Nonlinear control of wind turbine with optimal power capture and load mitigation

The main control objectives associated with the variable speed wind turbine is to extract maximum power at below rated wind speed (region 2) and to regulate the power at above rated wind speed (region 3). This paper proposes a nonlinear framework to achieve the above two control objectives. The paper discusses about the application of an integral sliding mode control (ISMC) in region 2 and a fuzzy based proportional integral (PI) control in region 3. Same ISMC is adopted for the stable switching between operating regions (transition region 2.5) and the control input maintains the continuity at the instant of switching. Lyapunov stability criterion is used to prove the stability of ISMC. The controllers are tested for different wind speed profiles with different turbulence component. Finally the performances of the proposed controllers are tested with nonlinear Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence WT model and the results are compared with the existing baseline + PI controllers.