Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Technical note
Simulation model for wind turbine with
asynchronous generator interconnected
to the electric network
M.N. Mansouri a,
, M.F. Mimouni b, B. Benghanem b,
M. Annabi c
a
Institut Supérieur des Etudes Technologiques de Ksar-Hellal, Avenue Hadj Ali Soua, Ksar-Hellal 5070,
Tunisia
b
Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Monastir, Avenue Ibn EL JAZZAR, 5019 Monastir, Tunisia
c
Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et Techniques de Tunis, 5, rue Taha Hussein, Montfleury 1008 Tunis,
Tunisia
Received 10 December 2002; accepted 11 June 2003

Abstract

This paper presents the study of a structure composed of a wind turbine, a speed multi-
plier and an asynchronous generator coupled to the infinite power network through a line of
energy transfer electric modelled by an R–L circuit. After modelling of the global system, the
behaviour of the proposed structure in steady states and in transient regimes is studied. The
problem of the electric energy transfer to the network was studied. On the other hand, if the
wind speed changes too much variation, this will cause a violent variation of power and
result in step out operation of the generator from the power system. This paper proposes a
control strategy to reduce the power variations by introducing feed forward control com-
bined with conventional feedback control.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Wind turbine; Asynchronous generator; Power variation; Pitch angle; Electric network;
Control power system

Corresponding author.

0960-1481/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0960-1481(03)00225-8
422 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

1. Introduction

To promote renewable energy, Tunisia has encouraged the study of the

wind generator coupled to the electric energy network through an asynchronous
generator. These have considerable application in industry due to their reliability
and relatively low cost. Their mechanical reliability is due to the fact that there is
no mechanical commutation as in most DC motors. Furthermore, an induction
motor can also be used in volatile environments because no sparks are produced.
In spite of these advantages, the induction motor presents a challenging control
problem. This is primarily due to three factors: (i) The dynamics are described by
of fifth-order non-linear differential equation. (ii) Two of the state variables (rotor
flux/currents) are not easily measurable. (iii) The rotor resistance varies with the
operating temperature [1]. Furthermore, in order to control the produced power as
much as possible for a variable wind speeds, horizontal axis wind turbines with
variable pitch angle are very attractive candidates as the basic for wind applica-
tions [2–7]. Thus, a conventional feedback control subsystem was used for two
selected wind speed (8.5 and 12.5 m/s) and for a reference power setting (1.5 kW),
to find the necessary pitch angle for the wind turbine to produce an equal power as
the reference power setting that will be injected in the network [8–9]. We could
confirm the effectiveness of this control scheme for a given wind speed. A global
mathematical model integrating the different parts of the structure has been estab-
lished permitting the calculation of the power provided by the conversion system,
to simulate the behaviour of the system in both static and dynamic regimes and to
study the energy movement. Finally, the results are analysed and conclusions are
made.

2. Wind generator structure coupled to the electric network

The proposed structure of the wind generator consists of a wind turbine and
asynchronous generator and three-phase R–L network connected as shown in
Fig.1.

Fig. 1. Structure of the wind generator coupled to the electric network.

3. Global modelling of the structure

The physical system to be modelled is shown in Fig. 1 and contains three main
subsystems:
 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431 423

. Wind turbine: horizontal axis, three blades, variable pitch angle.

. Electric generator: asynchronous generator.
. Control: two loops, output power loop and output pitch angle loop.

3.1. The wind turbine power

Betz supposes that the wind turbine is placed in an animate air upstream of a
speed V1 and downstream with a speed V2 . The kinetic energy of mass of air in
movement, upstream and downstream are described by:
1 1
Ec1 ¼ qvV12 and Ec2 ¼ qvV22 ð1Þ
2 2
where q and v are, respectively, the constant air density and its volume.

Fig. 2. Action of wind on the helix.

The kinetic energy recovered in the machine is given by:

1
2 
Ec1  Ec2 ¼ qv V1  V22 ð2Þ
2
According to the Euler theorem, the strength exercised on the disk helix expres-
ses itself by:

F ¼ qSV ðV1  V2 Þ ð3Þ

where V is the speed of air to the crossing of the wind turbine and S the surface
swept by the helix.
The power absorbed by the wind motor is described by:

P ¼ FV ¼ qSV 2 ðV1  V2 Þ ð4Þ

The equality of this power to the kinetic energy that crosses the motor per
second gives:

1
V¼ ðV1 þ V2 Þ ð5Þ
2
424 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

the power supplied by the wind turbine is:

1
P¼ qCp SV 3 ð6Þ
2
where Cp is the power coefficient.
If the standard value of air density is assumed and the power coefficient Cp cor-
responding to Betz limit is taken, the maximum power supplied becomes:
P ¼ 0:369SV 3 ð7Þ
This relation constitutes the formula of Betz.
3.2. Mathematical model for asynchronous generator interconnected to the electric
network

An induction motor is composed of three stator windings and three rotor wind-
ings. Based on the two-phase equivalent machine representation with two stator
windings and two rotor windings, different choices of vector variables and
reference frame (static or rotating) may be used [1]. In this paper, stator currents,
rotor fluxes and rotor speed are chosen as the states, and a fixed stator reference
frame ða; bÞ is used as the reference frame. Therefore, the following ða; bÞ model of
asynchronous generator in variable regime will be deduced from the state equation
of asynchronous motor while using the set of relation:
Teg ¼ Tem ð8Þ
isg ¼ ism ð9Þ
where Teg is the torque of an asynchronous generator, Tem is the torque of an
asynchronous motor, isg is the stator current vector of an asynchronous generator,
and ism is the stator current vector of an asynchronous motor
3 M

Tem ¼ np u isb  urb isa ð10Þ
2 Lr ra
The machine equations in the stator reference frame, written in terms of space
vectors, are
dusg
vsg ¼ Rsisg þ ð11aÞ
dt
d
ur
0 ¼ Rrir þ  jxm u
r ð11bÞ
dt
 sg ¼ Lsisg þ Mir
u ð11cÞ
 r ¼ Lrir þ Misg
u ð11dÞ
Fig. 1 shows an asynchronous generator connected to the electric network via
leads. The impedance between the generator terminals to network is represented by
a resistance R is series with an inductance L. The terminals voltages of the asyn-
 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431 425

chronous generator can be related to the network as follows:

disa
vr1  vsa ¼ Risa þ L
dt
disb
vr2  vsb ¼ Risb þ L
dt
disc
vr3  vsc ¼ Risc þ L ð12Þ
dt
where vr1 ; vr2 ; vr3 are the network terminal voltages with respect to ground and vsa ;
vsb ; vsc are generator terminal voltages, and isa ; isb ; isc are the stator currents.
By using a complex form for the above equations, we have:

dis
vr  vs ¼ Ris þ L ð13Þ
dt
with vr ¼ ½ vr1 vr2 vr3 T , is ¼ ½ isa isb isc T and vs ¼ ½ vsa vsb vsc T .

4. Basic idea of control subsystem

The main objective of the control subsystem is, for a selected wind speed and for
a reference power setting, to find the necessary pitch angle for the wind turbine to
produce an equal power as the reference power setting that will be injected in the
network [2,3].
4.1. Power variation

Generally, in the analysis of the power provided by the generator, we can

observe about 50% variation based on its maximum value. This is due to wind
turbulence caused by violent wind speed and direction changes. This wind turbu-
lence sometimes causes the step out operation of the machine. Hence, the improve-
ment of a control strategy is required [9].
4.2. Feed forward control subsystem

P ¼ HT h þ Hv V ð14Þ

where HT is the transfer function from pitch angle to power, and Hv is the transfer
function from wind speed to power,

Hh Hm
h¼ ðhref þ Hf V Þ ð15Þ
1 þ Hh Hm
Hf is the feed forward transfer function

href ¼ Hp ðPref  PÞ ð16Þ

426 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

Fig. 3. Block diagram of pitch control subsystem with feed forward.

Substituting Eqs. (15) and (16) into Eq. (14) we obtain the following equation:

   
HT Hh Hm Hp HT Hh Hm Hp HT Hh Hm Hf
1þ P¼ Pref þ þ Hv V ð17Þ
1 þ Hh Hm 1 þ Hh Hm 1 þ Hh Hm

We can obtain the following feed forward transfer function as the condition to
get the second term of the right hand side in Eq. (17) equal to zero.

Hv ð1 þ Hh Hm Þ
Hf ¼  ð18Þ
HT Hh Hm

with

K1
Hv ðsÞ ¼ ð19Þ
1 þ T1 s

K2
HT ðsÞ ¼ ð20Þ
1 þ T2 s

4.3. Control subsystem without feed forward

In steady state, Eq. (14) becomes:

P ¼ K1 V þ K2 h ð21Þ

4.4. Mathematical model of drive system

The drive system used to control the pitch angles, is defined as the angle between
the tip chord and the plane of rotation, is a DC motor. The dynamic behaviour of
 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431 427

Fig. 4. Block diagram of pitch control system without feed forward.

the DC motor is described by the following mathematical model [9]:

8
>
> dir
>
> Vr ¼ Rr Ir þ Lr  Msr is X
>
< dt
dX ð22Þ
>
> J ¼ Cm  Cr
>
> dt
>
:
Tem ¼ Msr is ir

From the above system and referring to Fig. 4, we can obtain the following
transfer function and the state equations for the control procedure:

X Msr is
¼ ð23Þ
Vr ðRr þ Lr sÞðJs þ Kl Þ þ ðMsr is Þ2

dP 1
¼ ðK2 h  P1 Þ þ K1 V ð24Þ
dt T2

dP1 1
¼ ðK2 h  P1 Þ ð25Þ
dt T2

dh1ref K
¼ ðPref  PÞ ð26Þ
dt T

with
href ¼ h1ref þ K ðPref  PÞ ð27Þ

dvr1
¼ K 0 ðhref  hÞ ð28Þ
dt
428 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

with

vr ¼ vr1 þ K 0 ðhref  hÞ ð29Þ

dir 1
¼ ðv þ Msr is X  Rr ir Þ ð30Þ
dt Lr
dX 1
¼ ðMsr is ir  Kl XÞ ð31Þ
dt J
dh
¼X ð32Þ
dt

5. Simulation results

With the aim of verifying the capability of the proposed power wind conversion,
a schematic representation of the control structure reported in Figs. 2 and 3 have
been simulated under different operating conditions for two wind speeds. The con-
trol structure is based on the generated mechanical power estimation P. In fact, the
pitch angle controller give, by means of measured pitch angle h, the command
rotor voltage of DC motor with a separated excitation. This procedure has a fun-
damental importance to ensure the condition of linear torque control. The char-
acteristics of the asynchronous generator and DC motor used in this study are
listed below:

. Asynchronous generator: The test machine is a three-phase 1.5 kW , four-pole,

380 Vrms (line to line); rated stator currents: 3.2 A; rated torque: 12 N m and 50
Hz squirrel cage induction motor having the following parameters: np ¼ 2;
Rs ¼ 5:72 X; Rr ¼ 4:2 X; Ls ¼ 0:462 H; Lr ¼ 0:462 H; M ¼ 0:44 H; J ¼
0:0049 Kg m2 .
. DC motor: Rr ¼ 0:108 X, Lr ¼ 0:4 mH, Msr ¼ 0:187 H, Kl ¼ 0:2, is ¼ 1:8 A,
J ¼ 0:5 Kg m2 . The mechanical load torque is chosen to be Tl ¼ Kl X.
. The wind turbine under investigation is provided with three aerofoil section
blades of thermoplastic material. The blades are 125 cm long.

A comparative analysis of their simulation is reported to better evidence the

problem that has lead to the introduction of PI power controller and proportional
pitch angle controller as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Figs. 5 and 6 allow the
comparison of the responses of the wind generator for two wind speed steps equal,
respectively, to 8.5 and 12.5 m/s, and for a step power reference equal to 1500 W,
when the generated power and the pitch angle are controlled, respectively, by: PI
controller RðsÞ ¼ ðK=TsÞð1 þ TsÞ, and proportional controller K 0 (with K ¼ 0:0026,
T ¼ 0:5, K 0 ¼ 3:83). For each case, Figs. 5 and 6 show the evolution of:

(a) the reference and the measured pitch angle,

(b) the reference and the measured wind turbine power,
 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431 429

(c) the measured asynchronous generator stator current,

(d) the measured asynchronous generator rotor speed,
(e) the measured active power delivered by the asynchronous generator to the elec-
tric network, whose delivered the reactive power to magnetise the machine,
(f) the measured reactive power delivered by the network to asynchronous gener-
ator, to magnetise the machine.

Figs. 5(d) and 6(d) show that the speed response of asynchronous generator is
similar with the two different speed values. However, during the transient oper-
ation the rotor speed in Fig. 6(d) varies slowly. But the pitch angle response is sig-
nificantly affected by the level of speed wind. One can also notice that the transient
oscillations of the pitch angle depends on the wind speed level. Figs. 5(b) and 6(b)
show that the generated power value is very close to its reference value when the
wind speed increases. The current responses are, on the other hand, quite equal
with each wind speed. The dynamic of the stator currents stabilise quickly. Figs.
5(e) and 6(e) reveal the behaviour of the active power delivered by the asynchro-
nous generator to the network. One can see that the active power response is simi-
lar with each of the two levels of the wind speed. It should be noted in Figs. 5(f)
and 6(f) that the electric network delivered the necessary reactive power used to
accomplish the rotor and stator magnetisation.

6. Conclusions

A simulation model for a type of wind generator based on an asynchronous gen-

erator interconnected to the electric network has been developed. A conventional
feedback control subsystem was used for two selected wind speeds and for a refer-
ence power setting, to find the necessary pitch angle for the wind turbine to pro-
duce an equal power as the reference power setting that will be injected in the
network. The effectiveness of this control scheme for a given wind speed is con-
formed. But generally, the wind speed changes very frequently due to the geo-
graphic reasons of the site. Taking into account these variations, a strategy of
control based on a feed forward control subsystem is proposed. It is interesting to
note that the above mentioned strategy will be developed in some future work. It
may be also interesting to take into account for the new controller scheme such as
fuzzy logic control to improve the performances of the system. Finally, the pro-
posed scheme represents a valuable alternative to conventional PI controller
scheme in several industrial application taking advantage from a robust and low
cost control strategy.

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430 M.N. Mansouri et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 421–431

Fig. 5. Wind turbine power, pitch angle, and asynchronous variables responses when the speed wind of
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