Adaptive robust control to maximizing the power generation of a variable speed wind turbine

The actual wind turbines are provided with adjustable speed generators, like the double feed induction generator, that are capable to work in variable speed operations. One of the main advantage of adjustable speed generators is that they improve the system efficiency compared to fixed speed generators because turbine speed is adjusted as a function of wind speed to maximize output power. However this systems requires a suitable speed controller in order to track the optimal wind turbine reference speed. In this work, an adaptive robust control for variable speed wind power generator is described. The proposed robust control law is based on a sliding mode control theory, that presents a good performance under system uncertainties. The proposed sliding-mode control law incorporates an adaptive switching gain, which avoids having to calculate an upper limit of the system uncertainties that is necessary in the traditional sliding-mode control laws. The stability analysis of the proposed controller under disturbances and parameter uncertainties is provided using the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally simulated results show, on the one hand that the proposed controller provides high-performance dynamic characteristics, and on the other hand that this scheme is robust with respect to plant parameter variations and external disturbances.