A gain-scheduled controller for improved power regulation of very large wind turbines

Variable speed pitch regulated horizontal axis wind turbines exhibit highly non-linear characteristics at high wind speeds presenting, a challenge for power regulation control. As turbine size increases and natural frequencies of the blades and tower decrease, these nonlinearities are increasingly problematic. Presented is a method for improving controller performance and feasibility for very large turbines. The implementation of a gain scheduled controller for regulation of a 5MW exemplar wind turbine is presented and shown to improve controller performance by accounting for the non-linearities present at low frequencies in above rated wind speeds. The realisation and an assessment of performance of the improved controller are demonstrated.