Optimizing Performance of Wind Turbines

Variable loads along the drive-train are attributed to frequent failures of gears, bearings, and other components. Wind parameters cannot be controlled and therefore any turbine load-reducing remedies must be established based on proper insights into the wind-turbine interactions. A novel control concept to performance optimization of wind turbines is presented. This proposed concept is based on analysis of the turbine status reflected in the SCADA data. Modern computational techniques are used to optimize performance of a wind turbine from tree basic perspectives: drive-train, power output, and power quality. The proposed approach demonstrates that gains in the metrics representing the three perspectives and the corresponding control goals can be significantly improved for any wind turbine. The solution is applicable different turbine types operating in different wind regimes, e.g., winds of different speeds and variability. Simple and transparent parameters allow an operator to determine a balance between the operations and maintenance, technical, business objectives. The proposed modeling framework was embedded in software. The software tool has been tested on the data collected from 1.5 MW wind turbines.