Adaptation of maximum power point tracking controller for damaged wind turbines

Abstract

Wind energy is essential for sustainable energy production, but its growth faces challenges. Wind turbines endure harsh conditions, such as rain, ice, dust, and sea spray, causing erosion and degrading aerodynamics. In this study, we address the relevant issue of leading-edge blade erosion. Initially, the power loss due to erosion will be quantified, considering three severity levels. Subsequently, a controller tuning strategy will be implemented to mitigate these losses during operation. Numerous design load cases (DLCs), each with different seeds, are necessary to achieve statistical significance. Therefore, it was decided to integrate the OpenFAST medium-fidelity software with high-fidelity CFD simulations to characterize erosion and quantify its effects. An initial evaluation of the aerodynamic coefficient maps was performed for the different levels of erosion. Subsequently, the potential gain was quantified by tuning the control strategy. Two sites were selected for the calculation of the Annual Energy Production (AEP) with medium-low wind speeds. Furthermore, a gain scheduling strategy that varies according to erosion and wind speed was considered, achieving positive results and an increase in AEP of up to 0.7% in the most severe case. This was achieved without any modifications to the turbine, but exclusively by acting on the existing controller.