Performance comparison of wind energy conversion system technologies

Abstract

This paper intends to give some insights on the performance comparison of two main conversion system technologies from a set of wind farms from two major promoters in the Portuguese wind energy sector. Conversion system technologies under analysis are based on the generator type, synchronous and asynchronous, which are the basis of the dominant technological trends in actual market. The performance assessment is accomplished using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, by computing the Malmquist index for group's comparison. From the obtained results, it is possible to conclude that farms with conversion systems based on synchronous generators have a better performance than the ones using conversion systems based on asynchronous generators. These conclusions may support the decision makers in repowering and overpowering processes.