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Published in IET Renewable Power Generation

Received on 24th January 2007
Revised on 23rd August 2007
doi: 10.1049/iet-rpg:20070044

ISSN 1752-1416

Overview of different wind generator systems

and their comparisons
H. Li* Z. Chen
Institute of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark
*H. Li is also with the College of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, People’s Republic of China
E-mail: zch@iet.aau.dk

Abstract: With rapid development of wind power technologies and significant growth of wind power capacity
installed worldwide, various wind turbine concepts have been developed. The wind energy conversion system is
demanded to be more cost-competitive, so that comparisons of different wind generator systems are necessary.
An overview of different wind generator systems and their comparisons are presented. First, the contemporary
wind turbines are classified with respect to both their control features and drive train types, and their strengths
and weaknesses are described. The promising permanent magnet generator types are also investigated. Then,
the quantitative comparison and market penetration of different wind generator systems are presented. Finally,
the developing trends of wind generator systems and appropriate comparison criteria are discussed. It is shown
that variable speed concepts with power electronics will continue to dominate and be very promising
technologies for large wind farms. The future success of different wind turbine concepts may strongly
depend on their ability of complying with both market expectations and the requirements of grid utility
companies.

1 Introduction global market for the electrical power produced by

Wind energy is the world’s fastest growing renewable
energy source. The average annual growth rate of wind
turbine installation is around 30% during last 10 years
[1, 2]. At the end of 2006, the global wind electricity-
generating capacity increased to 74 223 MW from
59 091 MW in 2005 (Fig. 1). By the end of 2020, it is
expected that this figure will have increased to well over
1 260 000 MW, which will be sufficient for 12% of the
world’s electricity consumption [3, 4]. Fig. 2 depicts the
total wind power installed capacity for some countries
from 1985 to 2006. The countries with the highest total
installed capacity are Germany (20 622 MW), Spain
(11 615 MW), the USA (11 603 MW), India
(6270 MW) and Denmark (3136 MW). According to
global wind energy council report [2], Europe continues
to lead the market with 48 545 MW of installed
capacity at the end of 2006, representing 65% of the
global total, and the European wind energy association
has set a target of satisfying 23% European electricity
needs with wind energy by 2030. It is clear that the
wind turbine generators has been increasing steadily,
which directly pushes the wind technology into a more
competitive area.
The development of modern wind power conversion
technology has been going on since 1970s, and the rapid
development has been seen from 1990s. Various wind
turbine concepts have been developed and different
wind generators have been built. Three types of
typical generator systems for large wind turbines exist
[3, 5 – 7]. The first type is a fixed-speed wind turbine
system using a multi-stage gearbox and a standard
squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG), directly
connected to the grid. The second type is a variable
speed wind turbine system with a multi-stage gearbox
and a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), where
the power electronic converter feeding the rotor
winding has a power rating of 30% of the generator
capacity; the stator winding of the DFIG is directly
connected to the grid. The third type is also a variable
speed wind turbine, but it is a gearless wind

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Figure 1 World cumulative wind power installed capacity
(1980 – 2006)
turbine system with a direct-drive generator, normally a
low-speed high-torque synchronous generator and a
full-scale power electronic converter are used.
Additionally, a variety of innovative concepts of wind
turbines appear, for example, an interesting alternative
may be a mixed solution with a gearbox and a smaller
low speed permanent magnet synchronous generator
(PMSG) [7–9], because direct-drive wind generators
are becoming larger and even more expensive for
increasing power levels and decreasing rotor speeds.
The main aim of this paper is to provide an overall
perspective on various types of existing wind generator
systems and possible generator configurations, and
some comparisons of different wind generator systems
in literatures and in the market. The paper is organised
as follows. First, it gives an overview of various wind
turbine concepts with respect to both their control
ability and drive train types, including possible types of
direct-drive permanent magnet (PM) machines. Then
the quantitative comparisons of different wind
generator systems based on some available technical
data from literatures are presented, including their
market penetration and share. Finally, the trends and
Figure 2 Total cumulative wind power installed capacity for
different countries (1980 – 2006)
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developments of wind generator systems are presented,
and suitable comparison criteria of different wind
generator systems are also discussed.
2 Wind turbine concepts and
generator types
Referring to the rotation speed, wind turbine concepts
can be classified into fixed speed, limited variable
speed and variable speed. For variable speed wind
turbines, based on the rating of power converter
related to the generator capacity, they can be further
classified into wind generator systems with a partial-
scale and a full-scale power electronic converter. In
addition, considering the drive train components, the
wind turbine concepts can be classified into geared-
drive and direct-drive wind turbines. In geared-drive
wind turbines, one conventional configuration is a
multiple-stage gear with a high-speed generator; the
other one is the multibrid concept which has a single-
stage gear and a low-speed generator [8]. In this
section, according to contemporary wind turbine
concepts, the basic configurations and characteristics
of different wind generator systems are described.
2.1 Fixed speed concept
The fixed speed wind generator systems have been used
with a multiple-stage gearbox and a SCIG directly
connected to the grid through a transformer as
illustrated in Fig. 3. Because the SCIG operates only in a
narrow range around the synchronous speed, the wind
turbine equipped with this type of generator is often
called the fixed-speed wind generator system. This is
the conventional concept applied by many Danish wind
turbine manufacturers during the 1980s and 1990s, that
is, an upwind, stall-regulated, three-bladed wind turbine
concept using an SCIG [3, 10], so that it is also referred
to as ‘Danish concept’. Since the SCIG always draws
reactive power from the grid, during the 1980s this
concept was extended with a capacitor bank for reactive
power compensation. Smoother grid connection was
also achieved by incorporating a soft-starter.
Furthermore, a pole-changeable SCIG has been used,
which leads two rotation speeds. Some manufacturers,
such as Micon (currently merged into Vestas), Bonus
(currently Siemens), Made and Nordex, have products
based on this concept.
Figure 3 Scheme of a fixed speed concept with SCIG system
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The well-known advantages of SCIG are it is robust,
easy and relatively cheap for mass production. In
addition, it enables stall-regulated machines to operate
at a constant speed when it is connected to a large
grid, which provides a stable control frequency.
Although the stall control method is usually used in
combination with the fixed speed SCIG for power
control, the active stall control or pitch control have
also been applied.
The disadvantages of SCIG for the fixed speed wind
turbine concept are as follows [3, 10 – 15].
† The speed is not controllable and variable only over
a very narrow range, in which only speeds higher than
the synchronous speed are possible for generator
operation. Because a higher slip means a higher
dissipation of electrical energy in the rotor bars, for
example, the slip is normally not higher than 1% for
1 MW wind turbine [11]. Additionally, the fixed
speed concept means that wind speed fluctuations are
directly translated into electromechanical torque
variations, this causes high mechanical and fatigue
stresses on the system (turbine blades, gearbox and
generator) and may result in swing oscillations
between turbine and generator shaft. Also the
periodical torque dips because of the tower shadow
and shear effect are not damped by speed variations
and result in higher flicker. Furthermore, the turbine
speed cannot be adjusted with the wind speed to
optimise the aerodynamic efficiency. Although a
pole-changeable SCIG has been used in some
commercial wind turbines, it does not provide
continuous speed variations.
† A three-stage gearbox in the drive train is necessary
for this wind turbine concept. Gearboxes represent a
large mass in the nacelle, and also a large fraction of
the investment costs.
† It is necessary to obtain the excitation current from
the stator terminal of SCIG. This makes it impossible
to support grid voltage control. In most cases,
capacitors are connected in parallel to the generator
to compensate for the reactive power consumption.
2.2 Limited variable speed concept
The limited variable speed concept with a multiple-stage
gearbox is also known as the Optislip concept, which has
been applied by the Danish manufacturer Vestas since
the mid 1990s [10, 11]. This wind turbine concept
uses a wound rotor induction generator (WRIG) with
variable rotor resistance by means of a power
electronic converter and the pitch control method, as
shown in Fig. 4. Presently, manufacturers of Vestas
and Suzlon have products based on this concept.
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Figure 4 Scheme of a limited variable speed concept with
WRIG system (Optislip)
The stator of WRIG is directly connected to the grid,
whereas the rotor winding is connected in series with a
controlled resistor. Variable-speed operation can be
achieved by controlling the energy extracted from the
WRIG rotor; however, this power must be dissipated
in the external resistor. With the increase in variable
speed range, a higher slip means a high power
extracted by the rotor, and the lower generator
efficiency, so that the rating of the resistor must also
be higher. Therefore the dynamic speed control range
depends on the size of the variable rotor resistance,
and the energy extracted from the external resistor is
also dumped as heat loss in the controllable rotor
resistance. A typical limited variable speed range is
less than 10% above the synchronous speed [3, 10,
12]. Additionally, the slip rings may be avoided, for
example, the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas built
the power converter and resistor on the rotor,
the control signals are transmitted to the rotating
electronics by an optical coupling. Furthermore,
reactive power compensation and a soft-starter are
also required for this concept.
2.3 Variable speed concept with a
partial-scale power converter
This configuration is known as the DFIG concept, which
corresponds to a variable speed wind turbine with a
WRIG and a partial-scale power converter on the
rotor circuit, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The stator is
directly connected to the grid, whereas the rotor is
connected through a power electronic converter. The
power converter controls the rotor frequency and thus
the rotor speed. This concept supports a wide speed
range operation, depending on the size of the
frequency converter. Typically, the variable speed
range is +30% around the synchronous speed [3,
10 – 13]. The rating of the power electronic converter
is only 25 –30% of the generator capacity, which
makes this concept attractive and popular from an
economic point of view. There are many
manufacturers, such as Vestas, Gamesa, Repower,
Figure 5 Scheme of a variable speed concept with DFIG
system
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Nordex, using this concept in the market. The largest
capacity for the commercial wind turbine product
with DFIG has been up to 5 MW from Repower.
Compared with the Optislip concept, the rotor
energy, instead of being dissipated, can be fed into the
grid by the power electronic converter. Moreover, the
power converter system can perform reactive power
compensation and smooth grid connection, for
example, the grid-side converter can control its
reactive power, independently of the generator
operation; this allows the performance of voltage
support towards the grid. However, the DFIG system
has the following disadvantages [3, 10, 12, 15].
† A multi-stage gearbox is still necessary in the drive
train because the speed range for DFIG is far from a
common turbine speed of 10 – 25 rpm. A gearbox is
inevitable to have some drawbacks, such as heat
dissipation from friction, regular maintenance and
audible noise.
† The slip ring is used to transfer the rotor power by
means of a partial-scale converter, which requires a
regular maintenance, and maybe result in machine
failures and electrical losses.
† Under grid fault conditions, on the one hand, large
stator currents result in large rotor currents, so that
the power electronic converter needs to be protected
from destroy; on the other hand, large stator peak
currents may cause high torque loads on the drive
train of wind turbines.
† According to grid connection requirements for wind
turbines, in case of grid disturbances, a ride-through
capability of DFIG is also required, so that the
corresponding control strategies may be complicated.
2.4 Variable speed direct-drive concept
with a full-scale power converter
This configuration may correspond to a variable speed
wind turbine with a direct-drive generator connected
to the grid through a full-scale power converter. The
most important difference between geared drive wind
turbines and direct-drive types is the generator rotor
speed. The direct-drive generator rotates at a low
speed, because the generator rotor is directly
connected on the hub of the turbine rotor. To deliver
a certain power, the lower speed makes it necessary to
produce a higher torque. A higher torque means a
larger size of the generator. Therefore for direct-drive
generators, the low speed and high torque operation
require multi-poles, which demand a larger diameter
for implementation of large number of poles with a
reasonable pitch. Moreover, for a larger direct-drive
generator, considering on the current loading and gap
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flux density limitations, a higher torque also requires
a larger machine’s volume, so that the torque density
could not be further significantly increased. To
increase the efficiency, to reduce the weight of the
active parts and to keep the end winding losses small,
direct-drive generators are usually designed with a
large diameter and small pole pitch [16, 17]. In
addition, the advantages of direct-drive wind turbines
are the simplified drive train, the high overall
efficiency, the high reliability and availability by
omitting the gearbox.
Compared with the variable speed concept with a
partial-scale power converter, the full-scale power
converter can perform smooth grid connection over
the entire speed range. However, it has a higher cost
and a higher power loss in the power electronics,
since all the generated power has to pass through the
power converter.
Basically, types of direct-drive generators used in the
market can be classified into the electrically excited
synchronous generator (EESG) and the PMSG. The
main features of EESG are described in Section 2.4.1.
The features of different topologies of PMSG are
presented in Section 2.4.2.
2.4.1 Electrically excited synchronous generator:
The EESG is usually built with a rotor carrying the
field system provided with a DC excitation. The
stator carries a three-phase winding quite similar to
that of the induction machine. The rotor may have
salient poles or may be cylindrical. Salient poles are
more usual in low-speed machines and may be the
most useful version for application to direct-drive
wind turbines. A grid connection scheme of EESG for
direct-drive wind turbines is shown in Fig. 6. The
amplitude and frequency of the voltage can be
fully controlled by the power electronic at the
generator side, so that the generator speed is fully
controllable over a wide range, even to very low
speeds. In addition, the EESG has the opportunities of
controlling the flux for a minimised loss in different
power ranges, because the excitation current can be
controlled by means of the power converter in the
rotor side. Moreover, it does not require the use of
PMs, which would represent a large fraction of the
generator costs, and might suffer from performance
loss in harsh atmospheric conditions. Therefore it is
the mostly used direct-drive generator type in the
Figure 6 Scheme of a direct-drive EESG system
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current market [14]. The typical manufacturer is
Enercon, the largest capacity of the direct-drive EESG
has been up to 4.5 MW (E-112).
Including the disadvantages of direct-drive wind
turbines compared with geared-drive wind turbines,
some disadvantages of direct-drive EESG systems can
be summarised as follows [16, 17].
† In order to arrange space for excitation windings and
pole shoes, the pole pitch has to be large enough for the
large diameter-specific design, so a larger number of
parts and windings probably make it a heavy weight
and expensive solution.
† It is necessary to excite the rotor winding with DC,
using slip rings and brushes, or brushless exciter,
employing a rotating rectifier, and the field losses are
inevitable.
2.4.2 PM synchronous generator: The scheme of a
grid-connected PMSG for direct-drive wind turbines is
shown in Fig. 7.
The advantages of PM machines over electrically
excited machines can be summarised as follows
according to literatures [16 – 23]:
† higher efficiency and energy yield,
† no additional power supply for the magnet field
excitation,
† improvement in the thermal characteristics of the
PM machine due to the absence of the field losses,
† higher reliability due to the absence of mechanical
components such as slip rings,
† lighter and therefore higher power to weight ratio.
However, PM machines have some disadvantages,
which can be summarised as follows:
† high cost of PM material,
† difficulties to handle in manufacture,
† demagnetisation of PM at high temperature.
Figure 7 Scheme of a direct-drive PMSG system
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In recent years, the use of PMs is more attractive than
before, because the performance of PMs is improving
and the cost of PM is decreasing. The trends make
PM machines with a full-scale power converter more
attractive for direct-drive wind turbines. Currently,
Zephyros (currently Harakosan) and Mitsubishi are
using this concept in 2 MW wind turbines in the
market.
PM machines are not standard off-the-shelf machines
and they allow a great deal of flexibility in their
geometry, so that various topologies may be used. PM
machines can be classified into the following types:
radial flux, the axial flux and the transversal flux,
based on the direction of flux penetration. Some basic
structures and features from literatures [16–28] are
briefly described and summarised as follows.
Radial-flux PM machines: The PMs of radial-flux machines
are radically oriented. When using radial-flux
PM (RFPM) machines for direct-drive wind turbines,
the wind generator system can operate with a
good performance over a wide range of speeds. In
manufacture, the simple way of constructing the
machine with high number of poles is gluing PMs on
the rotor surface. In RFPM machines, the length of
the machine and the air-gap diameter can be chosen
independently. If necessary, the radial-flux machine
can be made with a small diameter by using a long
machine. RFPM machines have advantages as a better
torque density than the EESG, so that some types of
RFPM machines have been discussed in a number of
literatures.
Two types of RFPM machines, the slotted surface-
mounted PM machine and the slotted flux-
concentrating PM machine, have been mostly discussed
in references [16, 23]. One rotor design with surface-
mounted magnets and one rotor design with flux
concentration are shown in Fig. 8. Compared with the
flux concentration, magnets on the rotor surface have
to have a remanent flux density higher than the
required air-gap flux density, this leads to a very simple
rotor design with a low weight.
References [16, 17, 20, 27] discussed RFPM machines
with surface-mounted magnet, which seems to be a good
choice for the design of large-scale direct-drive wind
turbines [16, 17]. RFPM machines with flux
concentration have been discussed and compared with
surface-mounted RFPM machines in [26, 29]. In
addition, Chen et al. [20] have presented an outer rotor
design for this type of generator in stand-alone
applications. Several advantages of the outer-rotor
RFPM machine were identified in this reference; for
example, compared with the inner-rotor construction,
the multi-pole structure can be easily accommodated
because of the enlarged periphery of the outer-rotor
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Figure 8 Basic configurations of RFPM machines
a Surface mounted
b Flux concentrating
drum, and therefore the total length of the magnetic path
can be reduced. As the rotor is directly exposed to the
wind, the cooling condition can be improved for the
magnets so that the resistance to temperature
demagnetisation is enhanced. Moreover, Chen et al. [19]
have also made a comparison of different PM wind
generator topologies. In addition, Hanitsch and Korouji
[21] have designed a rare-earth RFPM wind-energy
generator with a new topology, which is constructed
from two rotors and one stator with short end windings.
It can improve the performance of the machine by
reducing the weight, increasing the efficiency and
reducing the cost of active materials.
Axial-flux PM machines: The axial-flux PM (AFPM)
machine is a machine producing magnetic flux in the
axial direction, instead of the radial direction. Two
types of AFPM machines, the slotless and slotted
surface-mounted PM, have been mostly discussed in
references. Compared with RFPM machines, the
advantages of AFPM machines can be summarised as
follows:
† simple winding,
† low cogging torque and noise (in slotless machine),
† short axial length,
† higher torque/volume ratio.
However, the disadvantages of AFPM machines in
comparison with RFPM machines are as follows
[23, 27]:
† lower torque/mass ratio
† larger outer diameter, large amount of PM and
structural instability (in slotless machine)
† difficulty to maintain air gap in large diameter (in
slotted machine)
† difficulty in production of stator core (in slotted
machine).
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The possibility and potential of AFPM machines for
large-scale direct-drive wind turbines have been
discussed, and some different structures of AFPM
machines with surface-mounted PM have also been
presented in some references [19, 22, 26].
The slotless single stator double rotor is a typical
structure of slotless AFPM machines, which is often
referred to as a Torus machine, as shown in Fig. 9
[22]. The two rotor discs are made of mild steel and
have surface-mounted PM to produce an axially
directed magnetic field in the machine air gaps. The
machine stator comprises a slotless toroidally wound
strip-iron core that carries a three-phase winding in a
toroidal fashion by means of concentrated coils.
The slotless, toroidal-stator AFPM generator has been
also discussed with several advantages, such as
the lightness, the compactness, the short axial length,
the suitable integration with the engine and others
by Spooner and Chalmers [30] and Wu et al.
[31, 32], the machine’s short axial length tends to give
it a high power to weight ratio. Parviainen [26] has
presented an analytical method to perform the
preliminary design of a surface-mounted, low-speed,
slotted AFPM machine with one-rotor two-stator
configuration, as shown in Fig. 10. The performance
and construction between the low-speed radial flux
and axial flux PM machine were also compared in the
power range from 10 to 500 kW at 150 – 600 rpm [26].
Moreover, five different topologies of AFPM
machines, a double-stator slotted type, a double-rotor
slotted type, a single-sided AFPM with stator balance,
Figure 9 Slotless single-stator double-rotor AFPM
configuration [22]
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Figure 10 Slotted double-stator single-rotor AFPM
configuration [26]
a single-sided AFPM with rotor balance and a slotless
single-stator double-rotor (Torus machine), have been
investigated and compared with RFPM machines by
Chen et al. [19]. According to [19], the two-sided
AFPM machine is superior to the one-sided AFPM
machine; however, one-sided constructions use less
copper and have a lower conduction loss. The Torus
construction is simple; however, it requires more
magnet weight because of the presence of the
additional air gap for accommodating stator windings.
As the power rating increases, both the air gap and
air gap reluctance become larger, so that this
construction is more suitable for low power
rating wind generators. In addition, the potential
application of soft magnetic composite (SMC) material
applied to the low speed, direct-drive axial flux PM
wind generator was also discussed by Chen et al.
Comparative design studies were conducted on
different configuration PM generators with both
lamination core and SMC core [33].
Transversal-flux PM machines: The transverse-flux
principle means that the path of the magnetic flux is
perpendicular to the direction of the rotor rotation.
There are also some different rotor structures for this
technology, such as the rotor with single-sided surface
magnets with single-sided flux concentration and with
double-sided flux concentration. Fig. 11 shows the
configuration of a surface-mounted transverse-flux
PMSG [12]. A transverse flux PM (TFPM) machine is
a synchronous machine in nature, and it will function
in a manner similar to any other PMSG in principle.
Compared with longitudinal machines, TFPM
machines have some advantages, such as higher force
density, considerably low copper losses and simple
winding. However, the force density of TFPM
machines with large air gap may be a little high or
even low depending on the outside diameter [16, 23].
The construction of TFPM machines is much more
complicated than longitudinal flux machines.
Compared with RFPM or AFPM machines, a major
difference is that TFPM machines allow an increase in
the space for the simple windings without decreasing
the available space for the main flux, and so that the
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Figure 11 Surface-mounted transverse-flux PM structure
[16]
machines have very low copper losses. TFPM
machines can also be made with a very small pole
pitch; however, the electromagnetic structure is much
more complicated. TFPM machines have also the low
power factor, which leads to an increase in the
necessary rating of the power electronic converter.
TFPM machines have been discussed in a number of
references [16, 23, 27, 34]. References [16, 27] show
that the weight of a 55 kW TFPM machine is about
half of the total weight of an asynchronous machine
with a gearbox. TFPM machines seem to be suitable
for direct-drive applications because of the high
specific torque, although special methods of
manufacturing and assembly are required [23]. Harris
et al. [34] compared the advantages and disadvantages
of three different TFPM machine topologies, which
include a single-sided surface-mounted PM machine, a
single-sided surface-mounted PM machine with stator
bridges and a double-sided flux concentrating PM
machine [34].
2.5 Variable speed single-stage geared
concept with a full-scale power converter
In this scheme, a variable speed pitch control wind
turbine is connected to a single-stage planetary
gearbox that increases the speed by a factor of roughly
10 and a low-speed permanent-magnet generator. The
grid connection scheme of this concept is shown in
Fig. 12. This concept, which was introduced as the
Multibrid, has gained the attention because it has the
advantages of a higher speed than the direct-drive
concept and a lower mechanical component than
the multiple-stage gearbox concept. Wind turbine
Figure 12 Scheme of a single-stage drive PMSG system
with a full-scale converter
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manufacturers, such as Multibrid and WinWind, have
products based on this concept in the market.
Furthermore, the Clipper system, a single-stage
gearbox with multiple output shafts that drive a
number of medium speed, medium-torque PMSGs,
has also been introduced. Each of the generator
outputs is connected to a dedicated power electronic
converter. Currently, the Clipper system concept is
used in the market with the rated power of 2.5 MW
(four 660 kW PMSGs) [35]
2.6 Variable speed multiple-stage geared
concept with a full-scale power converter
2.6.1 PMSG system: A PMSG system with a multiple-
gearbox is used in order to reduce the generator’s
volume and improve the generator efficiency in
variable speed wind turbine concepts with a full-scale
power converter. Fig. 13 shows the grid connection
scheme of this concept.
Compared with the DFIG system, this wind
generator system has the following advantages.
† The generator has a better efficiency.
† The generator can be brushless.
† The grid-fault ride-through capability is less
complex.
And the following disadvantages:
† larger, more expensive converter (100% of rated
power instead of 30%),
† The losses in the converter are higher because all
powers are processed by the power electronic converter.
In the market, this configuration has been used in GE
multi-megawatt series.
2.6.2 SCIG system: In order to fulfill the variable
speed operation with an SCIG, an alternative
generator system that might replace the capacitor
bank and soft-starter of ‘Danish concept’ is a variable
speed multiple-stage geared SCIG with a full-scale
converter, as shown in Fig. 14.
Figure 13 Scheme of a multiple-stage geared PMSG system
with a full-scale converter
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Figure 14 Scheme of a multiple-stage geared SCIG system
with a full-scale converter
Compared with ‘Danish concept’ as mentioned
above, this concept has advantages of the flexible
control with a full-scale power, such as variable speed
operation, better performances of reactive power
compensation and smooth grid connection. However,
its disadvantage is the high cost and losses of the full-
scale converter, the efficiency of the total system
(gearbox induction generator and converter) may be
low. Presently, Siemens is using this concept with the
rated power of 3.6 MW (Bonus 107) in the market,
and the generator speed range is designed to be 595–
1547 rpm.
The decreasing cost of power electronics (roughly a
factor of 10 over the past 10 years) and the absence of
brushes may make variable speed multiple-stage
geared concepts (both PMSG and SCIG as mentioned
above) more attractive.
2.7 Other potential generator types for
different wind turbine concepts
Many other types of wind generators are also mentioned
in literatures, such as linear induction generators [36],
switched reluctance generators [37], claw-pole
generators [36]; brushless DFIGs (BDFIGs) [36, 38].
Among them, the BDFIG may be one of the most
innovative types. A grid connection scheme of the
wind turbine concept with BDFIG is shown in Fig. 15.
For this configuration, the output of the induction
generator is directly connected to the grid, and thus
the generator output frequency must be equal to the
grid frequency. The BDFIG does not need the slip
ring; however, it requires double stator windings, with
different number of poles in both stator layers. The
second stator layer generally has lower copper mass,
because only a part of the generator nominal current
flows in the second winding. This second stator
winding is connected through a power electronic
Figure 15 Scheme of a BDFIG system with a partial-scale
converter
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converter, which is rated at only a fraction of the wind
turbine rating.
The BDFIG system has the capability of realising
the variable speed operation and independently
controls the stator active and reactive power.
Compared with the DFIG system, this concept does
not require slip rings; however, the machine operation
principle and its assembly are relatively complex.
3 Comparison of different wind
generator systems
In this section, a survey of quantitative comparisons of
different wind generator systems is performed, which
includes the performance comparison and the market
penetration share.
3.1 Performance comparison of different
wind generator systems
Some comparisons of different wind generator system
have been conducted by some researchers [8–13, 17,
19, 24, 26, 39 –41]. Grauers [17] has presented a
quantitative comparison between the variable
speed direct-drive concept of the RFPM generator
system with a forced-commutated rectifier and the
commercial product of the fixed-speed concept with
SCIG. Some main parameter comparisons for two
rated power levels of 500 kW and 3 MW are
respectively, shown in Table 1.
According to [17], the outer diameter of the direct-
drive PMSG is almost two times of the conventional
geared-drive SCIG; however, the total length is two to
three times shorter than that of SCIG system
including the length of high-speed shaft. Additionly,
the direct-drive PMSG system has its average
efficiency of 2.3% and 1.6% higher than the fixed
speed SCIG system at the 500 kW and 3 MW rated
power, respectively. Because of the variable speed
operation, the direct-drive PMSG system can produce
5 –10% more energy than the fixed two-speed
concept, or 10– 15% more than the fixed single-speed
concept.
Some comparisons between the direct-drive PMSG
and the geared-drive traditional SCIG of commercial
500 kW wind turbines have been performed by
Annon. [39]. The detailed results are given in Table 2.
As it can be observed in Table 2, the annual energy
production of the direct-drive PMSG is higher than
that of the geared-drive conventional SCIG. Although
the wind turbine rotor diameter of the direct-drive
PMSG is greater than that of the geared-drive SCIG,
the total weight of the rotor and nacelle is lower; it
seems realistic to conclude that the total weight of the
two alternative systems will be of the same order.
A 1.5 MW direct-drive wind turbine system with
EESG has been compared with the DFIG system with
a multi-stage gearbox by Siegfriedsen and Böhmeke [8]
and Böhmeke et al. [40]. They concluded that the
direct-drive system would be more expensive and
heavier than the DFIG wind turbines. In addition, the
comparison between the direct-drive PMSG and EESG
shows the cost for active material of PMSG is lower.
This is mainly due to the reduced pole pitch of
PMSG, and the increased number of poles can be set
for a given diameter [16, 17, 23]. Recently, Polinder
et al. [9] have also presented a detailed comparison of
five 3 MW different generator systems for variable
speed wind turbine concepts, which are a DFIG
system with three-stage gearbox (DFIG 3G), a direct-
Table 2 Main comparison of two commercial 500 kW wind
turbines with the direct-drive PMSG and the fixed-speed
SCIG system [39]
Generators concepts PMSG SCIG
speed of wind turbines rotor, rpm 18– 38 30
speed of generator rotor, rpm 18– 38 1500
annual energy production at mean
wind speed, kWh

Table 1 Comparison of the direct-drive PMSG and the fixed- 5 m/s 615 528
speed concept of SCIG system [17] 10 m/s 2350 2189
Generators concepts PMSG SCIG PMSG SCIG wind turbine rotor diameter, m 40.3 38.2
rated power, kW 500 500 3000 3000 wind turbine weight, ton
outer diameter of 2.7 1.5 5 2.5 rotor, including hub 20.5 9.2
generator, m
nacelle 5.6 19.9
length of system (incl. 1.2 3 2 6
rotor þ nacelle 26.1 29.0
high-speed shaft in
SCIG) tower 34.0 27.8
average efficiency, % 90.7 88.4 91.6 90.0 total 60.1 56.9

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drive EESG system (EESG DD), a PM excited direct-
drive synchronous generator system (PMSG DD), a
PM excited synchronous generator system with
single-stage gearbox (PMSG 1G) and a DFIG system
with single-stage gearbox (DFIG 1G). Approximated
designs of the five different generator systems have
been presented for a given wind turbine. Main
dimensions and performances of the comparison are
presented in Table 3.
Based on the survey, the following conclusions can be
summarised.
† From the aspects of size and weight, the outer
diameter of the direct-drive wind generator is usually
larger than the geared-drive generator, but the total
length is shorter. Considering the parts of wind
turbine blade, the total weight of wind turbine
systems may have no big difference between a three-
stage geared-drive configuration and a direct-drive
PMSG solution.
† DFIG 3G is the lightest and low-cost solution with
standard components according to [9].
† For direct-drive wind turbine topologies, PMSG DD
has the highest energy yield, EESG DD appears to be the
heaviest and the most expensive solution.
† A solution with a one-stage gearbox together with a
multi-pole generator may be an interesting solution. For
example, DFIG 1G seems to be the most interesting
choice because of the highest annual energy yield
divided by cost and the lowest generator system cost
[9]. PMSG 1G has a better performance than PMSG
DD with respect to the energy yield per cost.
3.2 Market penetration of different wind
turbine concepts
Various types of wind turbines have been on the market
with different power levels. In order to present the
trends of different wind generator systems on the
market, Table 4 shows some wind turbines with a
rated power over 2 MW from different manufactures,
such as Vestas, Gamesa, GE wind, Repower, Nordex
and so on, where the wind turbine concept, generator
type, rated power and turbine rotor speed are
obtained from manufacturers’ websites [42– 54].
As it can be seen, most manufactures are using
geared-drive wind turbine concepts. The wind
turbines produced by Vestas, Gamesa, GE wind,
Repower, Nordex and Ecotecnia are using DFIG with
a multiple-stage gearbox. According to this survey, it
is clear that the wind market is still dominated by
DFIG with a multiple-stage gearbox, and the mostly
used generator type is still the induction generator

Table 3 Comparisons of five different wind generator systems [9]

Generators concepts DFIG 3G EESG DD PMSG DD PMSG 1G DFIG 1G

Stator air-gap diameter, m 0.84 5 5 3.6 3.6
Stack length, m 0.75 1.2 1.2 0.4 0.6
active material weight, ton
iron 4.03 32.5 18.1 4.37 8.65
copper 1.21 12.6 4.3 1.33 2.72
PM — — 1.7 0.41 —
total cost, kEuro 5.25 45.1 24.1 6.11 11.37
generator active material 30 287 162 43 67
generator construction 30 160 150 50 60
gearbox 220 — — 120 120
converter 40 120 120 120 40
sum of generator system cost 320 567 432 333 287
total cost (incl. margin for company costs) kWh/Euro 1870 2117 1982 1883 1837
annual energy yield, MW h 7690 7740 7890 7700 7760
annual energy yield/total cost, kW h/Euro 4.11 3.67 3.98 4.09 4.22

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Table 4 Large wind turbine concepts on the market over 2 MW

Wind turbine concept Generator Power/rotor diameter/ Manufacturer

type speed
variable speed multiple-stage concept with partial-scale DFIG 4.5 MW/120 m/ Vestas
power converter 14.9 rpm
2 MW/90 m/19 rpm Gamesa
3.6 MW/104 m/ GE Wind
15.3 rpm
5 MW/126 m/12.1 rpm Repower
2.5 MW/90 m/ Nordex
14.85 rpm
3 MW/100 m/ Ecotecnia
14.25 rpm
limited variable speed with multiple-stage gearbox WRIG 2 MW/88 m/17 rpm Suzlon
variable speed multiple-stage gearbox with full-scale SCIG 3.6 MW/107 m/13 rpm Siemens Wind
power converter Power
PMSG 2 MW/88 m/16.5 rpm GE Wind
variable speed single-stage gearbox with full-scale power PMSG 5 MW/116 m/14.8 rpm Multibrid
converter
3 MW/90 m/16 rpm Winwind
2.5 MW/93 m/ Clipper Windpower
15.5 rpm
variable speed direct-drive with full-scale power EESG 4.5 MW/114 m/13 rpm Enercon
converter
PMSG 2 MW/71 m/23 rpm Zephyros

(DFIG, SCIG and WRIG). Two companies, Multibrid
and WinWind, use PMSG with a single-stage gearbox.
Direct-drive wind turbines are used in Enercon and
Zephyros. Enercon have applied EESG, and Zepyros
have applied PMSG. According to [3], Vestas
manufacturer maintains its position as the word’s
largest manufacturer, followed by the Gamesa,
Enercon and GE Wind. The world market share at
the end of 2004 for each company is 34%, 17%, 15%
and 11%.
dominant concept at the end of 2004. Market
penetration of the SG concept (EESG or PMSG) has
altered little over 10 years, with no such dramatic
changes as observed for SCIG, WRIG and DFIG.
There is, however, a slight increasing trend over the
last 3 years (2002 – 2004). During the 10 years, the
direct-drive SG (EESG and PMSG) has ranked third
or fourth (Fig. 16).

Fig. 16 depicts the market penetration and share of

different wind generator systems based on the
recorded world suppliers’ market data over a 10-year
period (1995 –2004) [3, 55]. As it can be seen, the
fixed-speed SCIG system has decreased about 3-fold
over 10 years, from almost 70% in 1995 to almost
25% in 2004. Market penetration of the Optislip
concept (WRIG in Fig. 4) has declined since 1997 in
favour of the more attractive variable speed concept
(DFIG). The trend depicted in Fig. 16 clearly indicates
that the WRIG type is being phased out of the
market. The DFIG wind turbines have increased from
0% to almost 55% of the yearly installed wind power Figure 16 World share of yearly installed power for
over 10 years, and it clearly becomes the most different wind generator systems

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4 Trends discussion
With rapid development of wind turbine technologies,
future trends in the wind turbine industry will
probably be focused on the gradual improvement of
already known technologies, which can be summarised
as follows [3, 15, 56, 57].
† The power level of a single wind turbine will
continue to increase, because this reduces the cost of
placing wind turbines, especially for offshore wind
farms.
† Offshore wind energy is more attractive, because of
higher wind speed and more space than on shore wind
energy.
† An increasing trend is to remove dispersed single
wind turbine in favour of concentrated wind turbines
in large wind farms.
† An increasing trend in the penetration of wind power
into the power system.
4.1 Grid connection requirements
The penetration of wind power into the power system
continues to increase, which implies the situation of
the large wind farms is changing from being simple
energy sources to having power plant status with grid
support characteristics. One major challenge in the
present and coming years is the connection and
optimised integration of large wind farms into
electrical grids [3]. With increased wind power
capacity, transmission system operators (TSOs) have
become concerned about the impact of high levels of
wind power generation on power systems. To handle
large-scale integration of wind power, TSOs have
issued grid codes and grid requirements for wind
turbines connection and operation. The main issues of
grid codes can be summarised as follows [3, 10, 11]:
† active power control,
† reactive power control,
† voltage and frequency control,
† power quality, for example, flickers and harmonics,
† fault ride-through capability.
As mentioned above, the power-control capability
and the fault ride-through capability are mainly
concerned by some TSOs. Wind farms are required
to behave as conventional power plants in power
systems, such as regulating active and reactive power
and performing frequency and voltage control. And
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the fault ride-through capability is required to avoid
significant loss of wind power production in the event
of grid faults. This means wind turbines should stay
connected and contribute to the grid in case of a
disturbance such as a voltage dip. They should
immediately supply active and reactive power for
frequency and voltage recovery after the fault has
been cleared. As an example, the requirements
concerning immunity to voltage dips as prescribed by
E.On Netz, a grid operator in Northern Germany, is
shown in Fig. 17. Only when the grid voltage drops
below the curve (in duration or voltage level), the
turbine is allowed to be disconnected. When the
voltage is in the shaded area, the turbine should also
supply reactive power to the grid in order to support
grid restoration [11].
4.2 Trends of wind generator systems
According to the survey of different wind generator
systems and considering the grid connection
requirements on wind turbines, the developing trends
of wind generator systems may be summarised as
follows.
† Variable speed concept
Variable speed operation is very attractive for a
number of reasons, including reduced mechanical
stress and increased power capture. As mentioned, the
market share of the fixed speed concept has decreased
slightly, whereas variable speed wind turbine
increases. For various variable speed wind turbine
concepts, a multiple-stage geared-drive DFIG with a
partial-scale power converter is still dominant in the
current market. Compared with other variable speed
concepts with a full-scale power converter, the main
advantage of this concept is only 30% of the generated
power passing through the power converter, so that it
may have substantial cost advantages even with low-
cost power electronics in the future. However, from
the viewpoint of the fault ride-through capability, the
Figure 17 Voltage dip that wind turbines should be able to
handle without disconnection (E.On Netz)
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DFIG system has to endure large peak currents during
grid faults, an advanced protection system may be
required. On the contrary, variable speed wind
turbines with a full-scale power converter may be
more effective and less complicated to deal with grid-
related problems. Therefore variable speed wind
turbine concepts with a full-scale power converter will
become more attractive.
† Direct-drive concept
Compared with geared-drive wind generator
systems, the main advantages of direct-drive wind
generator systems are higher overall efficiency,
reliability and availability because of omitting the
gearbox. Although the size of direct-drive generators
is usually larger, it may not be a serious disadvantage
for the offshore wind energy.
† PM excited generator type
PM machines are more attractive and superior with
higher efficiency and energy yield, higher reliability
and power to weight ratio compared with electricity-
excited machines. According to the above survey of
RFPM, AFPM and TFPM machines, RFPM machines
with surface-mounted PM may be more suitable for
direct-drive PM generator types, because of allowing
the simple generator structure, good utilisation of the
active materials and also allowing the relatively small
diameter in comparison with AFPM and TRPM
machines. In the case of AFPM machines, the
disadvantages as described in Section 2.4.2, which
make the machine cost increase and manufacturing
difficult, must be solved or improved significantly.
Although TFPM machines have some advantages, such
as high-force density and simple winding with low
copper losses, the disadvantages, such as low-force
density in large air gap, complicated construction in
manufacturing and low power factor may be obvious.
However, TFPM still have potential to be used as a
direct-drive PM generator with new topology design,
since the machines are more flexible for new topologies.
Considering the performance of PMs is improving
and the cost of PM is decreasing in recent years, in
addition to that the cost of power electronics is
decreasing, variable speed direct-drive PM machines
with a full-scale power converter become more
attractive for offshore wind powers. On the other
hand, variable speed concepts with a full-scale power
converter and a single- or multiple-stage gearbox
drive train may be interesting solutions not only in
respect to the annual energy yield per cost but also in
respect to the total weight. For example, the market
interest of PMSG system with a multiple-stage
gearbox or a single-stage gearbox is increasing.
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Although the market share in the fixed-speed wind
turbine concept has decreased, the market interest in
SCIG based on wind turbines may increase [3], if it is
demonstrated that High Voltage Direct Current
Transmission (HVDC) technologies-based wind farms
consisting of such SCIG are robust to grid faults.
Because HVDC can enhance the ability against power
system faults, consequently, the generators, which are
sensitive to power system faults such as SCIG, can be
used without the problem of ride through power
system faults. Furthermore, a variable speed SCIG
system with a full-scale power converter has been
used for over 3 MW wind turbines, such as Bonus
107 model 3.6 MW of Siemens wind power.
It is clear that power electronics will continue to play
an important role in the integration of future large wind
farms and design of wind generator systems.
4.3 Discussions of comparison criteria
Various criteria may be used for comparing different
wind generator systems, including the torque density,
the cost per torque, the efficiency, the active material
weight, the outer diameter, the total length, the total
volume, the total generator cost, the annual energy
yield, the energy yield per cost, the cost of energy
and so on [8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 21, 25]. However,
with the increase in wind energy penetration into
grids and the development of grid connection
requirements, overall qualitative comparison criteria
considering wind power quality and wind energy yield
may be worthwhile for consideration.
† Current trends of research and development of wind
turbine concepts are mostly related to offshore wind
energy. The most important difference between the
requirements for onshore and offshore wind energy
technologies is that it is much more important
for offshore turbines to be robust and maintenance-
free [58, 59], because it is extremely expensive
and difficult and even impossible to do offshore
maintenance and reparations under some weather
conditions, so that the reliability and availability of
large wind generator systems may be more important
aspects to be taken into consideration.
† With the increasing penetration of wind energy into
the grid, some performances related with grid
connection requirements may need to be considered in
the quantitative comparison. For example, the solution
of the flicker problem may yield an extra cost
depending on the types of wind generator systems.
The fault ride-through capability is also strongly
related to the type of the wind generator systems.
† Some performance indexes referred to wind turbines
may have important effects on the annual energy yield of
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wind generator systems. For example, the cut-in and
cut-off wind speeds need to be taken into
consideration for comparison of different wind
generator systems, because they can influence the
annual energy output and the available operational
time of wind turbines, with variation of generator
types [60].
The further development of variable speed wind
turbine concepts would be focused on optimised
turbines and thus moving towards more cost-effective
machines. An overall and practical comparison of
different wind generator systems, including techniques,
economy, control function, availability and reliability,
may require to be further investigated.
5 Conclusions
The paper provides an overview of different wind
turbine concepts and possible generator types. The
basic configurations and characteristics of various
wind generator systems based on contemporary wind
turbine concepts are described with their advantages
and disadvantages. The promising direct-drive PM
machines, such as AFPM, RFPM and TFPM
machines, have been surveyed. A detailed analysis
has been performed based on the survey of the
quantitative comparison of different wind generator
systems as well as their market penetration. The
developing trends of wind generator systems have
been presented, and some comparison criteria have
also been discussed.
The multiple-stage geared drive DFIG concept is still
dominant in the current market. Additionally, the
market shows interest in the direct-drive or geared-
drive concepts with a full-scale power electronic
converter. Current developments of wind turbine
concepts are mostly related to offshore wind energy;
variable speed concepts with power electronics will
continue to dominate and be very promising
technologies for large wind farms.
The performance of PMs is improving and the cost of
PMs is decreasing in recent years, which make variable
speed direct-drive PM machines with a full-scale power
converter more attractive for offshore wind power
generations.
With the increasing levels of wind turbine penetration
in modern power systems, grid connection issues have
posed several new challenges to wind turbine design
and development. The future success of different wind
turbine concepts will strongly depend on their ability of
complying with both market expectations and the
requirements of grid utility companies.
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6 Acknowledgment
The research was supported by a grant from the EU 6th
framework program UP-WIND project. The authors
are grateful for the support.
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