A generic approach to wind farm control and the power adjusting controller

Abstract As wind farms become larger, there is scope for improved operation via wind farm control. Further development of wind farm control would be facilitated by more flexible operation of wind farms and so by more flexible operation of wind turbines. A novel approach to wind farm control is proposed that provides full flexibility of both. It consists of a wind farm controller architecture and an interface to individual turbines. The design of a specific realisation of the interface, the Power Adjusting Controller, is presented that requires little information on the turbine dynamics or controller and does not compromise the operation of the wind turbine controller or the turbine's safety. Results from a DNV Bladed simulation of a 5MW wind turbine are presented to illustrate the behaviour of the Power Adjusting Controller and to confirm that it meets the requirements to enable fully flexible operation of wind turbines and, so of wind farms.