Optimizing Energy Production for Wind Turbines Operating in Variable Wind Speed Conditions

Many wind power plants, especially those consisting of wind turbines with a horizontal axis and high installed power - in order of a few MW per WT - operate in locations with wind conditions that significantly vary in character over time. This entails their operation outside the maximum power point, i.e., a lower electricity production than the turbine could produce. The authors propose an optimized operation which, is based on determining the dependence of the maximum power, and implicitly the optimal mechanical angular speed, on wind speed. Starting from knowledge of the time variation of the angular mechanical speed for the no-loaded operation condition, and based on the equation of motion, we can determine the maximum power of the wind turbine. The implemented strategy based on which we computed the coordinates of the maximum power point was confronted with experimental values measured in an existing onshore wind farm, operating on the Romanian black seacoast. Based on the obtained results, the authors can identify the optimal area, from an energetic point of view, for a wind turbine operating in complex wind speed conditions.