Control of a Small-Scale Variable Speed Wind Turbine Using Assisted Reluctance Synchronous Technology

This paper describes the control of a small-scale, fixed pitch variable speed wind turbine using an assisted reluctance synchronous machine as generator. A 1.5 kW prototype system is explained, which uses the DC-link of a back-to-back inverter as the field exciter. Finite element software is used to provide knowledge of the parameters of the generator. Specific attention is given to the current and torque control of the generator drive. The performance of the complete system is verified practically by the use of a wind turbine emulator and synthetic wind data.