Research Article

Wind Engineering
2022, Vol. 46(6) 1820–1837
Overview of control strategies for wind Ó The Author(s) 2022
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turbines: ANNC, FLC, SMC, BSC, and sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0309524X221109512

PI controllers journals.sagepub.com/home/wie

Mourad Yessef1 , Badre Bossoufi1, Mohammed Taoussi2,

Ahmed Lagrioui3 and Hamid Chojaa2

Abstract
The design of robust and precise control of obtaining maximum power yield is an important area of research in wind engineering. In
the context of maximizing the amount of power extraction in wind energy conversion systems (WECS), this research work proposes
and evaluates five MPPT algorithms. These types are respectively a proportional integral controller (PI), a non-linear control based on
sliding modes (SMC), a backstepping approach (BSC), a control using artificial intelligence based on neural network (ANNC), and a
fuzzy logic control (FLC). Two different wind profiles, a step wind profile and a real wind profile, were considered for the comparative
study. The response time, dynamic error percentage, and static error percentage were the quantitative parameters compared, and the
qualitative parameters included set-point tracking and precision. This test demonstrated the superiority of the ANNC controller with
an error static that not exceed 0.39% and a response time ~0.0024 seconds.

Keywords
WECS, DFIG, MPPT, artificial neural network (ANN), sliding mode controller (SMC), backstepping controller (BSC), fuzzy logic con-
troller (FLC)

Introduction
Since the global warming and the global concern for environmental protection has been exploding, sustainable
development has become a concept that consistently accompanies all industrial and economic sectors and marks
all new projects. In the electric power sector, the world is seeking to reduce significantly its dependence on fossil
fuels, which are characterized by both high greenhouse gas emissions and unstable prices (Singh and Sundaram,
2021a; Yessef et al., 2022a). Electric power operators are striving to diversify their energy mix, especially with clean
and renewable energy from geothermal, biomass, solar, and wind sources (Singh and Sundaram, 2021b; Yessef
et al., 2022d).
Recently, this trend has been reinforced, all the more so, by ecological considerations. Indeed, the high con-
sumption of traditional fossil energy sources causes serious environmental damage. Therefore, all countries are
now called upon to contribute to the international effort to combat climate change. Among the renewable energies,
three main families emerge: mechanical (swell waves, wind), electromagnetic (photovoltaic modules), or thermal
(geothermal and solar thermal) (Pan et al., 2021; Song et al., 2022). In particular, wind energy can be converted
into mechanical energy for pumping water or into electrical energy by using appropriate generators (Chen et al.,
2017). This second form of conversion has developed considerably throughout the world, both through domestic
and industrial applications in connection with the electrical power grid (Singh et al., 2019a, 2019b).

1
Laboratory of Engineering, Modeling and Systems Analysis, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, SMBA University, Fez, Morocco
2
Laboratory of Technologies and Industrial Services, Higher School of Technology, SMBA University, Fez, Morocco
3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Higher National School of Arts and Trades, Moulay Ismail University, Meknes, Morocco

Corresponding author:
Mourad Yessef, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, B.P. 1796, Fez-Atlas 30003, Morocco.
Email: mourad.yessef@usmba.ac.ma
Yessef et al. 1821

Figure 1. Different operation zones of a wind turbine.

Four zones dominate the operation of a wind energy conversion system (Figure 1). The first zone (Zone 1) is
marked by a low wind speed that cannot turn the wind turbine to deliver electrical power. In the second zone
(Zone 2), the wind turbine system must be controlled to raise the supplied energy adequately with the changes in
wind speed (by way of MPPT algorithms), and the pitch angle of the blades is maintained at its minimal value. In
the third zone (Zone 3), while the wind velocity exceeds the nominal optimal value, the blades’ pitch angle must
be controlled to ensure the provided power is kept at its desired value. Finally, in Zone 4, the speed of the wind is
higher and not suitable, as it can destroy the wind turbine system. Hence, emergency installation devices stop the
wind turbine immediately to protect it against eventual damages (Pan et al., 2021; Song et al., 2022).
There are two types of wind energy generators (WEGs): fixed speed WEGs and variable speed WEGs (Chen
et al., 2017; Chojaa et al., 2021). However, the second type offers a wide range operation in terms of wind speed,
improved overall efficiency, and higher power-capturing capabilities. Therefore, variable speed WEGs are more
advantageous than WEGs with fixed speeds (Singh and Sundaram, 2021b).
Nowadays, DFIGs based on variable speed wind turbine systems are the most widely used technology in
onshore and offshore wind farms (El Alami et al., 2022; Yessef et al., 2021). Their key advantage, which is not the
only one, is their possession of three-phase static converters, which are dimensioned for a part of the nominal
energy of the DFIG (Taoussi et al., 2021). This effect makes DFIGs economical profitable compared to other
existing electromechanical conversion solutions (permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSGs), for exam-
ple) (Majout et al., 2022). Indeed, DFIGs operate at a speed range of 630% of the speed of synchronization, thus
ensuring the minimization of the dimensioning of static converters, as they are linked between the DFIG rotor
winding and the electric distribution grid (Yessef et al., 2022d).
A wind energy system is considered highly non-linear and characterized by huge and sudden wind speed varia-
tions, so the utilization of an MPPT controller is important to order to optimize the generator speed and output
power measurements to maximize output power regardless of wind speed (Pan et al., 2021; Song et al., 2022). The
controller allows the maximum MPPT power point to be reached and tracked at all wind speeds (Chen et al., 2017;
Singh et al., 2019b).
There are several maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controls for extracting the maximum amount of
energy from wind turbine systems in the literature. In addition, the efficiency and performance of wind turbine
systems depend on the efficiency of the used maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control technique (Chen
et al., 2017). Each MPPT technique can be characterized according to the following criteria: speed of convergence,
required sensors, complexity, cost, simplicity of implementation, and other criteria. Therefore, in several research
papers (El Mahfoud et al., 2021; Yessef et al., 2022b), researchers have sufficiently discussed various MPPT algo-
rithms. Generally, there are two types of MPPT methods. The first category is designated as the direct method
and includes the optimum relation-based MPPT (ORB), the hill-climbing search (HCS) (or perturb and observe),
and incremental conductance (INC). The second category, on the other hand, is known as indirect control and
refers to techniques such as power signal feedback (PSF), optimal torque control (OTC), and tip speed ratio
(TSR) (Elbeji et al., 2021; Nasiri et al., 2014).
1822 Wind Engineering 46(6)

The ORB-based MPPT method requires a perfect relationship between speed, wind turbine power output, con-
verter DC voltage, current, and power. The lack of a sensor and fast tracking are the key advantages of this algo-
rithm (Hannachi et al., 2021). However, this technique demands characteristic curves in order to understand the
turbine power and converter DC current at different wind speed values. Therefore, the maximum power point can
be tracked by observing the optimum current curve (Abdullah et al., 2014).
The HCS is an unreliable and a resilient technique which requires previous wind turbine characteristics. For a
given function, this algorithm provides the local maximum point. The main drawback of this technique is the like-
lihood of identifying the wrong direction to reach the most significant power point under a sudden change of the
wind direction (Lalouni et al., 2015).
INC requires sensors and wind turbine and generator parameters. Therefore, the main advantages of this tech-
nique are cost reductions and improvements in terms of reliability (Hosseini et al., 2013). The power-speed slope
allows for the determination of the operating point of the MPPT. However, the drawback of this algorithm is its
instability with respect to variations in turbine inertia under a variable speed wind profile (Hohm and Ropp, 2003).
The PSF approach uses a power control loop which integrates inputs regarding the wind turbine maximum
power curve (Cheng and Zhu, 2014). While the TSR controller is characterized by its simplicity of design, the
drawback of this method is its need for an optimal power coefficient and an optimal tip-speed ratio (Pagnini et al.,
2015).
The OTC-based MPPT method implies changing the generator torque according to the relevant power refer-
ence torque at all wind speed values (Apata and Oyedokun, 2020). This technique is characterized by its simplicity,
fast response, and efficiency. Moreover, wind speed changes are not reflected in the reference signal because of the
absence of direct wind speed measurements (El Mahfoud et al., 2021).
Likewise, several research works have focused on linear control methods such as HN (Moradi and Vossoughi,
2015), and other researchers have compared linear and non-linear controllers. The researchers in Yessef et al.
(2022d) used the CRONE controller for the MPPT technique in the context of a WECS-based on DFIG.
The objective of this paper is to elaborate an MPPT control with a mechanical speed control of a wind turbine,
five MPPT algorithms are proposed to ensure the follow up of the setpoint which is a function of the wind speed.
These methods are respectively PI linear control, nonlinear sliding mode control (SMC), Backstepping control
(BSC), an artificial intelligence approach using Artificial Neural Network control (ANNC), and fuzzy logic con-
trol (FLC). Hence, the results of the analysis display that the designed Neural Network Controller (ANNC) in this
study provides a great precision, good reference tracking, and high level of efficiency enhancement compared to
other controllers.
This paper is organized as follows: the second section, following the introduction, is reserved for the modeling
of the wind turbine and its mechanical parts, then the third section details the proposed control strategies and a dis-
cussion of the obtained results is given in section 4. Finally, the conclusion is summarized at section 5.

Modeling of the wind-energy conversion system

The wind power that passes through a surface S can be expressed as (Taoussi et al., 2017; Yessef et al., 2022c):

rSV 3
PV = ð1Þ
2
where V is the wind velocity (m/s), r is equal to 1.225 kg/m3, which is the air density and R is the radius of the tur-
bine blade.
The wind turbine can capture only a fraction of the wind energy and the captured aerodynamic power of the
turbine can be formulated as (Bossoufi et al., 2021; Taoussi et al., 2015):

1
Pt = C p PV = rpR2 V 3 Cp ðl, bÞ ð2Þ
2
Cp is the power coefficient representing the wind turbine’s aerodynamic efficiency.
The blade pitch angle b and the tip speed ratio l are involved in the expression of Cp.
The tip-speed ratio is defined as (Taoussi et al., 2014):

Ot R
l= ð3Þ
V
Yessef et al. 1823

Figure 2. Power coefficient as function of l and b.

with Ot (rad/s) being the turbine angular speed on the low-speed side of the turbine gearbox.
In this paper, Cp is written in the following form (Yessef et al., 2022d):
   
116 21
Cpðl, bÞ = 0:5  0:4b  5 exp + 0:0068l ð4Þ
li li

with li1 = l + 10:08b  b0:035

3
+1
The aerodynamic torque of the turbine is defined as (Yessef et al., 2022a, 2022d):

Pt 1
Ct = = rpR3 V 3 Cc ðl, bÞ ð5Þ
Ot 2
where Cc represents the torque coefficient (Yessef et al., 2022d):

Cp
Cc = ð6Þ
l
Figure 2 reflects the evolution of the power coefficient Cp in its relationship with the tip-speed ratio and blade pitch
angles b.
From Figure 2, it can be noted that for every blade pitch angle b there is a specific optimal tip-speed ratio l
that ensures the maximum value of the coefficient Cp. In addition, the power coefficient achieves its highest value
(Cpmax = 0.48) when b = 0, then the tip-speed ratio becomes constant at its optimal specific value (lopt = 8.1).
Therefore, it is possible to elaborate a control law that allows for the capturing of the maximum wind power what-
ever the wind speed until the maximum generator power is reached. This target can be achieved by using the
MPPT. By other means, to set l at its specific optimum desired value and to maximize the generated wind turbine
power, the speed Ot must be linearly varied with the wind speed V changes. In this case, the optimal rotational
speed Otopt can be given for the maximum mechanical transmission of the wind turbine by the following expres-
sion (Bossoufi et al., 2021; Yessef et al., 2022d):

lopt
Oopt
t = ð7Þ
R
Equation (2) can be written as (Taoussi et al., 2014):

1

Popt
t = rpR2 V 3 Cpmax lopt , bopt ð8Þ
2
Equation (8) shows that a small variation in the wind speed results in a large variation in the generated power Pt.
The gearbox adapts the turbine speed (slow shaft) to the generator speed (fast shaft). The elasticity and friction
of the gearbox are neglected. Thus, the energy losses are considered to be zero. The mathematical model of the
gearbox is presented as (Taoussi et al., 2015; Yessef et al., 2022d):

Og
Ot = ð9Þ
G
1824 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 3. Aerodynamic model of the wind turbine.

where Ot is the turbine speed, Og is the generator speed, and G is gearbox gain.
The proposed mechanical model, in this work, considers the total inertia J as the sum of the transferred turbine
inertia Jt and the inertia of the generator Jg (Yessef et al., 2022d):

Jt
J= + Jg ð10Þ
G2
The equations of both the electromagnetic and mechanical torques are written as follows (Yessef et al., 2022d):

dOg
= Cmec = Cg  Cem  Cf ð11Þ
dt
Therefore, the mechanical speed evolution Og depends on the mechanical torque applied to the rotor Cg , the elec-
tromagnetic torque Cem , and the viscous friction torque Cf given by the relation (Yessef et al., 2022d):

C f = Fv O g ð12Þ

where Fv is the friction coefficient.

Figure 3 presents the aerodynamic model of the studied wind turbine system. This scheme indicates that the
rotation speed of the generator Og and the turbine speed can be controlled by acting on the electromagnetic torque
Cem of the generator.

MPPT strategy with speed control

The control algorithms strategy consists of adjusting the generator’s electromagnetic torque to push the mechani-
cal speed to pursue a reference value. The latter will maximize the extracted power of the turbine (El Mahfoud
et al., 2021). Consequently, the speed of the generator must be controlled. For a given operating point (fixed wind
speed), the maximum aerodynamic mechanical power can be reached if the wind system is operating at its maxi-
mum value of the power coefficient Cp (Abdullah et al., 2014). Moreover, this can be realized when the tip-speed
ratio (l) achieves its desired optimum value lopt. Therefore, the desired speed of the generator Og* is obtained by
using equations (3), (7), and (9) as follows:

lopt
Og = G V ð13Þ
R
The overall scheme of the proposed MPPT strategy is shown in Figure 4, where the electromagnetic torque refer-
ence Cg*, which is used to control the speed of the DFIG rotor, is obtained at the output of the speed controller.

Artificial neural network controller (ANN)

A neural network approach is proposed to control (WECS) mechanical speed, in order to guarantee the power
extraction maximization during wind speed variations. The chosen design of the ANN controller consists of four
layers with feedforward architecture as detailed in Figure 5 (Dahbi et al., 2016; Gowri and Popuri, 2020).
Yessef et al. 1825

Figure 4. MPPT strategy with speed control.

Figure 5. ANNC proposed scheme.

The ANN inputs variables are the desired speed (Og ) and the generated speed (Og ). The output of the proposed
ANN controller is the corresponding torque (Cem *) (Gowri and Popuri, 2020). The most appropriate number of
hidden layers and their neurons is decided based on an empirical basis in order to attain the required precision of
the proposed approach (Donadio et al., 2021; Zamee and Won, 2020). After reiterating the learning algorithms
several times. The results obtained are shown in the Figures 6 and 7. The training process of the ANNC was under-
taken by using the Levenberge Marquardt algorithm to search the optimal synaptic weights. It is a good algorithm
for the optimization of the quadratic error due to its fast convergence properties and robustness. About 70% of
the setpoints were used for training, and 30% for the test (Abidoye et al., 2020; Cheggaga and Ettoumi, 2011;
Poitras and Cormier, 2011).

Fuzzy logic controller (FLC)

The design of a fuzzy controller is described in Figure 8. Such a controller is considered a robust and intelligent
adaptive tool for complex non-linear systems. It requires the selection of the linguistic variables, the membership
functions, the defuzzification strategy, and the method of inference (Aissaoui et al., 2021). This controller is
employed to adjust the mechanical velocity in order to pursue the reference value for maximizing the extracted
power of the turbine based on the rules presented in Table 1, where ‘‘e’’ (error speed) and ‘‘de’’ are used as inputs,
1826 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 6. ANN learning progress.

Figure 7. The performance curve of training.

while Tem (electromagnetic torque) designates the output (Tiwari and Babu, 2016). Consequently, the variables,
which are mentioned above, are represented by NB, N, Z, P, and PB, indicating negative big, negative, zero, posi-
tive, and positive big, respectively (Smida and Sakly, 2021).
The input and output functions of the triangular membership are described in Figure 9. They have seven fuzzy
subsets. Furthermore, the fuzzy inference is performed based on the Sugeno technique, and the defuzzification uses
the gravity center to identify the output of this FL control strategy (Anil Naik, 2022).
Yessef et al. 1827

Table 1. Set of rules generated for FLC.

Output de(t)
NB N Z P PB

e(t) NB NB NB N N Z
N NB N N Z P
Z NB N Z P P
P N Z P P PB
PB Z P P PB PB

Figure 8. Fuzzy logic MPPT controller.

Figure 9. Inputs and output membership degree.

PI controller
The loop of speed control described in Figure 10 is designed from the equation of the dynamics of the rotating bod-
ies (Bossoufi et al., 2021; Yessef et al., 2022d).
The closed-loop transfer function is written as follows (Yessef et al., 2022d):
Ki + Kp :S
OgðsÞ 2j:vn :s + v2n J
= 2 = Kp + Fv ð14Þ
Og ðsÞ s + 2j:vn :s + v2n s2 + :s + KJi
J

Both of the parameters Kp and Ki , of the proportional-integral controller, are given by the following expressions
(Abdullah et al., 2014; Yessef et al., 2022d):

Kp = 2j:vn :J  FV
ð15Þ
Ki = J :v2n
1828 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 10. Typical regulator PI structure.

Nonlinear backstepping controller (BSC)

The backstepping methodology can be presented as a technique for organizing a studied system into several cas-
cading sub-systems. The execution of the design methodology on a general level results in the establishment of a
control law via feedback which is systematically associated with a Lyapunov function or the equivalent. A control
law method stabilizing the studied system is derived from a Lyapunov function to prove the stability (Yessef
et al., 2022a). The important properties of the overall stability of each subsystem are obtained by defining a stabi-
lizing function at each stage of the representation of the model in cascade subsystems. One of the greatest advan-
tages engendered by the backstepping algorithm method is the maintaining of the features of the initial system in
the obtained control laws (Taoussi et al., 2021). This is the great asset of the backstepping control, especially when
compared to other control methods (Bossoufi et al., 2021; Yessef et al., 2022a). The backstepping control method
is implemented to create a control law using equation (11) in order to force the system to follow the required
trajectory.
The tracking error is defined as (Yessef et al., 2022a, 2022d):


e Og = Og  Og ð16Þ

The derivative of equation (16) is expressed as (Yessef et al., 2022a, 2022d):

: :
e_ Og = Og  Og ð17Þ

Considering the following Lyapunov function (Yessef et al., 2022d):

1
2
v ðe Þ = e Og ð18Þ
2
The derivative of the Lyapunov function can be written as (Yessef et al., 2022b, 2022d):
 : 



 1

v_ ðeÞ = e Og :_e Og = e Og : Og + Cem + fv :Og  Cg ð19Þ
J
The function of the stabilizing control of backstepping is defined by the following equations (Singh and Sundaram,
2022; Yessef et al., 2022d):
:


Cem = J : Og fv :Og + Cg  K1 :e Og ð20Þ

K1 is a specific positive constant (Chojaa et al., 2022).

Substituting (20) in (19), the derivative with respect to time can be reformulated as:

2
v_ ðeÞ = K1 :e Og \0 ð21Þ

Sliding mode controller (SMC)

The sliding mode control strategy is the combination of a non-linear control method and a variable structure
method. Furthermore, the several control structures are created in such a way that the trajectories always con-
verge to a defined adjacent region of the sliding structure which presented the system’s normal behavior (Pan
et al., 2021). This will slide along the boundaries of the control structures (Majout et al., 2022). Moreover, the
Yessef et al. 1829

system motion, as it slides along these boundaries, is named as a sliding mode and the sliding surface is the geome-
trical locus consisting of the boundaries (Yessef et al., 2022d).

To design the command Cem , the surface relative degree is set to 1. On the other hand, the sliding surface is
determined in the following manner (Yessef et al., 2022b):


S Og = Og  Og ð22Þ

Choosing the following Lyapunov function (Yessef et al., 2022b, 2022d):

1
2
V S Og = S Og ð23Þ
2
Its time derivative is (Majout et al., 2022):





V_ S Og = S Og :S_ Og ð24Þ

: :
with: S_ Og = Og  Og
Substituting equation (11) in (24), the obtained equation is (Yessef et al., 2022a, 2022b):

: 1

S_ Og = Og + Cem + fv :Og  Cg ð25Þ
J


By replacing the expression of Cem by the equivalent commands Cemeq + Cemn in equation (25), we find:

: 1


S_ Og = Og + Cemeq + Cemn + fv :Og  Cg ð26Þ
J



In the steady-state and during the sliding mode and we obtain: Cemn = 0, S Og = 0, and S_ Og = 0. From the
previous equations, we extract the expression of the equivalent command Cemeq (Pan et al., 2021):
:
Cemeq = J : Og fv :Og + Cg ð27Þ

Using equations (27) in (26), the sliding surface derivative can be reformulated as (Yessef et al., 2022b):

1
S_ Og = Cemn ð28Þ
J
To guarantee the convergence of the Lyapunov function, we take (Yessef et al., 2022b):



Cemn = K2 :sign S Og ð29Þ

where K2 is a positive constant.

Simulation results and discussions

In this section, the performances of proposed strategies are evaluated and compared in terms of reference tracking,
the dynamic response, static error, system stability, and robustness. The overall system considering a 1.5 MW wind
turbine which has been simulated using Matlab/Simulink, with the presented parameters in Appendix Table A1.
To validate the dynamic performances of the system studied, we apply two different wind speed scenarios.

Tracking test under step wind profile

To determine the best choice of MPPT algorithm for a proposed variable speed wind turbine (VSWT), a tracking
test must be performed for the control strategies to assess their merit in terms of being robust against radical
changes in the wind profile, as shown in Figure 11. This wind profile is a standard profile used by the authors pre-
viously to compare various algorithms.
Figures 12 to 15 show the static evolution of the five MPPT strategies with regard to mechanical velocity con-
trol. The obtained results clearly show that the dynamic performance of the system based on the ANNC controller
1830 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 11. Step wind speed profile (m/s).

Figure 12. Power coefficient for step wind profile.

is very efficient when compared to the other controllers, SMC, PI, BS, and FLC, under a moderate wind speed dis-
turbance. With these variant conditions, it can be noted that the power coefficient Cp (Figure 12) takes a maximum
value of 0.480015 for a blade pitch angle which is maintained at its minimum desired value (b = 0°).
The error close to the starting time (time zero) is high because the damping at the start of the turbine was very
high at the beginning of the operation.
Based on these results and analysis, the second-generation ANNC controller was found to be the fastest in
achieving the steady-state. Hence, the recovery time upon wind speed change was also faster for this algorithm.
The PI controller, on the other hand, was found to be the slowest and least efficient method, as the response time
was 166 times longer than the second-generation ANNC controller.
Table 2, below, represents a qualitative and quantitative synthesis of the comparison of all five proposed con-
trollers (PI, SMC, BS, FLC, and ANNC) in terms of the static error, response time, and set-point tracking
precision.
The above simulation tests were necessary, but they are not sufficient to realistically validate the five controllers.
Indeed, the test scenario does not represent a real wind profile in a real meteorological context. To deal with this
problem, the studied methods were investigated with a real stochastic wind profile.
Yessef et al. 1831

Figure 13. Tip speed ratio for step wind profile.

Figure 14. Angular rotor speed for step wind profile.

Tracking test under real wind profile

In this test, the simulated real wind profile of the city of Assilah in Morocco varies between 7.2 and 11.3 m/s, as
shown in Figure 16.
To extract the maximum value of supplied power, the speed ratio was fixed at the value lopt = 8.1 (Figure 18),
which is in keeping with the maximum power coefficient Cpmax = 0.48 (Figure 17) for any wind speed variation.
The MPPT simulation results concerning the five proposed control methods (PI, SMC, BSC, FLC, and ANNC)
and a mechanical speed control law prove clearly that for each wind speed value, the mechanical speed perfectly
followed its desired references in the case of all methods, but with disturbing significant static errors in the cases of
the sliding mode and PI controllers, as can be seen in Figures 17 to 20.
Moreover, it is noted that the ANNC controller and the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) methods both reached the
static regime with small response times and a negligible static error. In contrast, the PI controller, the sliding mode
1832 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 15. Speed error for step wind profile.

Figure 16. Wind speed profile of the city of Assilah.

Yessef et al. 1833

Table 2. Comparative study of the five MPPT controllers for a step wind profile.

Performance PI BSC SMC FLC ANNC

Response time (ms) 200 5.2 3.5 4 2.4

Static errors (%) 4.3 2.1 3.5 0.9 0.39
Set-point tracking Good Good Good Very good Very good
Precision Medium Medium High Very high Very high

Figure 17. Power coefficient for real wind profile of Assilah-city.

Figure 18. Tip speed ratio for real wind profile of Assilah-city.

controller (SMC), and the BS controller are characterized by a slightly slow response time, with minimal fluctua-
tions in the case of the sliding mode controller (SMC) and a very important overshot in the cases of the PI and slid-
ing mode controllers in the dynamics regime.
The error close to the starting time (time zero) is high because the damping at the start of the turbine was very
high at the beginning of the operation.
1834 Wind Engineering 46(6)

Figure 19. Angular rotor speed for real wind profile of Assilah-city.

Figure 20. Speed error for real wind profile of Assilah-city.

Table 3. Comparative study for the real wind speed of Assilah city, Morocco.

Performance PI BSC SMC FLC ANNC

Response time (ms) 255 6.4 5.5 4 3.13

Dynamic errors (%) 8.3 4.1 6.1 0.9 0.52
Set-point tracking Good Good Good Very good Very good
Precision Medium Medium High Very high Very high

Table 3 below represents a qualitative and quantitative synthesis of the comparison of all five proposed control-
lers (PI, SMC, BS, FLC, and ANNC) in terms of the dynamic error, response time, and setpoint tracking preci-
sion. This table highlights the remarkable improvements obtained by the ANNC controller. In fact, among these
improvements, the optimization of the response time, set-point tracking, precision, and dynamic error can be
noted.
In order to position the proposed method in the field of research on MPPT strategies, a comparative study was
realized between the proposed ANNC controller and two others control methods existing in two separate research
papers. This study is illustrated in Table 4. The comparison was carried out using several performance indexes.
Yessef et al. 1835

Table 4. Comparative study between the proposed ANNC method and other works.

Reference paper MPPT technique Response time (seconds) Static errors (%) Set-point tracking

Nasiri et al. (2014) OTC 0.02488 — Good

Nadour et al. (2017) Backstepping 0.005 1.1 Good
Proposed method ANNC 0.0024 0.39 Very good

It is clear that the ANNC controller provides the fastest response time compared to the other algorithms, and it
represents a static error that is negligible.

Conclusions
As evidenced by this present paper, control strategies design of WTs is a complex and interdisciplinary topic.
Nevertheless, the paper’s authors have tried to give a thorough discussion and bright overview of the main WTs
control methods.
In this study, five mechanical speed controllers of MPPT strategy for wind turbine were presented and evaluated
in order to determine the one optimal aero-generator speed that guarantees the maximum power yield. These con-
trollers include a proportional-integral linear controller, nonlinear sliding mode controller, backstepping control-
ler, fuzzy logic controller, and Artificial Neural Network Controller. The simulation results demonstrate that the
application of the artificial neural network controller (ANNC) has shown high performance and has proven to be
the most suitable for the type of wind system chosen in comparison with the other controllers studied in this work,
whether for the dynamic response, the reference tracking, precision, static error, or the robustness. So, ANNC con-
troller will improve the performance of wind turbine and overcome some of the obstacles found in current MPPT
methods. This controller perfectly handles the problems of control effort level, and it significantly reduces the
response time (0.0024 seconds). In addition, this method obtained the maximum average value of Cp and main-
tained it at its maximum even with changes in wind speed.
It is anticipated that this paper may serve as a general reference and a starting point for future researches and
junior wind engineering researchers.
The intelligent control method is universal. In the future work, the maximum wind energy tracking problem of
wind turbine based on this method will be considered under the inaccurate wind speed prediction.
Moreover, the validation of the ANNC of wind turbine using a real-time implementation in the dSPACE Card
will be done.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD
Mourad Yessef https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6344-7174

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Appendix

Table A1. Parameters of the turbine.

Parameters Value

Number of blades 3
Blade radius R 35.25 m
Gearbox gain G 90
Friction coefficient f 0.0024 N.m.s/rad
Moment of inertia J 1000 kg.m2