CHAPTER 3

CONSTANT SPEED AND VARIABLE

SPEED WIND POWER GENERATION

3.1 Introduction

In order to appreciate the need for exclusive design of generators for

constant and variable speed wind power generation the concept, characteristics,

benefits and limitations of both constant speed and variable speed system have to

be understood.

3.2 Wind turbine characteristics

A wind turbine is characterized by its power-speed characteristics. The

amount of power Pt that a turbine is capable of producing depends upon its

dimensions, blade geometry, air density and the wind velocity. For a horizontal axis

wind turbine it is given by

Pt 0.5 C p A v 3 (3.1)

where (kg/m3) is the air density, A(m2) is the swept area (cross sectional area) of

the turbine and v is the wind velocity (m/s). Cp a dimensionless power coefficient

basically depends on the tip speed ratio which equals the ratio of tip speed over

wind speed and the so called blade pitch angle (deg).

An idealized Cp Vs curve, taken from [51], is shown in figure 3.1.

It is observed that the power coefficient is maximum for a particular tip speed

ratio. This implies that for any wind velocity there is a particular rotor rpm for which

maximum power transfer takes place. The prime motivation for variable speed

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control of WECS is to track this rotor speed with changing wind velocity so that Cp is

always maintained at its maximum value. Using the C p curve of figure 3.1, the

power-speed characteristics are plotted by using Matlab program. In the following

sections, these power curves are shown in figure 3.3 and 3.5.

Cp
Optimum operating
Cp(max) point

0.5

0.4

0.2

0 2 5 10 opt 15

Figure 3.1 C p Vs characteristics (Power coefficient curve)

The most important parameter that will influence the feasibility of WECS is

the amount of wind energy available at potential sites. However the total annual

energy output and the timing of electricity production depend on the WECS design

for which variable shaft speed and constant shaft speed operations are two major

possibilities. It can be shown that the operation mode of the resulting system

affects the total annual energy output and hence the cost of generation to a great

extent.

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3.3 Constant speed wind energy conversion system

Most of the existing large systems in operation are built or planned to run at

constant speed in synchronization with a utility grid. Until recently, this has usually

been achieved by utilizing mechanical control means such as blade pitch angle

control, yaw control, coning etc.

An alternative means of achieving the same result is to couple the turbine to

a cage rotor induction generator through a gear box and the stator of the generator

is tied to the three phase grid through a transformer [figure 3.2]. The grid frequency

therefore, determines the mechanical speed of the generator/turbine shaft, the slip

being nominally of the order of 5%. In constant speed system the power is mostly

limited using the classic stall principle. If the wind speed increases above the rated

wind speed, the power coefficient inherently reduces, so that the power produced

by the turbine stays near the rated power.

Sometimes active stall is used : negative pitch angles are used to limit the

power. There are a few variants:

1. Pole changing generators with two stator windings with different numbers of

pole pairs so that turbine can operate at two constant speeds in order to

increase energy yield and reduce audible noise and

2. generators with electronically variable rotor resistance in order to reduce

mechanical loads by making larger speed variations possible : the semi

variable speed wind turbine.

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 WIND
Grid
TURBINE

GEAR THREE PHASE

BOX TRANSFORMER

SQUIRREL CAGE
INDUCTION
GENERATOR
COMPENSATING
CAPACITORS

Figure 3.2 Constant speed with turbine with asynchronous squirrel cage
induction generator

A cage rotor induction generator when connected to the grid draws the

magnetizing current from the line thereby reducing stator power factor. Under low

wind conditions, when the active power generation is low, the machine mainly

draws reactive power from the grid and the stator power factor is extremely poor.

The lagging reactive power is compensated by connecting capacitor banks across

the line. Depending on the active power generation, these capacitors are either cut-

in or cut-out to regulate the average power factor of the generator between 0.95

and 1. But the random switching of the capacitor banks gives rise to undesirable

transients in the line currents and voltages. In a grid, where hundreds of such

machines are installed, these capacitive switchings can cause severe over voltage

problems.

3.3.1 Constant speed characteristics

For a wind rotor with radius r, (3.1) can be rewritten as :

1
P C p (, )r 2 v 3 (3.2)
2
The pitch angle is defined as the angle between the cord of the blade and

the plane of the wind rotor.

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 As an example of figure (3.3) shows the dependency of the power coefficient

Cp on the tip speed ratio and the blade pitch angle for a specific blade. For

this blade maximum energy capture from the wind is obtained for 0 and just

above 6. To keep Cp at its optimal value for varying wind speed, the rotor speed

should be proportional to the wind speed.

For onshore turbines, the blades are designed such that the optimal tip

speed is limited to roughly 70 m/s. This is done because the blade tips cause

excessive acoustical noise at higher tip speeds. For offshore turbines, the noise

does not play an important role and higher speeds are used leading to slightly

higher optimal value of Cp.

0.5
0 deg

0.4

0.3
20

Performance 0.2
Coefficient
(Cp)

0 50
10
0
15
0

-0.1 25
0

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Tip Speed
Ratio ()

Figure 3.3 Power coefficient Cp as a function of tip speed ratio and pitch
angle for a specific blade [52]

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 The constant speed system eventhough, apparently simple and reliable,

severely limits the quantity of power generated and has several associated

disadvantages that require major attention.

3.4 Variable speed wind energy conversion system

In order to withdraw as much energy as possible from the often strongly

fluctuating wind, the WECS should be able to follow these variations so that

maximum power can be obtained for most of the time. This is especially important

at lower wind speeds which occur frequently. The power coefficient C p of wind

turbines varies with the tip speed ratio as shown in figure 3.1. Maximum power

transfer is achieved by ensuring operation where the turbine is most efficient ( opt ) .

In the recent past, the extra cost and complexity of a variable speed

generator and/or a variable ratio transmission, and structural dynamics

complications of having to operate over a range of speeds have been considered as

the main drawbacks in variable speed systems. It is now possible to obtain

constant voltage constant frequency operation with variable shaft speed turbines at

high power levels, utilizing static power converters.

The rotor speed of the generator can be made to vary with the changing wind

velocity so that the turbine always operates with maximum Cp, within the power

and speed limits of the system. The power limit is governed by the choice of the

generator rating, while the speed limit is dictated by the mechanical design of the

turbine and the tower. Selection of the generator can be judiciously made based on

the average wind velocity during the peak wind season. To exploit the power

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transfer capability adequately, turbines operating at higher speeds are being built;

some of them being commercially available as well.

With variable wind speed, the torque needs to be controlled actively to reach

the proper operating point. The kinetics of the system is governed by the following

equation.

dw
J Taero Tem (3.3)
dt

where J is the effective inertia of the rotating system. T aero is the aerodynamic

torque developed by the wind rotor (prime for transformation through gear box) and

Tem is the electromagnetic torque. If Tem is larger than the available wind torque

Taero then the turbine will eventually stop. If T em is too small, the turbine will speed

up to a tip speed ratio above the optimal value, resulting in a reduction of the

power coefficient Cp and the torque Taero. Eventually the turbine will reach a stable

operating point that is above the optimal speed and below the optimal torque. For

the variable speed turbines the control is mostly based on space vector control,

where the set point for torque is mostly derived from the power curve. From the

torque the needed stator current vector can be calculated if the air gap flux vector is

known. With direct drive generators the rotor position is measured and used to

determine the position of the air gap flux. Based on this position a voltage space

vector is applied at the terminals that will results in required stator current vector.

Because the control is based on space vectors, automatically the applied voltage

will have the proper electrical frequency.

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 10000

900 Maximum Power Point

0
800 V8
0
700 V7
0 V6
600 V5
0
Turbine 500
V4
Power 0
(KW) 400 V3
0
300
0 V2

200 V1
0
100
0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Figure 3.4 Turbine power-generator variable shaft speed characteristics

3.4.1 Variable speed generation technologies

There are three different technologies that are applied today in variable

speed WECS and we will analyse the benefits and drawbacks of their operation.

3.4.1.1 Variable speed synchronous generator will full scale power converter
connected in the stator winding (VSSG)

RECTIFIER INVERTER

DC LINK

WIND
TURBINE

EXCITER

SYNCHRONOUS
GENERATOR
Figure 3.5 WECS with variable speed synchronous generator

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 Figure 3.5 shows a scheme of the normal structure of WECS. Synchronous

generator can be a salient pole field winding machine (FW) or permanent magnet

machine(PM). A power rectifier connected with a power inverter through a DC link,

composes the power converter. The power rectifier is placed between the stator

winding of generater and the DC link and the power inverter is connected to the

network. This convertor may be formed both, by a diode rectifier with a boost

chopper converter connected to a PWM power inverter, or by two bidirectional

PWM-VSI connected back to back. Normally, the control system of the rectifier

regulates the electromagnetic torque of the machine, and the control system of the

inverter regulates the real and reactive power delivered from the system to the

network. Synchronous generator has some advantages because this

electromagnetic machine provides its own magnetization energy. It is a self excited

machine.

- The efficiency of this machine can be high, because it may employ the whole

stator current in the electromagnetic torque production.

- The pole pitch of this machine can be smaller than that of the induction

machine. This is because the airgap width and the geometry of the poles

difficult the leakage flux existence. This could be very important

characteristic in order to obtain low speed multiple machines. The

employment of the salient pole FW machine and the PM machine, have

different characteristics:

- The main benefit of the employment of a salient pole FW machine is that it

allows the direct control of the power factor of the machine. And

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 consequently, the stator current may be minimized at any operation

circumstances. Nevertheless the existence of a winding current in the rotor

may cause some drawbacks. First, it creates difficulties in the dynamics of

mechanical balance of the rotor mass. Second, an additional power

electronic rectifier is needed in order to control the field winding current.

Third, the field circuit present a low value of the electrical time constant, and

this can provide instabilities, in case of external disturbances.

- There are two main benefits of the PM machine. This machine doesnt need

any rotor winding circuit, and consequently the problems due to this cause

disappear. Another important benefit is that very small pole pitch may be

used in this machine, thus the size of a low speed multipole machine may be

reduced. Nevertheless some drawbacks appears in the operation of this

generator. Because this machine hasnt damper windings and some

problems of stability in case of external overloads and transients can appear.

On the other part, high temperatures in the machine during overloads or

short-circuits can cause irreversible demagnetization of the permanent

magnet material. Another drawback is that the rectifier must be oversized

since the permanent magnet system cant control the voltage nor the power

factor of the machine. Therefore the rectifier must be capable to do this task.

Both types, PM or FW synchronous generators with full scale power

converters, seem to be a very good option to employ in variable speed WECS.

Special interest has the use of variable speed multiple direct driven synchronous

generator (VSDDSG) to avoid the use of gear box between the wind turbine and

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 electrical generator. In addition, specific cost reduction of VSDDSG machines is

very sensitive to the size of the machine. These reasons recommended the use of

VSDDSG in large size units of 1 to 5 MW.

The rated power of large WECS recommends the use of medium voltage

instead low voltage in the stator winding of generator. This could be serious

drawback for the power converter design, because in order to regulate the active

and reactive power generated, the converter must be sized for 1 or 2 times of the

WECS rated power. This implies a very hard conditions of operation for the

switching components of the converter because of the limited rated values of the

voltage and current of these components. For this reason the switching frequency

must be reduced and in consequences the power quality is also reduced [54].

3.4.1.2 Variable speed doubly fed wound rotor asynchronous generator with
partial scale power converter connected in the rotor winding [VSWRIG]

WIND
TURBINE
THREE PHASE
TRANSFORMER

WOUND ROTOR
INDUCTION
GENERATOR THREE THREE
PHASE PHASE
FRONT END INVERTER
CONVERTER
DC LINK

Figure 3.6 WECS with variable speed doubly fed wound

rotor asynchronous generator

Figure 3.6 shows a scheme of the normal structure of WECS. Normally, this

system uses a slip rings would rotor asynchronous machine with a three phase

winding in the rotor circuit. The stator winding is directly connected to the network,

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while the rotor winding is connected to the network through a bi-directional power

converter formed by two PWM-VSI bidirectional bridges connected back to back

through a DC link. Normally the control system of the PWM bridge connected in the

rotor winding regulates the electromagnetic torque and supplies the reactive power

to maintain the magnetisation of the machine, and the control system of PWM

bridge connected to the network side, regulates the real and reactive power

delivered from the system to the network.

The use of the VSWRIG system instead of a VSSG in large WECS, implies

some advantages and drawbacks.

- The main benefit of this system is that only a fractional power size converter

(typical size is of the generator power rating) is enough in order to regulate

the system in the overall operation range. This is because the converter only

need to control the slip power of the rotor, and the converter rated power

depends directly on the established limits of the shaft speed range with respect

to the synchronous speed.

- Another advantage is the robustness and stable response of this machine

facing against external disturbances. The torque-slip dependence of this

machine around the stable operation points produces some damper effects in

the dynamics.

- This machine must be excited by the supply system because it cant produce

the magnetic energy by itself. The main drawbacks of this machine are related

to this last reason. This implies that its operation characteristics are very

strongly dependent on the network characteristics (stability, grid short-circuit

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 power etc). This situation can be improved if an efficient control algorithm is

applied in the converter control device in order to maintain the magnetizing

power in the machine at any time.

- On the other part, this generation system always needs a gear box between the

generator and the turbine because multipole asynchronous machine will require

a big size. In order to reduce the magnetizing current requirement, this

machine has the minimum possible air gap. But this facilitates the existence of

leakage flux. In order to reduce this effect, the phase winding of each pole pair

must be distributed in a large number of slots. A great length in the pole pitch is

needed and in consequence this implies a large size for multipole machines.

The double fed asynchronous generator is a very good alternative to employ

in variable speed wind energy conversion system. This has very important

advantage which is that it needs only a small converter of fractional power size to

control the generation system operation. This allows the use of high switching

frequency in the rotor converter of medium voltage wind energy conversion systems

and, in consequence, the use of this system, means that a high quality of power can

be supplied to the network.

3.4.1.3 Variable speed squirrel cage induction generator with full scale power

converter connected in the stator winding (VSSCIG)

THREE
THREE PHASE
PHASE FRONT END
WIND
INVERTER
TURBINE CONVERTER

DC LINK THREE PHASE

TRANSFORMER

SQUIRREL
CAGE
INDUCTION
GENERATOR

Figure 3.7 WECS with variable speed squirrel cage induction

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generator
 Figure 3.7 shows a scheme of a normal structure of variable speed WECS

with squirrel cage induction generator. The stator winding is connected to the

network. Though a bidirectional power converter formed by two PWM-VSI bi-

directional bridges connected back to back through a D.C link. The control system

of the PWM bridge connected to the stator winding regulates the electromagnetic

torque and supplies the reactive power to maintain the magnetization of the

machine and the control system of PWM bridge connected to the network side,

regulate the real and reactive power delivered from the system to the network.

This generation system has important advantage over the others connected

to the supply system.

- The squirrel cage asynchronous machine is the most economic and robust

a.c. generator. The active electrical part of its rotor is formed by a robust

uninsulated aluminium bar conductors, embedded in the magnetic iron core,

without external connections. This structure hasnt maintenance issues.

The main drawback of this generation system is the startor side converter

must be oversized 30-50% with respect to the rated power of the generator, in order

to supply the magnetizing requirement of the machine.

3.5 Comparison of constant speed and variable speed wind energy

conversion systems
Characteristics, static operation, advantages and disadvantages of constant

speed and variable speed wind energy conversion systems are compared.

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3.5.1 Characteristics

Cut in Wind Rated Nominal Cut out Wind

speed Wind Speed speed

1.2
1 2 3 4
1.0 Maximum Rotor
Efficiency
No
Generation
No
0.8 Generation

Nominal Power,
Active Reduced Rotor
Power 0.6 Efficiency
(pu)

0.4

0.2

0 Wind speed (m/s)

Figure 3.8 Typical power curve of a constant speed stall (dotted)

and a variable speed (solid) controlled wind turbine [53]

The relation between wind speed and generator power is given by the power

curve as depicted in figure 3.6. The power curve can be calculated from (3.2)

where the appropriate value of and should be applied. In the power curve,

four operating regions can be distinguished, that apply both to constant speed and

variable speed turbines.

1. No power generation due to low energy content of the wind.

2. Less than rated power generation. In this region, optimal aerodynamic

efficiency and energy capture is aimed at. The wind speed at the boundary

of region 2 and 3 is called the rated wind speed.

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 3. Generation of rated power, because the energy content of wind is enough.

In this, region, the aerodynamic efficiency must be reduced, because

otherwise the electrical system would become overloaded.

4. No power generation. Because of high wind speeds the turbine is closed

down to present damage.

3.5.2 Static operation

For constant speed turbines with grid connected squirrel cage induction

generator the static operation is automatically reached, while for variable speed

turbines active control of the torque is needed.

3.5.3 Advantages of the variable speed WECS with respect to the constant

speed WECS

1. For the same turbine WECS variable speed allows higher power capture,

thereby increasing the annual energy output significantly.

2. The variable speed WECS is capable of providing the required reactive power

of the induction generator from the dc bus capacitance. The front end

converter is controlled to operate at unity power factor at the grid interface

irrespective of the active power generation. With the converter switching at

high frequency the currents injected in to the line are sinusoidal without any

undesirable transients.

3. Variable speed operation also allows a standard single winding machine to be

used over the entire operating range of the turbine. Hence the machine cost is

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 reduced and the complexities associated with winding-switchovers are

eliminated.

4. In variable speed WECS since torque of the machine is controlled (either by

field-orientation or direct torque control) the generator cannot be overloaded at

any point of time beyond the prescribed limits.

3.5.4 Disadvantages of variable speed WECS with respect to the constant

speed WECS

1. The power rating of the generator in the variable speed scheme should be five

times greater than that of the optimal version of the constant speed case.

2. Operating the generator over a wide speed range may result in a considerable

reduction in the overall efficiency of the energy conversion process.

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