A Control Strategy for Output Maximisation of a PMSG-Based Variable-Speed Wind Turbine

Abstract

This paper presents a control strategy for output maximisation of a direct drive permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)-based small-scale variable-speed wind turbine. The control topology uses a single switch three-phase switch-mode rectifier and the generator torque, and power is controlled by controlling the switch duty cycle of the switch. To extract maximum power from the wind, the torque reference of the PMSG is calculated from generator speed and wind turbine characteristics. From this torque reference, a current reference is calculated using measured DC link voltage and generator speed. The current error is then used to control the duty cycle of the switch-mode rectifier and thereby torque of the generator is regulated through a proportionalintegral regulator. The operational characteristics of the generating system are investigated under varying wind speed through extensive simulations and the results confirm that the proposed control strategy can maximise the output power under fluctuating wind speeds.

Key Words:

• Output maximization
• permanent magnet synchronous generator
• switch-mode rectifier
• variable speed wind turbine

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M.E. Haque

Md. Enamul Haque graduated in electrical and electronic engineering from Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT), Rajshahi, Bangladesh, in 1995. He received his MEngg degree in electrical engineering from the University Technology, Malaysia, in 1998, and PhD degree in electrical engineering from The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, in 2002. He has worked as an Assistant Professor for King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates University for four years. He is currently working as a lecturer in power engineering in the School of Engineering, University of Tasmania, Australia. His research interests include distributed and renewable power generation, hybrid RAPS, power electronics applications in power systems, DSP-based variable speed generator/motor drives, and power quality issues.

K.M. Muttaqi

Kashem M Muttaqi received his PhD degree from Multimedia University, Malaysia, in 2001. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia. He is a member of the Integral Energy Power Quality and Reliability Centre. He was associated with the School of Engineering, University of Tasmania, as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer from 2003 to 2007, and with the Queensland University of Technology as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow from 2000 to 2002. Previously, he worked for Multimedia University as a Lecturer for three years. His special fields of interests include distributed generation, renewable energy, distribution system automation, power system planning, intelligent grid, power quality and reliability.

M. Negnevitsky

Michael Negnevitsky received his BSEE (Hons) and PhD degrees from the Byelorussian University of Technology, Minsk, Belarus, in 1978 and 1983, respectively. Currently, he is Chair Professor in Power Engineering and Computational Intelligence and Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Power Systems at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. From 1984 to 1991, he was a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Byelorussian University of Technology. After arriving in Australia, he was with Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. His interests are power system analysis, power quality and intelligent systems applications in power systems. Michael is a Chartered Professional Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Member of CIGRE AP C4 (System Technical Performance) and AP C6 (Distribution Systems and Dispersed Generation), Australian Technical Committees.