Power converters play a vital role in the integration of wind power into the electrical grid. Variable-speed wind turbine generator systems have a considerable interest of application for grid connection at constant frequency. In this paper, comprehensive simulation studies are carried out with...

Wind energy is a prominent area of application of variable speed generators operating on the constant grid frequency. A modern wind energy system of this type consists of a surface mounted permanent-magnet generator with a frequency converter, which allows variable speed operation. The maximum...

In the growing electricity supply industry and open access market for electricity worldwide, renewable sources are getting added into the grid system. This affects the grid power quality. To assess the impact on grid due to wind energy integration, the knowledge of electrical characteristic of...

This paper presents a study on the design of linear model predictive control (MPC) for wind turbines, with a focus on the controller's tuning tradeoffs. A continuously linearized MPC approach is described and applied to control a 3-bladed, horizontal axis, variable speed wind turbine. The tuning...

This paper provides an overview of the design requirements for medium-sized wind turbines intended for use in a remote hybrid power system. The recommendations are based on first-hand experience acquired at the University of Massachusetts through the installation, operation, and upgrade of a...

The interest for the exploitation of the offshore wind energy is growing in Europe, where man land use is very high resulting in strong limitation to the installation of onshore wind farms. The today offshore operating wind power is 12 MW, with two wind farms in Denmark and one in Netherlands;...

This paper examines the wind speed pattern and the available wind power at Basotu, Tanzania. Wind speed data for two different sessions reveals that the windy season, is from June to November, with October being the windiest month. The average monthly wind power from June to November is at least...

Scaled wind turbine experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the beneficial effect of closely-spaced lateral wind turbine configurations on the performance of a wind farm. Two outer wind turbines were spaced apart with a particular gap distance and the longitudinal setback of a central...

A new concept in wind power harnessing is described which significantly outperforms traditional wind turbines of the same diameter and aerodynamic characteristics under the same wind conditions and it delivers significantly higher output, at reduced cost. Its first innovative feature is the...

Of all the renewable energy sources (RESs)―except direct solar heat and light―wind energy is believed to have the least adverse environmental impacts. It is also one of the RES which has become economically affordable much before several other RESs have. As a result, next to biomass (and...