Robust Wind Speed Estimation and Control of Variable Speed Wind Turbines

In this work, a robust control scheme for variable speed wind turbine system that incorporates a doubly feed induction generator is described. The sliding mode controller is designed in order to track the optimum wind turbine speed value that produces the maximum power extraction for different wind speed values. A robust sliding mode observer for the aerodynamic torque is also proposed in order to avoid the wind speed sensors in the control scheme. The controller uses the estimated aerodynamic torque in order to calculate the reference value for the wind turbine speed. Another sliding mode control is also proposed in order to maintain the dc-link voltage constant regardless of the direction of the rotor power flow. The stability analysis of the proposed controller under disturbances and parameter uncertainties is provided using the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed control scheme provides a high-performance turbine speed control, in order to obtain the maximum wind power generation, and a high-performance dc-link regulation in the presence of system uncertainties.