A combined electro-mechanical control technique for dynamic voltage regulation of a stand-alone wind turbine generator

This paper introduces a computer-based model and dynamic simulation of a combined electro-mechanical control technique for a stand-alone wind turbine generator system. The presented combined control technique consists of three closed loops for speed regulation, nacelle alignment and dynamic load voltage regulation. Speed regulation is achieved by adjusting the pitch angle of the turbine blades. This pitch angle control has been widely investigated for wind turbines equipped with synchronous generators and grid-connected wind turbines equipped with induction generators, but not for stand-alone turbines equipped with induction generators as presented in this paper. A new dynamic model for the wind turbine is presented by adopting the aerodynamic equations that represent the differential power generated by each element (segment) of the turbine blade; then, the trapezoid rule (TRAP (n)) is applied to calculate the total generated power. The results are presented to prove the effectiveness of the presented electro-mechanical control technique.

Keywords: aerodynamics, induction generators, power electronics, voltage control, wind power generation, electromechanical control, voltage regulation, wind turbines, wind energy, renewable energy, modelling, simulation, speed regulation, nacelle alignment