantages of optimizing energy production,
minimizing structural loads, limiting noise emission and improvement of the power quality.
New challenges gave and give plenty possibilities for improvements in the control and
design during this long time usage of this wind turbine concep.
The 750 kW and 1.5 MW turbines (and the 3.6 MW prototype for offshore
applications) from GE Wind Energy Systems [2] employ an even more sophisticated rotor
current control scheme with a wound-rotor induction generator (Figure 10.30). Here, the
rotor circuits are supplied by a four-quadrant power converter (capable of real and reactive
power flow in either direction) that exerts near-instantaneous control (e.g. magnitude and
phase) over the rotor circuit currents. This vector control of the rotor currents provides for
fast dynamic adjustment of electromagnetic torque in the machine. In addition, the reactive
power at the stator terminals of the machine can also be controlled via the power converter.

Figure 10.30Configuration of GE with four-quadrant power converter supplying rotor circuit

of a DFIG
10.2.4 Variable-speed wind turbine equipped with Full Converter
In variable-speed systems, the generator is normally connected to the grid through a
power electronic system. For synchronous generators and induction generators without rotor
windings, a full rated power electronic system is connected between the stator of the
generator and the grid, where the total power production must be fed through the power
electronic system.
A variable-speed electrical system has three main components [18]. They are the
generator, the rectifier and the inverter, shown in Fig. 10.31. The system can be split into two
subsystems [19]: inverter-grid and rectifier-generator. This helps when analysing one part of
the system. Each sub-system has at least two different device alternatives.

64

Figure 10.31.The electrical system for variable-speed wind turbine

Rectifiers generator subsystem. Two main types of generators are used: either the
synchronous (SG) or the induction generator (IG) .
The synchronous generator (SG) can use two methods of excitation: permanent
magnets or field winding. The common way is to use a field winding, because it has the
advantage of controlling the three-phase voltage level; if the terminal voltage level is fixed,
the produced reactive power can be controlled. When using permanent magnets, the
electrical losses of the machine become smaller, this is positive. However, the voltage level is
proportional to the speed. Due to the produced reactive power, the synchronous generator can
be connected to a load-commutated rectifier, i.e., a diode rectifier or a thyristor rectifier.
The voltage source converter (VSC), however, can be used as a rectifier. Observe that the
controller of the VSC requires a minimum dc-link voltage relation to the generator voltage in
order to operate properly.
The induction generator (IG) requires reactive power to operate. Consequently, the IG
often uses the VSC, which produces reactive power.(figure 10.32)

Figure 10.32 Diagram of different electrical system alternatives for variable speed[19].
Inverter grid subsystem.T he inverter of the system is connected to the grid. Here, the
grid-commutated inverter, also called the thyristor inverter, and the VSC can be used. The
VSC requires a minimum dc-link voltage in order to operate, and in some cases a step-up
converter (DC/DC) must be introduced to increase the voltage level for the VSC. The VSC
can act both as a rectifier and as an inverter: the power direction is set by the controller.
Electrical system control is used for power output stability. Power system stability can
be generally defined for a power system as, its ability to remain in operation equilibrium
under normal operating conditions and to regain an acceptable state of equilibrium after
subjecting to a disturbance. Following a large disturbance, if the power system is stable, it
will reach a new equilibrium state with practically the entire system intact; the actions of
automatic controls and possibly human operators will eventually restore the system to normal
state. On the other hand, if the system is unstable, it will result in a run-away or run-down
65

situation, or equivalently a progressive increase in angular separation of generator rotors, or a

progressive decrease in bus voltages.
From the point of view of defining and classifying power system stability, there are
three important quantities for its operation; angles of nodal voltages, nodal voltage
magnitudes, and system frequency. The power system stability can be classified into:
rotor (or power) angle stability;
frequency stability;
voltage stability.
Rotor angle stability is concerned with the system ability to maintain the equilibrium
between electromagnetic torque and mechanical torque of each generator in the system.
Instability that may result occurs in the form of increasing angular swings of some generators
leading to their loss of synchronism with other generators.
Voltage stability is concerned with the ability of a power system to maintain its steady
voltage at all buses in the system under normal operating conditions, and after subjecting to a
disturbance. Instability that may result occurs in the form of a progressive fall or rise of
voltage of some buses. The possible outcome of voltage instability is loss of load in the area
where voltages reach unacceptably low values, or a loss of integrity of the power system. The
main factor contributing to voltage instability is usually the voltage drop that occurs when
active and reactive power flow through inductive reactance associated with the transmission
network.
Frequency stability is concerned with the ability of a power system to maintain steady
frequency within a nominal range following a severe system upset, which result in a
significant imbalance between generation and load. It depends on the ability to restore
balance between system generation and load, with minimum loss of load. It is of importance
to note that, severe system upsets generally result in large excursions of frequency, power
flows, voltage, and other system variables.
During faults the behaviour of fault current distribution and consequently the reaction
of the protective scheme are obviously affected. Moreover, the own dynamic behaviour of the
induction generator differs remarkably as compared with conventional synchronous ones.
Moreover, the continuous wind speed variations and the interaction of the associated power
electronics collaborate together for providing the behaviour of these machines during fault
periods.
The most generalized form of power electronics topology for the wind energy
application is the back-to-back rectifier/inverter connection which provides the improved
power flow control as well as increased efficiency. The voltage-fed converter scheme used in
such systems is shown in Figure 10.33. A PWM-based IGBT bridge rectifies the variablefrequency variable-voltage power from the wind generator. The rectifier also supplies the
excitation needs for the induction generator. The inverter topology is identical to that of the
rectifier, and it supplies the generated power at 60 Hz to the utility grid [20].This general
structure is suitable for any type of wind energy systems.

66

Figure 10.33 Generalized power electronics converter for wind systems

Figure 10.34 shows the control block diagram of an induction generator with a double
PWM converter-fed wind energy system that uses the power circuit shown in Figure 10.33.
The induction generator and inverter output currents are sinusoidal due to the high frequency
of the pulse-width modulation and current control as shown in the figure. The induction
generator absorbs the lagging reactive current, but the reactive current is always zero on the
line side; that is, the line power factor is unity. The rectifier uses indirect vector control in the
inner current control loop, whereas the direct vector control method is used for the inverter
current controller

Figure 10.34 Control block diagram for double PWM converter with induction
generator[20]
Vector control permits fast transient response of the system. Intelligent controls, such
as a fuzzy-logic-based vector control, can be used to enhance three important characteristics
in this system [17]:
1) Adaptive searching of the best generator speed command to track the maximum
extractable power from the wind (by controller C1);
2) Improving the generator efficiency by reducing generator rotor flux when the
optimum generator speed set-up is attained in steady-state (by controller C2); and
3) Robust control of the speed loop to overcome possible shaft resonances due to wind
gusts and vortex (by controller C3).
For a particular wind velocity (Vw), there is an optimum setting of generator speed (
*
r ). The speed loop control generates the torque component of induction generator current,
balancing the developed torque with the load torque. The variable-voltage variable-frequency
power from the super-synchronous induction generator is rectified and pumped to the DClink. The DC-link voltage controller regulates the line power Po (i.e., the line active current)
so that the link voltage always remains constant. A feed-forward power signal from the
induction generator output to the DC voltage loop prevents transient fluctuation of the link
voltage [20]
With the DC-link bus voltage fixed, the induction generator can be excited with ids, as
the rated flux is established in the induction generator. Next, a speed reference is commanded

67

to rotate the turbine with the minimum turbine speed required to catch power from wind; the
controller C3 is always working. The flow of wind imposes a regenerative torque in the
induction generator. Of course, the power generation is not optimum yet, but the slip
frequency becomes negative and the power starts to flow from the turbine towards the line
side. As the power starts to flow to the line side, the DC-link voltage loop control can be
gradually commanded to a higher value than the peak value of the line-side voltage (typically,
75% higher). After the DC-link voltage is established at its new higher value, the system is
ready to be controlled by controllers C1 and C2[20].
The IGBT PWM-bridge rectifier that supplies lagging excitation current to the
induction generator also rectifies the variable-frequency variable-voltage power generated by
the induction generator. The DC-link power is inverted to 50 Hz and fixed voltage AC is fed
to the utility grid at unity power factor through an IGBT PWM inverter. The line-power
factor can also be programmed to lead or lag by static volt-amperes reactive (VAR)
compensation, if desired. The generator speed is controlled by indirect vector control, with
synchronous current and torque control in the inner loops. The induction generator flux is
controlled in open loop by control of the ids current, but under normal conditions, the rotor
flux is set to the rated value for fast transient response. The line-side converter is also vectorcontrolled using direct vector control and synchronous current control in the inner loops. The
output power Po is controlled to control the DC-link voltage Vd. Since an increase of Po
causes a decrease of Vd, the voltage loop error polarity has been inverted.
New in industrial application is direct drive machines[21]. The advantage of direct-drive
concepts is the omission of the gearbox, by utilising a generator that can operate at the
rotational speed of the rotor. This has benefits in two separate areas:
for small and very small turbines, where rotor rotational speed is relatively high
anyway, with the aims of saving cost and achieving very low maintenance. Microturbines (< 3 kW)are in the range 0 to 3 kW approximately, and are characterised by
the almost exclusive use of direct drive permanent magnet generators (PMG) for
battery charging. Small wind turbines (< 30 kW) with direct drive generators of 2 to
10 kW rating have been developed by Bergey, Westwind.. All use permanent magnet
generators.
for very large turbines, where rotational speeds are low and torques very high, principally to
achieve cost reduction through a simplified integrated design. Direct drive machines always
take advantage of the opportunity for variable-speed operation allowed by the AC/DC/AC
converter. Most direct drive systems would be difficult to implement in fixed-speed operation
as they lack the compliance of induction machines. Turbines with direct drive systems range
from 200 kW to 1.5 MW (production and prototype machines). Both permanent-magnet and
wound-rotor designs are used. Current direct drive designs include;
o Enercon E30 (200 kW), E40 (500 kW) and E66 (1.5 MW): synchronous
generator, wound rotor, concept proven through extensive operating
experience.
o Lagerwey LW45/750 (750 kW) at prototype stage, synchronous generator,
wound rotor.
o Genesys 600, Tacke TW1500: proposed machines, permanent magnet
excitation rather than a wound rotor, and reduced generator diameter.
o Aeolus III (3 MW): proposed development of existing AEOLUS II wind
turbine, not yet built, using permanent magnets.
o PMG designs (prototypes tested up to 120 kW): ferrite magnets, elegant
modular design

68

10.3 Scalar and vector control for electric generators

Control methods for electric motors/generators can be divided into two main
categories depending of what quantities they control. The control algorithm Scalar Control
controls only magnitudes, whereas the algorithms Vector Control control both magnitude and
angles. These two main methods can be further divided into a number of different methods
depending of their functionality, an overview over different control methods can be seen in
figure 10.35

Figure 10.35Variable frequency control methods

10.3.1 Scalar control V/f
Scalar control as the name indicates is due to magnitude variation of the control
variables only, and disregards any coupling effect in the machine. In the Kloss relation, the
maximum torque is dependent on the square ratio voltage / frequency and the critical slip is
proportional to the report rotor resistance/ frequency. The voltage of the machine can be
controlled to control the flux and the frequency or slip can be controlled to control torque.
However, flux and torque are also functions of frequency and voltage respectively.
In the V/Hz control, the speed of induction motor is controlled by the adjustable
magnitude of stator voltages and frequency in such a way that the air gap flux is always
maintained at the desired value at the steady-state. Sometimes this scheme is called the scalar
control because it focuses only on the steady state dynamic. It can explain how this technique
works by looking at the simplified version of the steady state equivalent circuit as seen in
figure 10. 36

Figure 10.36 Simplified Steady-State Equivalent Circuit of Induction Motor

69

According to in this figure, the stator resistance (Rs) is assumed to be zero and the
stator leakage inductance ( Ls ) is embedded into the (referred to stator) rotor leakage
inductance ( Lr ) and the magnetizing inductance Lm, which is representing the amount of
air gap flux, is moved in front of the total leakage inductance ( L Ls Lr ). As a result, the
magnetizing current that generates the air gap flux can be approximately the stator voltage to
frequency ratio. Its phasor equation (for steady-state analysis) can be seen as:
Us
Im
j L m
If the induction generator operated in the linear magnetic region, the Lm is constant. And the
phasor equation can be shown in terms of magnitude as:
Us

Im
m
2f s Lm
Lm
Us
From the last equation, it follows that if the ratio
remains constant for any
fs
change in s, then flux remains constant and the torque becomes independent of the supply
Us
frequency. In order to keep m constant, the ratio of
would also be constant at the
fs
different speed. As the speed increases, the stator voltages must, therefore, be proportionally
Us
increased in order to keep the constant ratio of
.However, the frequency (or synchronous
fs
speed) is not the real speed because of a slip as a function of the motor load. At no-load
torque, the slip is very small, and the speed is nearly the synchronous speed.
Us
Thus, the simple open-loop
(or V/Hz) system cannot precisely control the speed with a
fs
presence of load torque. The slip compensation can be simply added in the system with the
speed measurement. The closed-loop V/Hz system with a speed sensor can be shown in
Figure 10.37.

Figure 10.37Stator Voltage vs Frequency Profile under V/Hz Control[22]

Basically, there are three speed ranges in the V/Hz profile [22] as follows:
At 0-fc Hz, a voltage is required, so the voltage drop across the stator resistance
cannot be neglected and must be compensated for by increasing the Us. So, the V/Hz profile
is not linear. The cut off frequency (fc) and the suitable stator voltages may be analytically
computed from the steady-state equivalent circuit with Rs 0.
At fc-frated Hz, it follows the constant V/Hz relationship.

70

 At higher frated Hz, the constant Us/fs ratio cannot be satisfied because the stator
voltages would be limited at the rated value in order to avoid insulation breakdown at stator
windings. Therefore, the resulting air gap flux would be reduced, and this will unavoidably
cause the decreasing developed torque correspondingly. This region is usually so called field
weakening region. To avoid this, constant V/Hz principle is also violated at such
frequencies.
Since the stator flux is constantly maintained (independent of the change in supply
frequency), the torque developed depends only on the slip speed. Both open and closed-loop
control of the speed of an AC induction motor can be implemented based on the constant
V/Hz principle. Normal scalar control of induction machine aims at controlling the
magnitude and frequency of the currents or voltages but not their phase angles.
The overall system implementing a 3-ph induction motor V/Hz drive implementation
to control an AC induction motor using the microcontrollers type TMS320F2803x is
depicted in [19]. The induction motor is driven by the conventional voltage-source inverter.
The TMS320F2803x is being used to generate the six pulse width modulation (PWM) signals
using a space vector PWM technique, for six power switching devices in the inverter.
For induction generator, the turbine speed is measured, and a target power is
determined based on the maximum Cp for that speed. The required frequency for the turbine is
then determined based on the machine characteristics. This is then fed as a command
frequency into a standard V/Hz drive. The wind turbine rotor is commanded to spin at the
optimum rpm in relation to the wind. A computer controller senses the wind and determines
what frequency the stator voltage should be for optimum operation of the turbine. With a DC
current link, two sets of switching modules are set up, one either side of the DC link (one to
control the frequency to the stator and the other to control the frequency of the lines output to
the grid).One set of switches may be controlled based on wind speed input, and another set
may be controlled based on the grid frequency.
10.3.2Vector control
The technique called vector control can be used to vary the speed of an induction
motor over a wide range. In the vector control scheme, a complex current is synthesized
from two quadrature components, one of which is responsible for the flux level in the motor,
and another which controls the torque production in the motor.
Essentially, the control problem is reformulated to resemble the control of a DC
motor. Vector control offers a number of benefits including speed control over a wide range,
precise speed regulation, fast dynamic response, and operation above base speed.
An induction motor can be modelled most simply (and controlled most simply)using
two quadrature currents. These two currents called direct (Id) and quadrature (Iq) are
responsible for producing flux and torque respectively in the motor. By definition, the Iq
current is in phase with the stator flux, and Id is at right angles. Of course, the actual voltages
applied to the motor and the resulting currents are in the familiar three-phase system. The
move between a stationary reference frame and a reference frame, which is rotating
synchronous with the stator flux, becomes then the problem. The second fundamental idea is
that of reference frames. The idea of a reference frame is to transform a quantity that is
sinusoidal in one reference frame, to a constant value in a reference frame, which is rotating
at the same frequency. Once a sinusoidal quantity is transformed to a constant value by
careful choice of reference frame, it becomes possible to control that quantity with traditional
proportional integral (PI) controllers.
Any current-carrying coil, magnetic field appears. The magnetic field acts in the
direction of the coil axis magnetization. If this axis is attached to a unit vector, then the
magnetic flux that occurs only on this axis can be associated with a vector.

71

 a0 a0L i L i

Consider the case of three windings, as shown, driven by three phase currents. A
current in a winding phase, always corresponds to a spatial direction vector fixed by the
magnetic axis of the winding,. The size and direction of this vector is determined by the
instantaneous value of the current in time. Considering all three stator phases of a three phase
induction machines appear three magnetic flux vector spaces A , B and C and shifted
in space with angles 2 / 3 , respectively, and the size and direction of each corresponds to
the instantaneous current in the corresponding phase. If the currents in the three phases of the
stator are instantaneous values i a , ib and ic then the spatial vectors that are i a ia a 0 ,
i b a ib and. i c a 2 ic respectively. Where :
ae

2
3

1
3;
j
2
2

a e

4
3

2
3

1
3
j
2
2

Space vector direction is given by the windings position in space (machine).Since the phase
currents vectors are well defined position in space, they can be express with complex
numbers. By adding, defines the stator current space vector with the following relationship:
is

2
ia a ib a 2 ic
3

Space phasor in the plane of the axes of magnetization (a,b,c) is characterized by the way i s
and the argument t ,which is the angular frequency currents and projections of
this phasor by magnetization axis represents the instantaneous phase currents.
In the complex plane dq associated with the real axis in the axis of magnetization coil AX
space phasor is has two components:
i s id jiq 2 I e j (t )

With

id prd (is )

and

iq prq (is )

From the phasor definition and its complex conjugate

i s id jiq

i *s id jiq

Results:
i s i *s

id Re

i s i *s

iq Im

a)-abc frame
b) -d-q frame
Figure 10.38Stator Current Space-Vector and Its Projection
The mathematical expressions of the space phasor in the magnetization axis system (a,b,c)
and in the complex plane d-q , we can determine the dependency relationships among
instantaneous phase currents and d-q currents:

72

2
i s (ia aib a 2ic ) id jiq
3
2
i *s (ia a *ib (a 2 )* ic ) id jiq
3

2 ia

Or in matrix

expressions

i s 2 1 a a 1 j id
i* 2 ib 1 j i
s 3 1 a a i q
c

With the notations:

1 a a2

1 a a

j
1
j
,
1 j

i abc

ia
ib ,
ic

i dq id

The relation between components d-q and instantaneous currents of phases are obtained by
inverting the matrix [ j ]

i dq j 1 2 a i abc
3

and result

2 4 i
1
cos
cos
i d 2 3 3 a
ib
i
q 3 0 sin 2 sin 4 i
3 3 c
The mathematical transformation is called Clarke transform and modifies a three
phase system to a two-phase orthogonal system (figure 10.39)

73

Figure 10.39 . Three-phase transformation into two phase windings equivalent

If the current is ia 2 I cos(t ) , the two following components id and iq are alternative
magnitudes of the form;
id

2 I cos(t )

iq

2 I sin(t )

Space phasor of the current i s id jiq i s e j into a mobile system d q

displaced with angle by fix system d-q where the phasor of the current i s is characterized
by the way is and the argument t , has the components(figure 10.38.b):
i s i d ji q

Combining these equations results i s is e j ( ) or i s i s e j e j ( ) i s e j

The relationship between the components of phasor is:
i d i d cos iq sin

i q i d sin iq cos

or

id cos sinid
i i
q sin cos q

d
, when the space phasor of the
dt
2 I sin(1t ) into d q system the

If the system axis and rotates at a speed

d-q components id 2 I cos(1t ) , iq

components are DC quantities, with angled connection.
I d

2I cos

I q

2I sin

It follows that the two components of the space phasor quantities are constant (DC)
that are reported as an axle that has the same speed of rotation space phasor. The two phases
d, q frame representation calculated with the Clarke transform is then fed to a vector rotation
block where it is rotated over an angle q to follow the frame attached to the rotor flux is
called the Park transform.
The stator phasor equations of the induction or synchronous machine, are obtained
from three equations of the phase windings by multiplying firstly with 2/3 , the second
(2/3)a , and the third to (2/3) a2 and adding the all equations.

74

2
dsa
usa Rsisa ,
3
dt
2
dsb
a usb Rsisb ,
3
dt
2 2
d
a usc Rsisc sc .
3
dt
ds
. Stator voltage phasor equation reported in the
dt
rotor system ( d q )involves performing the rotation operation of the phasor with angle
and results
d s
d
d j

u s e j Rs i s e j s e j Rs i s
j s
e
dt
dt
dt

d
Simplifying this equation with e j and noting
angular velocity of the rotor results:

In the d-q fixed frame, results u s Rs i s

dt

d s
j s
dt
Rotor voltage equations from their own system (rotor) are:
d r
u r R r i s
dt
With the equation for stator and rotor flux:
u s Rs i s

'

s ( L

3
3
'
Lm )i s Lm i r where i 's i s e j and s' s e j
2
2

This system of equations can be projected on the two axes orthogonal d-q and obtain four
scalar equation and next representation(figure10.40).

.
Figure 10.40 Model of the three-phase induction machine
The diagram in Figure 10.41 displays d-q reference frame and the relationships
between the stator voltage (Us), stator current (Is), and the rotor, stator and magnetizing flux
(r,s,m). The rotor magnetizing flux space-vector is aligned to the d -axis of the d -q
reference frame

75

Figure 10.41 Induction Motor Space-Vector Diagram[23]

The electromagnetic torque can be obtained from the power balace equation of the
machine. In , d-q frame the active power can be written:
P

3
p r (sd I sq sq I sd ) T g r
2

The electromagnetic torque, in d-q coordination system, is as following below:

Tg

3
p( sd I sq sq I sd )
2

If the control is required isd=0, then the electromagnetic torque is similar to the DC machine:
Tg

3
p(sd I sq )
2

10.3.2.1 Field-oriented control

The vector control techniques are usually also referred to field-oriented control
(FOC). The basic idea of the FOC algorithm is to decompose a stator current into flux and
torque producing components. Both components can be controlled separately after
decomposition. The structure of the motor controller is then as simple as that for a separately
excited DC motor.
Figure 10.42 shows the basic structure of the vector control algorithm for the AC
induction motor[23]. To perform vector control, it is necessary to follow these steps:
Measure the motor quantities (phase voltages and currents)
Transform them into the 2-phase system (d,q) using a Clarke transformation
Calculate the rotor flux space-vector magnitude and position angle
Transform stator currents into the d -q reference frame using a Park
transformation
The stator current torque (isq) and flux (isd) producing components are separately
controlled
The output stator voltage space vector is calculated using the decoupling block

76

 The stator voltage space vector is transformed by an inverse Park transformation

back from the d -q reference frame into the 2-phase system fixed with the stator
Using space vector modulation, the output 3-phase voltage is generated

Figure 10.42 Vector Control Algorithm Overview [23]

To achieve the goal of the induction motor control, the algorithm utilizes a set of
feedback signals. The essential feedback signals are as follows: DC-bus voltage, three-phase
stator current reconstructed from the DC-bus current and motor speed. For correct operation,
the presented control structure requires a speed sensor on the motor shaft. In the case of the
presented algorithm, an incremental encoder is used.
The fast control loop executes (executed at 100 sec) , two independent current
control loops. They are the direct and quadrature-axis current (isd,isq) PI controllers. The
direct-axis current (isd) is used to control rotor magnetizing flux. The quadrature-axis current
(I sq) corresponds to the motor torque. The current PI controllers outputs are summed with
the corresponding d and q axis components of the decoupling stator voltage. Thus we obtain
the desired space-vector for the stator voltage, which is applied to the motor. The fast control
loop executes all the necessary tasks to be able to achieve an independent control of the stator
current components.
The slow control loop executes speed (executed at 1msec) , and field-weakening
controllers and lower priority control tasks. The PI speed controller output sets a reference for
the torque producing quadrature axis component of the stator current (isq). The reference for
flux producing direct axis component of the stator current (isd) is set by the Field-Weakening
controller. The Adaptive Circuit performs correction on the rotor time constant to minimize
the error of the rotor flux position estimation.
10.3.2.2 Direct torque control
The most modern technique is direct torque and stator flux vector control method
(DTC). It has been realized in an industrial way by ABB. This solution is based both on field
oriented control (FOC) as well as on the direct self-control theory.The basic structure of
direct torque and stator flux vector control[24] is presented in figure 10.43

77

Figure 10.43 Basic structure of direct torque and flux vector control
Starting with a few basics in a variable speed drive the basic function is to control the
flow of energy from the mains to a process via the shaft of a motor. Two physical quantities
describe the state of the shaft: torque and speed. Controlling the flow of energy depends on
controlling these quantities. In practice either one of them is controlled or we speak of
"torque control" or "speed control". When a variable speed drive operates in torque control
mode the speed is determined by the load. Torque is a function of the actual current and
actual flux in the machine. Likewise when operated in speed control the torque is determined
by the load.
The idea is that motor flux and torque are used as primary control variables which is
contrary to the way in which traditional AC drives control input frequency and voltage, but is
in principle similar to what is done with a DC drive, where it is much more straightforward to
achieve. In contrast, traditional PWM and flux vector drives use output voltage and output
frequency as the primary control variables but these need to be pulse width modulated before
being applied to the motor. This modulator stage adds to the signal processing time and
therefore limits the level of torque and speed response time possible from the PWM drive.

78

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79

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