Time Scale Analysis and Synthesis of Deterministic and Stochastic Wind Energy Conversion Systems

The threat of climate change and diminishing fossil fuels demands nothing short of an energy revolution, a transformation which is already underway as renewable energy markets exhibit enormous and steady growth. This paper presents design of optimal control schemes for Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) based on a time scale technique. The dynamics governing the mechanical components of a variable speed wind turbine are decoupled to bring about model order reduction, facilitating computationally efficient control schemes. Linear Quadratic Regulators (LQR) and Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controllers for deterministic and stochastic WECS models are discussed at length. Comparisons were made between controllers for the reduced order and full order systems. The results manifest the effectiveness of the proposed method, which provides comparable control while reducing model order and increasing computational efficiency.