Review on Control Techniques for VSWT(Variable
Speed Wind Turbine)
Prof. Alok Pandey
Electrical and Electronics Department
KIET Group of Institutions
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
alok.pandey@kiet.edu
Abstract— Wind energy utilization for power generation
purposes is becoming high interest in electrical power
production because of easy access to the wind and it does not
affect the environment and it is a sustainable source of energy.
In this research modeling of wind turbines and different control
techniques used in VSWT are studied. As we know that the
speed of wind is not constant which leads to the variable speed
of the wind turbine. This makes the control of wind turbines a
very important part of the wind energy system. These control
techniques can be used to maximize the power output of the
wind turbine which increases the efficiency of the wind system,
and the maximum of the wind energy can be converted to
electrical energy. Various control techniques like torque control,
pitch control, and grid integration control are studied in this
research paper. Different modeling based on aerodynamics and
materials is also discussed in this paper.
Keywords--- efficiency of the wind turbine system, modeling of
wind turbines, control of wind turbines, pitch control, grid
integration control
I. INTRODUCTION
Demand for renewable energy has been increasingly justified
over the last couple of years as world powers turn to clean,
green energy while overdependence on fossil fuel generation
is still prominent in developing countries. Nevertheless, there
is an expectation that renewable energy sources will play a
wider role over the next two decades in energy with wind
energy projected to contribute 1.1 trillion kilowatt-hours
(kWh) of a total of close to 4 trillion kWh of renewable energy
expected to be generated by the year 2030. Furthermore,
research suggests that solar and wind energy are currently the
most likely to provide economically affordable alternate
energy sources because other renewable energy sources like
tidal remain costly and inefficient.
It is obvious that wind and solar energy studies will be the
main focus of future renewable engineering efforts. Solar
energy is becoming more dominant, especially in the Arab
world where their massive deserts have already seen
investigations into the possibility of generating solar energy
with enough capacity to power entire countries. With wind
energy, however, developing offshore wind turbines fit for
tackling the substantially higher wind speeds accessible
offshore while avoiding the issues of horizon and noise
pollution is the way to go.
Wind turbine is designed to convert wind energy into
electric energy. The wind turbine system consists of three
main parts the rotor which includes the blades to convert wind
energy to low-speed rotational energy. The second part is the
generator which includes the electrical generator, which
include all control circuits with a gearbox that convert the
rotational low speed into electric power, and finally the
structure that holds all the previous components and that is the
tower and nacelle. Wind turbine is classified into two main
groups depending on their axis in which the turbine rotates.
Ajay Singh
Electrical and Electronics Department
KIET Group of Institutions
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
ajay123.msg@gmail.com
Wind turbines are fabricated in two axis types (vertical and
horizontal) and in a wide variety. The smallest types of wind
turbines are used as a means of charging battery units used for
generation of back-up power. Larger turbines are used to
generate power for domestic use. Wind power can be
classified as:
• Utility-scale wind systems; wind systems that
generate power larger than 100 kilowatts (kW) to provide
power to a grid system.
• Distributed or small wind systems use wind turbines
of 100 kW or lower than that to power directly a home, farm,
etc.
• Offshore wind systems, are turbines mounted on
water bodies around the world. Depending on the speed of
wind in that area, they can be used to power whole
communities.
Wind energy is of course, one of the cheapest renewable
sources per unit of energy produced, as well its technologies
is one of the fastest-rising technologies in the energy
generation industry across the world.
Understanding wind properties is very important for wind
energy exploitation. The speed of wind is highly variable both
geometrically from place to place and temporally, seasonal
and in hourly means. In addition to seasonal changes in the
wind speed, there are some variations on the shorter time
scale. These variations are called synoptic variations and they
have a peak at around 4 days. Beside the seasonal and synoptic
components in the wind speed, there is a turbulence
component. This turbulence refers to fluctuations in wind
speed on relatively fast time-scale, typically less than 10 min.
In studying the wind energy affection into a wind turbine, it is
very important to know the mean wind speed determined by
the seasonal, synoptic and diurnal effects, which varies on a
time, with turbulence fluctuations.
II. EFFICIENCY OF THE WIND TURBINE SYSTEM
The conservation of mass demands that the measure of air
in and out of a turbine must be equivalent. Consequently,
Betz’s Law defines maximum achievable wind power drawn
by a wind turbine as 16/27 (59.3%) of the aggregate kinetic
energy of the air entering the turbine. The best hypothetical
power yield of a wind turbine is therefore 16/27 times the
kinetic energy of the air entering the turbine effective area [1].
A wind turbine captures energy from moving air and
converts it into electricity. Air density, power coefficient, air
density and turbine swept area are parameters that affect the
captured energy as shown in the following equation [1]:
P = 0.5CpV3 A ………….(1.1)
Where:
P = Mechanical power in the moving air (W).
  = Air density (kg/m3 ). Where,
A = Area swept by the rotor blades (m2 ) air is the air density,
V = Velocity of the air (m/s) 𝜐w is the free wind speed experienced by the rotor,
Cp= Power coefficient.
Tip speed ratio (TSR) of a wind turbine is defined as:
=(R)/V ………….(1.2)
Where:
= Mechanical speed at the rotor shaft of the wind turbine
(rad/s)
R = Radios of the blade (m).
V = Velocity of the air (m/s).
The TSR, and blade pitch angle β, are used to calculate the
rotor
power coefficient, denoted by Cp. The rotor power
coefficient can
be calculated as: Figure 1

Cp= (Extracted power)/ (Power in wind) .…...(1.3) 𝐴 is the swept rotor area, and

or Cp is the power coefficient.

Cp= Protor / Pwind ……(1.4) The power coefficient depends upon the pitch angle 𝜗 and

So we can write power as: the tip-speed-ratio 𝜆 :

𝜔𝑟𝑜𝑡 . 𝑟
Power = 0.5Cp (,)V3 A ...….(1.5)  = 𝜐𝑤
Variable-speed wind turbines are equipped with a pitch
..…(2.2)
change mechanism (Pitch angle control) to adjust the blade
pitch angle and obtain a better power coefficient profile
because it controls its rotation speed[1]. The power coefficient 𝑐𝑝 is typically given in a form of
Figure 2:
III. MODELLING OF THE WIND TURBINE
Before Since vertical axis wind turbines have very low starting
torque, as well as dynamic stability problems they are
commonly found in small wind applications. On the other
hand, horizontal axis wind turbines are the most common
wind turbines and are most commonly used for wind farms,
community wind projects, and small wind applications. In this
paper, we only discuss the modelling and control methods of
horizontal axis wind turbines.
A. Modelling Based on the Aerodynamic
The aerodynamic modelling of the wind turbine has been
studied and is presented in several research papers as. The
kinetic energy obtained by the blades of the wind is
transformed into mechanical torque at the rotor shaft of the
wind turbine the model can be described of in Figure 1.
The blades are attached to the rotor with the tip speed 𝜔rot ⋅ 𝑟,
where 𝑟 is the length of the blade.
The profile of the blade experiences a relative wind speed Figure 2
generated by overlapping the tip speed and wind speed 𝜐𝑤.
Wind is introduced from the lift profile (𝐿) and drag forces (𝐷) The torque on the rotor shaft , which is important for the axis
on the blade, resulting in the movement of these forces blade model, can be calculated from the power with the aid of the
wind energy which is called the aerodynamic power 𝑃𝑤 given rotational speed:
as: 𝑃𝑤
1 𝑇𝐴 = ……(2.3)
𝑃𝑤 = 𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 . 𝐴𝑟 . 𝐶𝑝 (, 𝜗) . 𝜐𝑤 3 …..(2.1) 𝜔𝑟
2
 where 𝜔r is the wind turbine speed (velocity of the rotor)
and 𝑇A is the aerodynamic torque.
IV. CONTROL OF THE WIND TURBINE
In a variable speed wind turbine, the wind speed is used for
regulating the torque and the output power. It is difficult to
control the torque of the wind turbine at rated wind speed, so
generally torque control is implemented for low wind speed
regime. The output power is regulated through pitch control
of the wind turbine blade. The pitch angle is used to turn in or
turn out the blades according to the control system of the wind
turbine. The pitch control by which all the blades are turned in
or out at the same instant is termed as collective pitch control
(CPC). The performance of the wind turbine depends not only
on hardware, also on the wind turbine control technique.
The main control objectives of the wind turbine are as follows:
(i) capture the wind power as possible as it can,
(ii) maximize the wind harvested power in partial load
zone,
(iii) guarantee a certain level of resilience of the
mechanical
parts by alleviating the variable loads,
(iv) meet strict power quality standards (power factor,
harmonics, flicker, etc.),
(v) transfer the electrical power to the grid at an imposed
level in wide range of wind velocities.
The control system has three subsystems: aerodynamic
control, variable speed control, and grid connection control.
The generator torque control sets the WT rotor speed to obtain
maximum power production, via variable speed operation.
The controller must adjust the generator torque for
accelerating or decelerating the turbine. The WT can be
modelled as a system subjected to both wind torque and
generator torque and with inertia, damping and stiffness. As
the wind speed changes, wind torque increases or decreases,
and the generator torque must be the actuator for taking the
dynamic system to the optimal operating point. The early WTs
had not torque control. WTs used Squirrel Cage Induction
Generator (SCIG) connected directly to the grid, thus the
generator torque was not controllable, and the generator speed
was tied to the grid frequency. The possibility of variable
speed operation emerged due to the advances in solid state
devices. Electronic power converters (PCs) became suitable to
be used in WTs. The PCs are devices that interface the
generator with the grid, by decoupling the generator speed
from the grid frequency. PCs execute the electronic switching
of stator and rotor voltages to produce the desired voltage
frequencies, making possible to control generator torque and
the active/reactive power produced in the generator.
Nowadays, most of the generators used in variable-speed
operation include the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator
(DFIG) and the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator
(PMSG). The WT torque control is realized by a two-layer
controller in a cascaded structure. The external control loop
determines the torque set-point via MPPT strategy. The inner
control loop, also called the electrical control loop, is
implemented via PCs and receives the torque set-point from
the external control loop. Since the generator electrical
dynamics is much faster than the WT mechanical dynamics,
the electrical control loop is an actuator and to have no
significative control concerns. Control must be focused on the
implementation of MPPT strategy. The torque set-point
should take the
WT to the optimal operation point while maintaining
reduced loads. To execute the task, there are many MPPT
strategies such as:
(i) Optimal Torque Control (OTC)
(ii) Power Signal Feedback (PSF)
(iii) Hill Climb Search (HCS)
(iv) Sliding Mode Control (SMC)
(v) Optimum Relation Based (ORB), etc.

Table 1 :- The comparison of different MPPT strategies is given in below table[2]:

Type of WSR Complexity Memory Convergence Performance Dynamic Training Efficiency

algorithms speed at varying response knowledge (%)
wind speed
OTC Not Simple No Need Fast Excellent Fast Provided 90.66
Required
PSF Required Simple Necessary Fast Good Moderate Provided 91.50

HCS Not Simple Not Slow Slow Slow Not 81.33

Required Necessary Required
TSR Required Simple Not Fast Excellent Moderate Not 92.32
Necessary Required
ORB Not Simple Not Medium Medium Medium Not 80.24
Required Necessary Required
 V. WIND TURBINE PITCH CONTROL
Pitch control allows to change the pitch angle of WT’s
blades in order to control its aerodynamic efficiency. The
pitch angle is a major WT parameter as it determines the
wind’s angle of attack. Thus, turning the blades around
their own axes changes the relative wind flow and
consequently the aerodynamic loads exerted on the rotor.
Moreover, the power coefficient varies according to the
pitch angle and consequently the power capture varies as
well. Therefore, pitch angle control has a twofold role:
power regulation and load reduction[2].
Figure 3
These are prominent in operation on region 3,
where the power production must be limited to the rated
one and the high wind speeds imposes severe loads to WT
structure and rotor. Different concepts have been proposed
along the years for power regulation and load reduction of
WTs. The early WTs were controlled by passive means
using the blades’ aerodynamic characteristics. The air foils
were designed to stall when subjected to high wind
regimes, which is called passive stall control.
Nonadditional actuator was necessary; thus a simple and
low-cost power control was realized. However, the
controllability was very limited as it was based on a natural
stall phenomenon without any active control. In passive
stall control, the WT is subjected to more power
fluctuations, torque spikes and varying load effort. For
overcoming these drawbacks, modern WTs use active pitch
control, with electrical or hydraulic pitch actuators. In
Region 3, the generator torque is usually imposed to be
constant while the pitch control should be working to
maintain constant rotor speed. While changing the pitch
angle the control system is also changing the wind torque
and accelerating or decelerating the turbine. As torque and
speed are set to be constant, the power production is limited
and mechanical loads are reduced, reaching the control
objectives of region 3. Typically, the pitch control loop
uses only the rotor speed as feedback signal and the pitch
commanded value is the same for the three blades. This is
the so-called collective pitch control (CPC). A modern
researched pitch control with the specific aim of load
reduction is the method of individual pitch control (IPC).
Both CPC and IPC techniques are reviewed in the
following.
A. Collective Pitch Control (CPC)
This is the most commonly used method of pitch control,
which is largely implemented in commercial turbines. The
commanded pitch is sent collectively for the blades,
meaning that the same control action is taken in each one
of them. Usually, CPC implementation relies on a simple
PID (proportional-integral-derivative) control law, with
rotor speed variation being the error signal for the closed-
loop control. A systematic simulation-based procedure for
selecting the PID control gains can be found in. As the WT
is a nonlinear system, applying a linear control law such as
this simple PID requires linearization around an operating
point. Different operational conditions degrade controller’s
performance and hence gain scheduling techniques are
necessary for improving efficiency Such techniques are
widely present in the literature. Although PID control with
gain scheduling is the classical CPC implementation, the
constant pursuit for load reduction has motivated the rise of
modern CPC approaches in many research works. Robust
and adaptive methods are used to overcome modelling
uncertainties. Develop adaptive pitch control with concerns
to disturbance rejection. This work is followed by, where
this adaptive controller is extended with a Residual Mode
Filter (RMF) to avoid modal WT subsystems that can be
excited during operation especially in turbulent conditions.
On the other hand, nonlinear modelling is used in, where
fuzzy methods develop a T-S model for pitch control
purposes. A hybrid Fuzzy-PI control is considered in
Duong et al. (2014), where the focus is CPC to smooth
power fluctuations. Controllers based on neural networks,
although less present in the literature, can also be
envisaged. CPC with fault tolerant control (FTC) has been
researched for installations of hard maintenance, as
offshore WT. Fault tolerant capability is essential to reduce
WT downtimes and fault detection and FTC are pointed as
critical research fields for the wind industry. In Sloth et al.
(2011), authors propose both active and passive fault
tolerant pitch controllers, which can perform well even in
the presence of leakage in the pitch hydraulic system. The
active FTC (AFTC) relies on information from a fault
diagnosis system while passive FTC (PFTC) does not
depend on such a system but is less performant. A more
sophisticated approach is used by Luzar and Witczak
(2014). System identification is proceeded by neural
network for assembling a Linear Parameter Varying (LPV)
system, which allows handling system nonlinearities and
develop an AFTC[3].
Another promising field of research is predictive
and feed forward CPC, due to the advances in LIDAR
(Light Detection and Ranging) applications. LIDAR is a
sensing technology used to remotely measure the wind
speed based on laser diffraction. An early work considering
feedforward-CPC has simulation proven significant load
reductions, in order of 10%. Since then, many papers have
demonstrated such benefits. considers LIDAR
measurements to design a feedforward controller using a
non-causal series expansion for inverse-model control.
Inverse-models aim on cancelling disturbances affecting
controlled outputs. The proposed controller has performed
better than baseline CPC feedback control. More recent
research conducted by Koerber and King (2013), suggests
a Model Predictive Control (MPC) designed using LIDAR
measurements as preview information. MPC is a
multivariable and constraint handling method. Authors use
torque and pitch as control signals and consider constraints
on pitch rate. MPC allows an optimization procedure, and
the simulations show better performance than the
traditional PID controller. Finally, field tests proving
effectiveness of feedforward CPC can be found in Schlipf
et al. (2014)[3].
B. Individual Pitch Control (CPC)
IPC is the most recent development in pitch control, which
has been intensively researched in the last years, but still
not completely implemented in commercial WTs. It is
expected to be largely applied in the next generation of
turbines to shift WT’s design for more and more larger and
flexible blades. IPC is a technique frequently pointed in the
literature as capable of reducing loads and fatigue damage.
It makes the WT control system an inherently Multiple-
Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) system since it requires
individual pitch commands for each blade and the presence
of additional sensors. These could be strain gauges or
accelerometers enabling measuring of variables such as
blade root moment or tower displacement. Based on the
additional measures, the controller performs an additional
control action that is individual to each blade. The aim is to
adjust the pitch angle to reduce the blade root moment or
damping structural modes. Individual pitch command
works in a different frequency range from the collective
pitch one. The pure CPC has the objective of regulating
rotor speed while IPC envisages little adjustments in pitch
angle for reducing stresses. Although simulations prove the
benefits of using IPC, the field tests and practical
implementation remain in course. In the point of view of
hardware, the challenge remains about sensors reliability,
as the modern WTs are already equipped with individual
pitch actuators for each blade. Sensors installed at the
blades would operate under several conditions and difficult
maintenance. There is also a concern about the wear in
individual pitch mechanisms due to the increased actuation
cycle. Despite these practical questions, IPC papers
generally focus on control methods, and this is a fertile
research field[3].
Early proposals of IPC relied on feedback control based
on structural sensors. The most recent development
consists in using LIDAR technology for feedforward
control. The preview information about wind inflow
provided by LIDAR allows the control system to act in
advance to incoming wind events, as gusts or disturbances.
Laks et al. (2011) compare feedforward IPC to the IPC
feedback only, based on H∞ techniques. Simulations
results show reductions in damage equivalent loads (DEL),
a standard measure of fatigue damage. A technical report
from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) deals with different LIDAR-based strategies for
IPC, comparing preview time and LIDAR
implementations. Feedforward strategies using MPC,
which is a MIMO method in nature, are also very suitable
for IPC[3].
VI. GRID INTEGRATION CONTROL FOR FREQUENCY
REGULATION
The integration of WT into grid power systems presents
important challenges due to the characteristics of wind
generation. The randomness and fluctuating nature of the
wind can cause problems for both power system stability
and power quality. Power quality refers to concerns such as
flicker and harmonics, which implies controlling the
voltage within a strict range of values. On the other hand,
power system stability encompasses frequency regulation,
which requires maintaining the power system’s nominal
frequency regardless the variations of electrical load
demand. Thereby, grid integration control of WT is a
twofold problem. Regarding to power quality, much
research has been done and advances in power electronics
are improving WT power quality using reactive power
compensation and voltage control. Frequency regulation
requirements emerge as the wind power becomes
increasingly widespread. It is easy to prove that problems
related to frequency stability may arise due to increasing
participation of WT in power systems. In the last years,
with the strong growth of wind power, frequency regulation
has become a main concern in WT grid integration. It is
also the most recent development in WT control. Many WT
manufacturers have recently reached the minimal
requirements of frequency regulation capabilities, but
research is still ongoing to understand the limits and
possibilities of this technology. WTs are different from
conventional power plants, where the fuel is controllable
and can be adjusted according to the frequency needs. The
main objective of a power system is to provide electrical
power guaranteeing the balance between power demand
and power supply. If there is an imbalance, the frequency
will suffer a drop, when the demand is larger than the
supply, or an increase, when the supply is larger than the
demand. Alterations on frequency can damage devices
connected to the grid and can even lead to a grid fault with
system blackout. Therefore, an increased level of wind
energy penetration must be accompanied by frequency
regulation capability of WT and some utilities grid codes
already impose it. One can classify the frequency
adjustments provided by WT according to different time
scales. Inertia emulation is the shorter one and is used to
slow down the initial rate of change in frequency. Primary
frequency control (PFC) is the next and is used to bring
frequency to a steady level [4].
The last one corresponds to automatic generation
control (AGC), used to bring frequency back to its nominal
level. As frequency depends on balancing load and supply,
the electrical power generated by WT should be controlled
to certain values. This is the so-called active power control.
It could be implemented using both torque or pitch
controllers on different WT operational regions. According
to these, there are many research papers developing WT
frequency regulation capabilities. The early proposals for
frequency regulation were made by Rodriguez-Amenedo et [2] Review on control techniques and methodologies for
al. (2002), where pitch control was used to follow a variable maximum power extraction from wind energy systems
power reference and thus implement AGC. Torque control ISSN 1752-1416 Received on 4th May 2018 Revised 31st
for the same purposes was considered in Pudjianto et al. July 2018 Accepted on 3rd August 2018 doi: 10.1049/iet-
(2007). More recently, the torque methods have been rpg.2018.5206 www.ietdl.org Mekalathur B. Hemanth
considered for de-rated operation, which consists in Kumar1, Balasubramanian Saravanan1 , Padmanaban
maintaining a power reserve that can be used for PFC Sanjeevi kumar, Frede Blaabjerg School of Electrical
purposes. However, modern multivariable control Engineering, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India.
strategies are the newest approaches for PFC [4].
[3] Review on Frequency Control of Power Systems with
In Camblong et al. (2014), multivariable control is Wind Power Penetration Yuan-zhang SUN, Senior
developed for frequency regulation via a MIMO LQG Member, IEEE, Zhao-sui ZHANG, Guo-jie LI, Member,
controller, which considers also individual pitch and torque IEEE, and Jin LIN.
controllers acting simultaneously in full-load region. MPC
is another multivariable control used for frequency [4] A review on wind turbine control and its associated
regulation, in different contexts. In Kassem (2012), pitch methods Eduardo Jose Novaes Menezes, Alex Maurício
control based on MPC is considered for load-frequency Araújo, Nadege Sophie Bouchonneau da Silva UFPE e
adjustments. A frequency control for a multi-area power Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of
system using MPC is developed in. Hybrid power systems Mechanical Engineering, Recife, Brazil.
e.g. wind-diesel can also be frequency-controlled by MPC.
Despite the above modern methods for PFC and AGC,
inertia emulation has been traditionally studied according
to simple proportional-derivative control. However, In a
recent research presents an optimization procedure based
on particle swarm optimization (PSO). To sum up the
above papers, one can state that, although the multiple
focus of research, the main strategy is to develop frequency
control by operating WT in a speed higher than the optimal,
as shown in the complete report by Elaet al. (2014). Due to
this non-optimal operation, there is a power reserve that can
be enabled changing the operational point to the optimal
one. The power reserve is used when necessary to balance
frequency drops. At last, beyond the research works, it is
remarkable the effort of wind industry R&D for achieving
high levels of WT’s frequency reliability. The technology
is proprietary, but it is worthy to note that patents are
already being registered [4].

VII. CONCLUSION
The Green energy has opened an important branch and
shows in the rise of technology. The wind turbines and
related techniques, environment, structure, and control
methodology, are paid more attention recently. This paper
presents the most common used wind turbine models which
are classified with respect to different objectives as are more
production energy, safety of turbine, connection to grid;
consequently, the wind turbine dimensions are increased
and the control methods are required to respond quickly and
effectively to the important task of the power generation.
The previous fact results in high cost of the sensors as well
as the instability of the system; therefore, more complex
identification techniques are required to help the control.
VIII. REFERENCES

[1] Modeling and Simulation of Wind Turbine Generator

Using Matlab-Simulink Roshen T. Ahmad
roshen62@yahoo.com University of Technology Mahdi A.
Abdul-Hussain mahdiobaydi@yahoo.com University of
Technology.