WIND POWER PRINCIPLE

2.1 INTRODUCTION:
Wind power is a good renewable, clean and free source of energy for power production.
The air flow on earth is created due to the atmospheric air mass as a result of variation of air
pressure. This difference in air pressure results due to difference in solar heating of different
parts of the earths surface.
The kinetic energy of air in motion is known as wind. This wind energy when comes in
contact with wind turbine blades, it exert force on the blades which makes the turbine to
rotate. This means wind turbine converts the kinetic energy of air into mechanical energy
which is further used to convert it into electrical energy by means of a generator coupled to it.
Generally wind turbines have much lower operating speed than the rated speed of electric
generator. To compensate this mismatch gear box is used in between turbine and generator
i.e. generator is coupled to turbine through this gear box.
The whole arrangement of gear box, power generator and other auxiliary devices like drive
train and brake assembly are kept in a housing called Nacelle. Nacelle along with turbine hub
connected with turbine blades is kept at certain height from the ground by the help of tower
to maintain certain ground clearance for safe operation. In general for medium and large
turbine the height of the tower is generally chosen such that it will slightly greater than the
rotor diameter. But for the smaller turbines, towers are much taller as compared to their rotor
diameter.

Fig 2.1 Components Present Within Nacelle

2.2 WIND POWER TOPOLOGY:

Many types of wind turbines are available commercially. These are classified as shown in
the figure below

Fig 2.2 Wind Turbine Classification

The turbines can also be classified as (I) Thrust Operated Turbine and (II) Aerodynamics
operated Turbine. Dutch type, Multi blade type and the Savonious type turbines came under
former category while high speed propeller type and the Darrieus type turbines are
categorised under the latter one. Thrust operated type turbines produce more torque, hence
used for water pumping process. But for generation of electricity we need turbines which
produce high speed. Turbines which are having aerofoil type blades produce very high speed
due to aerodynamic principle. Among these all high speed aerodynamic type turbines
propeller type turbines are most efficient ones. Hence these are generally used for wind
power generation purpose.

Wind
power generation can be operated in two types of modes:
1. Fixed Speed Mode
2. Variable speed mode.
In fixed speed mode, the rotor is bound to run at one fixed speed to to get the desired
output frequency. Any change in wind speed will reflect as a change in frequency of output.
They are designed to give maximum efficiency at one particular speed. The main
disadvantages of this type operation are that it consumes reactive power in uncontrolled
manner, it exerts mechanical stress and it has limited power quality control.
In variable speed operation, maximum efficiency can be achieved at wind range of wind
speeds. These are used to give constant out frequency operation even if the input wind speed
changes. But in these topology uses complicated electrical circuits to feed power to the grid.
Base on the above two modes of operation, the electrical generator are connected in four
ways, which are classified as Type-A, Type- B, Type- C and Type- D system.

2.2.1 Type-A: Fixed Speed System

Type- A topology is a fixed speed topology. It generally employees squirrel cage induction
generator (SCIG) or synchronous generators for its operation. The stator circuit, in this type
of topology is directly connected to grid (Sometimes through a soft starter to minimize inrush
current). When SCIG is used, an additional capacitor bank is required to feed its reactive
power demand. But when fluctuation in wind speed occurred (application of sudden wind
gust), this fluctuation, changes the speed of the rotor and hence the fluctuation in output
frequency and voltage fluctuation can be seen, which is highly undesirable for electrical
loads. This will also draw uneven amount of reactive power from grid, which increases
voltage fluctuation in grid. So this topology required a stiff grid for its operation.

2.2.2 Type-B: Limited Variable Speed System

This type of topology uses a wound rotor induction generator (WRIG) whose rotor circuit is
connected to a variable resistor bank. The generator is also directly connected to grid through
a soft starter and also use capacitor bank for its reactive power demand. Whenever wind
speed changes, by adjusting the rotor resistance value the output frequency can be maintained
fixed. The range of the speed control depends on the value of this resistor bank. The main

disadvantage of this type topology is that, it dumps the extra power to the resistor which
dissipated as heat loss. The speed range for this topology is 0 to 10% above the synchronous
speed.
2.2.3 Type-C: Variable Speed with Partial Scale Frequency Converter System
This configuration is also known as doubly fed induction generator topology, which use a
WRIG for its operation. In this topology, stator side is directly connected to grid whereas
rotor circuit is connected to grid through a bidirectional frequency converter. Typical rating
of this converter is 20 to 30% of the actual machine rating. The speed range for this topology
is -40% to +30% around the synchronous speed, that means it can generated power in both
super synchronous and sub synchronous mode. Its main disadvantage is that it uses slip rings
which may lead to sparking problem as the machine rating increases.

FIG 2.3 Wind Generator Integration Topologies

2.2.4 Type-D: Variable Speed with Full Scale Frequency Converter System
This topology uses SCIG, Synchronous Generator or Permanent magnet
synchronous generator (PMSG) for this operation. In this topology the stator of the
generator is connected to grid through a full scale frequency generator. The frequency
converter also performs the task of reactive power compensation.

1.1.2

Components of Wind Turbines

The major components of a wind turbine system are shown in Figure 1.3 (drawing
not to scale). The turbine is formed by the blades, the rotor hub and the connecting
components. The drive train is formed by the turbine rotating mass, low-speed shaft,

Figure 1.3 HAWT showing mechanical, electrical, and control components [5]
gearbox, high-speed shaft, and generator rotating mass. It transfers turbine mechanical
output power up to the generator rotor where it is converted to electrical power. The wind
strikes the rotor on the horizontal-axis turbine, causing it to spin. The low-speed shaft

transfers energy to the gear box, which steps up in speed and rotates the high speed shaft.
The high speed shaft causes the generator to spin, hence generating electricity. The yaw
system is used to turn the nacelle so that the rotor faces into the wind. The low speed
shaft contains pipes for the hydraulics system that operates the aerodynamic brake [4].
The high speed shaft is equipped with an emergency mechanical brake which is used in
case of failure of the aerodynamic brake [4].

The generator converts mechanical power of wind into electrical power. Usually
the generator produces power at low voltage and the transformer steps up the generator
output voltage to connected grid voltage. The transformer may be placed at the bottom of
the tower [4] or in the nacelle for losses minimization [2].
Other components of wind turbine system are the anemometer to measure wind
speed and a wind vane which measure the wind direction. Wind speed information is
used to determine when the wind speed is sufficient to start up the turbine and when, due
to high winds, the turbine must be shut down for safety whereas wind direction
measurement is used by the yaw-control mechanism which helps in orienting the rotor to
the wind direction [5]. Electric fans and oil coolers are used to cool the gearbox and
generator.

1.1.3

Operating Region of the Wind Turbine

The operating region of a variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbine can be

illustrated by their power curve, which gives the estimated power output as function of
wind speed as shown in Figure 1.4. Three distinct wind speed points can be noticed in
this power curve.
Cut-in wind speed: The lowest wind speed at which wind turbine starts
to generate power.
Rated wind speed: Wind speed at which the wind turbine generates the
rated power, which is usually the maximum power wind turbine can produce.

MPPT Operation Mode

Blade Pitch Control Operation Mode

Power [PU]

1.2
1
0.8
Cut-in Speed

Rated Speed

0.6

Cut-out Speed

0.4
0.2
0

10

12
14
16
18
Wind speed [m/sec]

20

22

24

Figure 1.4 Power curve of a variable speed wind turbine

Cut-out wind speed: Wind speed at which the turbine ceases power
generation and is shut down (with automatic brakes and/or blade pitching) to
protect the turbine from mechanical damage [2].

1.1.4

Control of Wind Turbine System

With the increase in wind turbine size and power, its control system plays a major
role to operate it in safe region and also to improve energy conversion efficiency and
output power quality. The main objectives of a wind turbine control system are [6]:
Energy capture: The wind turbine is operated to extract the maximum amount
of wind energy considering the safety limits like rated power, rated speed.
Power quality: Conditioning the generated power with grid interconnection
standards.

(b) Full Scale Converter Generator

(a) Doubly Fed Induction Generator

(c) Squirrel Cage Induction Generator

Figure 1.5 Electrical generators used in commercial wind turbines

The various control techniques used in wind turbines are pitch control, yaw
control and stall control. But in the modern variable speed-variable pitch wind turbines,
pitch control is the most popular control scheme [7]. In this control scheme, the
horizontal axis wind turbine blades are rotated around its tower to orient the turbine
blades in upwind or down wind direction.

1.1.5 Wind Turbine Generators

Wind Turbine Generators in the current market can be classified into three types
according to their operation speed and the size of the associated converters as below:
Fixed Speed Wind Turbine (FSWT)
Variable Speed Wind Turbine (VSWT) with
Partial Scale Frequency Converter Wind Turbine (PSFCWT)
Full Scale Frequency Converter Wind Turbine (FSFCWT)
Variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbines utilizing DFIG, also called PSFCWT,
are the most popular in the wind power industry especially for multi-megawatt wind

turbine generators [8]. The DFIG consists of a wound rotor induction generator
with the stator side connected directly to the constant frequency three-phase grid and the
rotor windings connected to grid through a bidirectional back-to-back ac/dc/ac IGBT
voltage source converter as shown in Figure 1.5 (a). Its output power can be controlled
via pitch control as well as back to back converter control.
The term Doubly Fed refers to the fact that the voltage on the stator is
applied from the grid and the voltage on the rotor is induced by the power converter. This
system allows a variable-speed operation over a large, but restricted, range [9]. The
converter compensates
frequencies

the

difference

between

the

mechanical

and

electrical

by injecting a rotor current with a variable frequency [9]. Hence, the

operation and behavior of the DFIG is governed by the power converter and its
controllers.
The power converter consists of two converters, the Rotor Side Converter (RSC)
and the Grid Side Converter (GSC), which are controlled independently of each other.
Table 1.1 Summary of features of FSWT and FSFCWT generators [6]
FSWT

FSFCWT

Structure

Figure 1.5(c)

Figure 1.5(b)

Machines

Squirrel Cage Induction Generator

Permanent Magnet Synchronous

Generator

Simple construction
Merits

Demerits

Low cost

Complete control of active and

reactive powers

Low maintenance

High efficiency

No control on real/reactive power

Additional cost of power electronics

Less efficiency

Limited fault ride through capability

Poor power factor

High mechanical stress on turbine

The RSC controls the active and reactive power by controlling the rotor current components,
while the GSC controls the DC link voltage and DFIG terminal voltage or power factor of the
overall DFIG system by controlling amount of reactive power exchanged with the power grid.
Stator side always feeds active power to the grid whereas active power is fed into
or out of the rotor depending on the operating condition of the drive. In supersynchronous speed, power flows from the rotor via the converter to the grid, whereas it
flows in the opposite direction in sub-synchronous speed of the drive.
Advantages of DFIG wind turbine system:
It has ability to control reactive power and decouple control of active and
reactive power by independently controlling the rotor excitation current. So
power factor control can be implemented in this system [10].
DFIG is wound rotor induction machine which is simple in construction and
cheaper than the synchronous machine. In DFIG, converter rating is typically
25-30 % of total system power which results reduced converter cost, less
harmonics injection to the connected grid and improved overall efficiency
(approx. 2-3% more than full scale frequency converter) of the wind turbine
system [10].
In the case of a weak grid, where the voltage may fluctuate, the DFIG can
produce or absorb an amount of reactive power to or from the grid within its
capacity, to regulate the terminal voltage.
High energy conversion efficiency.
Smaller power rated DFIG can be used with higher power rated wind turbine.

Disadvantages of DFIG wind turbine system:

Inevitable need of slip rings and gear box which requires frequent
maintenance [9].
Limited reactive power capability [8] and fault ride through capability [6].