A New Course on Control of Wind Power Generation Systems Using Analysis and Simulation

This paper presents a new graduate-level course that is designed, developed, and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to further advance the education for wind power technologies. The objective of this course is to provide an in-depth coverage of control of electric drives for wind turbines with an emphasis using state-of-the-art modeling and simulation techniques. Various generator types and their associated controlling techniques for wind power generation are reviewed in the course. The course begins with a thorough discussion of the performance requirements for electric power generating equipment controls in wind turbine applications. Analyses and simulations of electric generators combined with their controls are incorporated into the class curriculum to provide students with a thorough understanding of the achievable generating system performance. The course capitalizes on the student's prior knowledge in drives, power electronics, and electric machines to develop highly skilled, advanced degree graduates that can readily become researchers or developers of next-generation wind power generation systems.