Synergies of wind turbine control techniques

Abstract

During the next decades, the market for Small-Scale Wind Turbines (SSWT) is expected to grow, due to a shift in micro-generation and current trends in distributed energy resources. Meanwhile in the last two decades, there were significant developments in control techniques for Large-Scale Wind Turbines (LSWT). Nonetheless, there exist synergies in Wind Turbine (WT) technologies from small to large scale. The reduction of WTs׳ operation and maintenance costs directly correlate to technical and economic matrices, which is crucial to the success of the wind energy industry. The aim of this paper is to compare WT control techniques from small to large scales levels, identifying common challenges and developments to achieve intelligent control algorithms at the small-to-medium scale levels. Therefore, the potential impact of increasing the competitiveness of wind energy in urban and suburban areas is explored and discussed through affordable and feasible levelised wind electricity costs.