Modeling and controller implementation of tidal turbine for Indian remote islands

Abstract

Marine tidal energy extraction faces multi-fold challenges during design, installation, operation and grid-connection. The control of turbine speed with tidal variation is vital to get a steady power output from the turbines during the operation phase throughout the year. This paper deals with the development and implementation of a control strategy for a horizontal axis turbine using the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) approach as the hydrodynamic model and generator (DFIG) control. A control efficiency of 71% is achieved between the system's overall and the hydrodynamic power of a small scale turbine. It is also shown that the generator speed can be well maintained to operate in a super-synchronous mode.