Wind Turbine Generator Speed Regulation Enabled by Ground‐Level Air Pressure Measurements

ABSTRACT

Modifying wind turbine blade pitch, generator torque and nacelle yaw are conventional strategies used to track the power curve and mitigate structural loads in variable wind conditions. However, the effectiveness of these control methods is often limited by delays in responding to rapidly changing atmospheric conditions, as they typically rely on measurements taken at or near the turbine. In this paper, we investigate the integration of preview control with pre‐existing feedback control in a wind turbine operating in above‐rated wind speeds, focusing on generator speed regulation via blade pitch adjustments. We assume the preview controller to be provided with real‐time forecasts of the incoming wind by a Kalman filtering algorithm that tracks atmospheric variations via ground‐level pressure sensors and nacelle‐mounted anemometers. These forecasts serve as a preview of the wind upstream of the turbine, allowing a feedforward controller to pre‐emptively adjust turbine settings in anticipation of incoming wind fluctuations.