Wind Turbine Controller Decentralized Power Regulation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current wind farm control structures rely on a hierarchical system with a central farm controller, which fails to consider individual turbine characteristics and saturation limits, leading to complex stability analysis and potential control signal saturation.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine controller that receives measured and reference values at the point of common coupling, allowing it to regulate local properties to achieve global reference values, eliminating the need for a central farm controller and enabling local control modes to prevent saturation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a hierarchical control structure with a central farm controller is used, then centralized regulation of wind farm active power generation and voltage is achieved, but the control structure becomes complex and stability analysis becomes very complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized farm controller into multiple distributed turbine controllers, each capable of independent control decisions. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure and reduces the complexity of the overall control structure while maintaining centralized regulation capability through coordinated control of multiple independent units.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having turbine controllers receive commands from a central farm controller, the patent inverts the control flow by enabling turbine controllers to directly receive reference values and measured values from the grid and autonomously regulate their output. This inversion simplifies the control structure by eliminating the intermediate hierarchical layer.
2Ease of manufacture
If a central farm controller provides uniform set-points to all turbines, then simplified control implementation is achieved, but individual turbine characteristics and saturation limits are not considered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables each turbine controller to independently assess its own local conditions including grid circuit characteristics, wind exposure, reactive and active power capabilities, and saturation status. Each controller adjusts its control parameters locally based on its specific situation rather than receiving uniform set-points, thereby achieving both simplicity and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Each turbine controller autonomously determines its own operating parameters by monitoring its local state and comparing it with reference values. The controllers self-adjust their output without requiring detailed individualized commands from a central controller, achieving adaptability through self-service while maintaining implementation simplicity.
3Reliability
If hierarchical control loops are used, then layered control management is achieved, but response time is delayed and stability analysis becomes very complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the control decision-making function from the hierarchical structure and places it directly at the turbine controller level. By removing the intermediate farm controller layer, control signals are generated and executed in a single step rather than through multiple hierarchical loops, significantly reducing response time while maintaining structured control management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the traditional hierarchical control architecture by enabling bottom-up autonomous control where turbine controllers directly respond to grid conditions without waiting for top-down commands. This inversion eliminates the time delays inherent in hierarchical signal transmission while preserving structured control through coordinated autonomous decisions.
4Ease of manufacture
If uniform voltage set-points are provided to all turbines, then simplified voltage control is achieved, but control signal saturation may occur due to ignoring individual turbine saturation limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables each turbine controller to monitor its own saturation limits and local voltage conditions, allowing it to adjust its voltage regulation strategy locally. This local awareness prevents control signal saturation by ensuring that voltage set-points are feasible for each specific turbine while maintaining overall voltage control simplicity through decentralized autonomous adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of voltage control parameters at each turbine based on real-time saturation status and operating conditions. Rather than using fixed uniform set-points, each turbine dynamically adapts its voltage control strategy to its current state, preventing saturation while maintaining control simplicity through autonomous real-time adjustment.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A wind turbine controller (10) for controlling a power production of a wind turbine (1) is provided. The wind turbine (1) is arranged within a wind farm (100) being coupled to a public power network (6) via a point of common coupling (2). The wind turbine controller (10) comprises a receiving unit (11) for receiving a measured value of a property of the wind farm (100) taken at the point of common coupling (2) and for receiving a reference value for the property, and a control unit (13) for controlling the power production of the wind turbine (1) by regulating a local property of the wind turbine (1) based on the received measured value of the property and the received reference value of the property such that the measured value of the property of the wind farm (100) taken at the point of common coupling (2) corresponds to the reference value for the property. Using such a controller, the control structure of the wind turbine may be decentralized instead of hierarchical, leading to a distributed control structure. Such a structure is simplified as compared to a hierarchical structure and leads to an improved behavior at the single wind turbines for example with respect to response time. Further, a wind turbine comprising such a controller, a wind farm and a method for controlling a power production of a wind turbine are provided.