Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Analysis of the control structure of wind energy generation systems based

on a permanent magnet synchronous generator
O. Carranza a,, E. Figueres b, G. Garcer b, R. Gonzalez-Medina b
a
b

Escuela Superior de Cmputo, Instituto Politcnico Nacional, Av. Juan de Dios Batiz S/N, Col. Lindavista, Del. Gustavo A. Madero, Mxico 07738, DF, Mexico
Grupo de Sistemas Electrnicos Industriales, Departamento de Ingeniera Electrnica, Universidad Politcnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera S/N, 7F, 46020 Valencia, Spain1

h i g h l i g h t s
" We have presented the analysis of two control structures for WEGS.
" The analysis of both control structures include all the elements of a WEGS.
" The analysis of both control structure are independent of the converter topologies.
" The speed control scheme is best suited for implementation.
" The speed control scheme for WEGS has been evaluated experimentally.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 18 June 2012
Received in revised form 3 October 2012
Accepted 4 October 2012
Available online 3 November 2012
Keywords:
WGS
PMSG
Torque control
Speed control

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the analysis of the two usual control structures for variable speed and xed pitch
wind energy generation systems, namely speed and torque control, to determine the most appropriate
structure to improve both robustness and reliability of this kind of distributed generators. The study considers all the elements of a typical wind power generation system and it has been carried out in a general
way, so that conclusions are independent of the kind of the AC/DC converter that it is used to process the
energy at the output of the generator. Particular emphasis was placed on developing a model of the turbine where the mechanical torque is considered as a system variable and not an exogenous disturbance
for the system, as in other previous studies. After showing that speed control presents several advantages
in terms of stability and reliability, an experimental study of this technique was carried out by using a
grid connected wind generation system, which is composed by a three-phase boost rectier feeding
the grid connected inverter. Other practical issues for the design of high efcient wind generation systems, like the use of a Kalman speed estimator to avoid the need of mechanical sensors, are also implemented in the prototype and discussed in the paper.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Due to the high cost of fossil fuels used in conventional generation system and the high pollution generated by these systems.
Currently, develop power generation systems employing alternative energy sources are an interesting solution. Generation systems
based on renewable energy are having a boom around the world,
one of these systems are wind generation systems (WGSs) [1]. In
the case of wind energy systems is necessary for statistical studies
to determine the appropriate place to take full advantage of this
energy, these studies estimate the average wind speed, the wind
power density and its capacity factor for a specic geographical
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ocarranzac@ipn.mx (O.
(E. Figueres), ggarcera@eln.upv.es (G. Garcer).
1
http://www.gsei.upv.es

Carranza),

eguere@eln.upv.es

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.10.015

area [2]. Largely on the world there are several projects as wind
farms, which seek to increase the amount of electrical energy from
wind, getting with this increase the amount of clean electrical
energy [3]. An important issue in the implementation of wind
energy systems is to establish the viability and relative generation
capacity to conventional generation systems. It also seeks to
reduce the cost of the power generation with the implementation
of wind energy systems [4]. Due to the versatility of wind generation systems, these can be implemented in different applications
and environments, such as a primary energy source in remote locations, with the support of storage systems to provide energy at all
times [5], as well as, these can be used in distributed generation
systems in context the microgrids working both island mode and
grid connected mode [6,7].
In low power WGS, there are used two types of generators,
these are induction generators (IGs) and permanent magnet
synchronous generators (PMSGs) [810]. The IGs need external

O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

magnetization and use a gearbox, whether directly to the grid or

indirectly to the grid by using of a back-to-back converter. In the
case of directly connecting to the grid, the generator is limited to
a xed speed, so that does not work in a wide range of wind speed;
consequently the power that is extracted is reduced [8]. In the case
of indirectly connexion to the grid, the generator operates at variable speed, due to employment of the converter, which ensures
greater amount of power extracted, however, this topology is very
complex and expensive to be used in WGS low cost. Furthermore,
the PMSGs do not require external magnetization, so that may be
employed in isolated grid. Because they are constructed of several
pairs of poles, it is not necessary to use gearbox. PMSG work in a
wide range of wind speed, which is extracted as much energy from
the wind [10,11]. Accordingly in WGS low power, PMSGs are preferred to IG.
PMSG cannot connect directly to the mains; because both the
output voltages and frequency depend on wind speed, then is
necessary a power conversion system for coupling the energy
extracted from the generator and the energy which is injected into
the grid. This system should consist of an AC/DC converter (rectier), which has the function of converting the AC signal from the
generator to DC signals, so that through a DC/AC converter (inverter) is injected into the grid. For AC/DC converter, there are basically two topologies used in WGS. The rst type is a rectier and
a DC/DC converter and the second type is a controlled rectier,
which together with inverter is commonly known as a converter
back-to-back. Inverter is responsible for controlling both the active
and reactive power is injected to the grid, also inverter usually controls the voltage of the DC-Link.
One of the most important issues in wind power generation
systems is to extract as much energy as possible from the wind,
seeking to achieve high levels of efciency and quality of the energy that it is injected into the grid. To achieve that, it is mandatory
to implement the proper control strategies [12,13]. For the case
under study, the system operates at variable speed and xed pitch,
so that the usual control structures are torque control and speed
control. Note that in both cases there is a torque loop that regulates
the generator output current, but in the case of speed control the
torque loop receives a reference signal from the speed regulator,
where the regulated variable is the PMSG speed [14]. Figs. 1 and
2 show the scheme of torque and speed control, respectively. The
MPPT block represents the algorithm of the maximum power point

523

tracking (MPPT) that provides the reference current (Iref) for the
torque control scheme, providing the speed reference (xref) for
the speed control loop if this technique is used. The study of MPPT
is outside the scope of this paper.
This paper is focused on the analysis of both speed and torque
control structures. It is worth to point out that the dynamics of
the wind turbine have been taken into account in the analysis, so
that the mechanical torque is considered as an internal variable
of the system and not simply as a disturbance, simplication that
is usual in the study of motor control applications [14]. After showing in a general way that the speed control approach offers advantages in terms of stability and easier design, a detailed description
of that control technique applied to WGS is presented and experimentally tested. The experimental prototype is a three-phase boost
rectier working in Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM), which
feeds a grid connection inverter. This topology was presented in
[15], showing that it presents some advantages with regard to
other low cost topologies, like reduced value of the total harmonic
distortion at the generators output current and high power factor
in the whole speed range of the PMSG. As a result, the system efciency is increased and the mechanical stress of the generator is
decreased.
Table 1 shows the values of the parameters of the WGS under
study.
2. Fundamentals of wind turbines based on PMSG
The mechanical behavior of the wind turbine follows (1)

dxm
Bxm T m  T e
dt

where J is inertia coefcient, B is the friction coefcient, xm is the

turbine rotational speed, Tm is the turbine mechanical torque and
Te is the electrical torque applied to the PMSG rotor.
The mechanical power generated by the wind turbine (Pm) and
the applied torque Tm are expressed by Eqs. (2) and (3),
respectively.

Pm

1
qpr2 C p kV 3x
2

Tm

1
qpr3 C t kV 2x
2

Fig. 1. Block diagram of the torque control structure for WGS.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Fig. 2. Block diagram of the speed control structure for WGS.

Table 1
Characteristics of the WGS under study.
Characteristics

Values

Output power of the generator (Po)

Output voltage range of the generator (Vab = Vbc = Vca)
Constant of the electromotive force (Kfem)
Number of poles (np)
Speed range of the generator (nm)
Angular mechanical frequency range of the generator (xm)
Angular electrical frequency range of the generator (xe)
Inductance of one phase of the generator (Lga = Lgb = Lgc)
Resistance of one phase of the generator (RLga = RLgb = RLgc)
Wind turbine coefcients
Wind turbine ratio (r)
Inertia Coefcient of the system (J)
Density of wind (q)
DC link Capacitance (C0)
DC link voltage (V0)
Sampling time (Ts)

2 kW
104416 V rms
0.9022 V peak/rad/s
12
150600 rpm
15.762.83 rad/s
94.2376.98 rad/s
25 mH
5X
a = 0.043, b = 0.0108, c = 0.146, d = 0.0605, e = 0.0104, f = 0.0006
1.525 m
0.5 kg m/s2
1.08 kg/m3
2 mF
650 V
10 ls

where q is the density of the air, r is the wind turbine rotor radius,
Vx is the wind speed, C p k is the power coefcient, C t k is the torque coefcient. Both coefcients depend on the tip-speed-ratio
parameter k, and it is expressed by (4).

r xm
Vx

C p k is expressed by (5) and C t k is expressed by (6). Fig. 3 shows

both C p k and C t k characteristics as a function of the tip-speed
ratio.

C p k a bk ck2 dk3 ek4 f k5

C t k

C p k
k

5
6

Analyzing the behavior of the PMSG, it is obtained that the electromotive torque (Te) [16] is determined by (7)

Te

3K emf Ig
p
2 2

where Ig is the generator phase rms current.

7
Fig. 3. Power and torque coefcients.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Applying (7) in (8), it is obtained:

3K fem
Pout p Ig xm  RLga I2g
2

Although the power function is not linear, a linear model of Pout may
be obtained by applying a rst order Taylor series around the operation point. This linear model allows a small-signal analysis to
determine which is the most suitable control. The small signal model represents variations or disturbances in the system operating
point [20]. The following nomenclature is adopted: any dynamic
variable x is represented as: X ^
x, where X is the operation point
value and ^x is the small-signal term.

b out .
Fig. 4. Dependence of the generator output power P




@Pout xm ; ig 
^ig @Pout xm ; ig 
b out x
^m
P


 xm W m
x

W
m
m
@ xm
@ig
ig Ig
ig Ig

3. Modeling of the wind generation system

The main goal in wind power generation systems is to extract
the greatest amount of wind energy and convert it to electric
energy. This is achieved with an adequate control structure that allows the system to be stable in the range of operation and an
appropriate algorithm of maximum power point tracking. The goal
of the MPPT is to extract as much energy, for which, the MPPT
adjusts the operating point of the system to be controlled in order
to achieve maximum power available from the wind [1719].
Considering the electrical losses of the generator and assuming
that the torque induced in the turbine is equal to the electrical
torque in the generator, the generator output power may be
expressed by

Pout T e xm  RLga I2g

10
Applying (9) in (10), it is obtained
b out x
^m
P

3K fem
p ig
2

xm  RLga i2g
@ xm

i
h
i
3K

ig xm  RLga i2g 
@ pfem

2
^


 x W ig
x W
@ig
 m
 m
m
m
ig Ig
ig Ig
11

Developing the partial derivatives, it is obtained





3K
3K
b out x
^ m pfem
ig  x W ^ig pfem
xm  2RLga ig  x W
P
m
m
m
m
2
2
ig Ig
ig Ig

12
Evaluating, it is obtained



3K
3K
b out x
^ m pfem
Ig ^ig pfem
W m  2RLga Ig
P
2
2

Fig. 5. The basic block diagram of torque control structure in the wind generator
system.

13

From (13), the analysis can be performed to know which of the two
considered control structures is most appropriate for WGS. Note
that the generator output power depends on both the generator
current and the generator speed, as Fig. 4 shows.
Figs. 5 and 6 show the basic block diagrams of torque control
and speed control, respectively. In the rst case, the dependence
b out = T
b e should be obof the generated power with the torque P
b out = T
b g because the genertained, but it is preferred to calculate P
ator current is the true regulated variable. Note that the generator
torque has a direct relationship with the current generator as (9)
shows, so that the torque is indirectly regulated by closing the current control loop.

Fig. 6. The basic block diagram of speed control structure in the wind generator system.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538


^ig 3K fem
b out 3K fem
P
p W m  2RLga Ig
p Ig
^m
^m
x
x
2
2

15

In both control structures it is necessary to know the relationship between the generator speed and the generator current. Starting from Eq. (1), it is obtained (16).

1
Js

xm T m  T e

Fig. 7. Block diagram of the mechanical behavior of the wind generation system.

Starting from Eq. (13), it is obtained (14). In (14) it is observed

out =^ig depends on the relationship between the generator
that P
^ m =^ig .
speed and the generator current x

16

Fig. 7 shows the block diagram of the mechanical behavior of the

wind generation system. Tm is normally considered as an external
disturbance for the system. However, Tm strongly depends on both
the speed of the PMSG, xm, and on the wind speed, mx, as it is
shown in (3)(6). Te depends on Ig as (7) shows.
Applying (4)(6) in (3), it is obtained:
2

b out x
^ m 3K fem
3K
P
p Ig pfem
W m  2RLga Ig

^ig
^ig
2
2

14

b out =x
^ m
To analyze the speed control structure, the expression P
is needed. Starting from Eq. (13), it is obtained (15). In (15) it is
out =^ig depends on the relationship between the
observed that P
^ m .
generator current and the generator speed ^ig =x

1
av x
cr xm dr x2m
r 3 x3
r 4 x3
T m qpr3
b

e 3m f 4m
2
r xm
vx
v 2x
vx
vx

v 2x
17

Although Tm is a not linear function, a linear model of Tm may be

obtained by applying a rst order Taylor series around an operation
point. Note that one of the inputs of the resulting linear model is the

Fig. 8. Block diagram of the mechanical behavior model of WGS, considering the wind speed as an external disturbance.

^ m =^ig for Vx = 10 m/s.

Fig. 9. Bode diagrams of the relationship between the PMSG speed and generator current x

O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

527

b out =^ig for Vx = 10 m/s.

Fig. 10. Bode diagrams of the transfer function from the generator current to generator output power P

wind speed, which is considered the true external disturbance,

while the other one is the inherent feedback of the generator speed.



@T m xm ; v x 
@T m xm ; v x 
^m
^
Tb m x

v
x
 xm W m
 xm W m
@ xm
@v x
vx Vx
vx Vx

!
4
1
aV 3x
3er3 W 2m 4fr W 3m
2
3
b
^m
T m qpr 
crV x 2dr W m

x
2
Vx
rW 2m
V 2x
!
4
1
3aV 2x
er3 W 3m 4fr W 4m
qpr 3
2bV x crW m 

v^ x
2
rW m
V 2x
2V 3x
19

18
Developing, it is obtained

^x 0 is considThe wind speed is an external disturbance, so that m

ered to analyze the stability of the speed control loop. The smallsignal term of Tm is expressed by (20).

b out =^ig for Vx = 10 m/s.

Fig. 11. Root locus of the transfer function from the generator current to generator output power P

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

^ out =x
^ m for Vx = 10 m/s.
Fig. 12. Bode diagrams of the transfer function from the generator speed to generator output power P



Tb m 

!
4
1
aV 3x
3er3 W 2m 4fr W 3m
2
3
^m
qpr 
crV x 2dr W m

x
v^ x 0 2
Vx
rW 2m
V 2x
20

The small-signal expression of the electrical torque may be

obtained from (7), resulting in (21).

3K fem^ig
Tb e p
2

21

^m
x

"
#
!
4
3K fem^ig
1 1
aV 3
3er 3 W 2m 4fr W 3m
^
p

qpr3  x2 crV x 2dr2 W m

x

m
Js 2
Vx
2
rW m
V 2x
23

From Eq. (23), it is possible to deduce the relationship between the

PMSG speed and the generator current, following (24).
3K

Considering that there are not variations in the wind speed,

m^x 0, the PMSG speed is expressed by (22). Fig. 8 shows the block
diagram of the mechanical behavior of wind generation systems,
considering the wind speed as the true disturbance for the system.



1 b 
^m
T m
x
 Tb e ig
Js
v^ x 0

From (20)(22), it is obtained

22

Gxg s x^^i m  p2 Js1fem

2qpr3 c1 
g
3

aV x
3er W m
c1  rW
4frV 2W m
2 crV x 2dr W m
Vx
m

24

Fig. 9 shows the Bode diagrams of the relationship between the

^ m =^ig as a function of k,
PMSG speed and the generator current x
for V x 10 m=s.

Fig. 13. Scheme of three-phase boost rectier operating in DCM with PCC.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

out =^ig is unstable for k values greater than 3.

Fig. 10 shows that P
This is corroborated in Fig. 11, which shows the location of the
out =^ig , for k values between 4 and 7. Note that the poles
roots of P
and zeros are in the right half plane at very low frequency and very
close one to each other for different operating points. Therefore,
the torque control scheme is very complicated to implement by
using classical control theory.
Starting from (15) and (24) the transfer function from the
generator speed to the generator output power can be obtained,
following (26).

!
p

b out 3K fem
P
2 2RLga Ig
1
Js  qpr 3 c1
p Ig  W m 
^m
2
3K fem
x
2
c1
Fig. 14. Peak current-mode control loop.

4. Torque control vs speed control

In this section a comparative study of both torque and speed
control schemes is presented to determine which control structure
is the most suitable for use in the proposed wind generation
system.
Starting from (14) and (24), the transfer function from the
generator current to generator output power can be obtained,
following (25).

!
p

b out 3K fem
P
2 2RLga Ig
1
Js  qpr3 c1
p Ig  W m 
^m
2
3K fem
x
2
c1

aV 3x

3er3 W 2m 4fr W 3m

crV x 2dr W m

2
Vx
rW m
V 2x

aV 3x

3er3 W 2m 4fr W 3m

crV x 2dr W m

2
Vx
rW m
V 2x

26

Fig. 12 shows the Bode diagrams of the transfer function from the
b out =x
^ m as a function
generator speed to generator output power P
of k, for V x 10 m=s.
b out =x
^ m is a non-minimum phase transfer
Fig. 12 shows that P
function for several values of k, due it contains zeroes in the right
half plane, which causes the phase angle not follow the same
behavior as the magnitude. It is slow in responding because of its
behavior at the star of a response [21]. Therefore, the speed control
structure can be easily designed and implemented by using classical control techniques.
5. Sample design and implementation of speed control

25

5.1. AC/DC converter and current control loop

Fig. 10 shows the Bode diagrams of the transfer function from the
b out =^ig as a function
generator current to generator output power P
of k, for V x 10 m=s.

The chosen AC/DC converter is a three-phase boost rectier

operating in DCM, which is shown by Fig. 13. A Peak Current Mode
Control (PCC) has been chosen to regulate the generator currents.
PCC is the most used in switching power supplies, as it gives a
strict adherence to the current in the inductor, which is highly

Fig. 15. Bode diagram of the transfer function from the duty cycle to the equivalent boost inductor current Gid(s).

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Fig. 16. Bode diagram of the current loop gain Ti(s).

recommended when working in DCM. Furthermore, PCC is controlled by the peak current in the inductor or power active switch
(power transistor), so that there is an inherent overcurrent protection control [20,22,23]. Such a control scheme was presented and
analyzed in detail in [15].
Fig. 14 shows the block diagram of the current loop with PCC
[23]. The reference for the current loop, Iref, is provided by the controller of the speed control loop.
The current loop gain, Ti(s), is determined by (27) and the closed
loop gain of the current loop, Gic(s), is given by (28).

T i s Gid sHe sRi F M

Gic s

^iL s
Gid sF M

^i s 1 T i s

27
28

ref

where Gid(s), He(s) and FM are the transfer function from the duty
cycle to the equivalent boost inductor current, sampling gain and
PWM modulator gain, respectively, which are detail in [15]. Figs.
1517 show the Bode plot of Gid(s), Ti(s) and Gic(s), respectively,
for various values of the generator speed.

Fig. 17. Bode diagram of the closed loop gain of the current loop Gic(s).

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Table 2
Characteristics in the three-phase boost rectier operating in DCM with PCC.
Characteristics

Values

Boost inductance associated to each phase (La, Lb, Lc = L/2)

Resistance in series associated to the Boost
inductor in each phase (RLa, RLb, RLc)
Capacitance of the lter (C1, C2, C3)
Current sense gain (Ri)
Slope of the stabilization ramp (Se)

375 lH
37.5 mX
2.2 lF
0.015
22.5 kV/s

As the PMSG torque depends on the generator currents, it is

important to know the relationship between the generator current
and the equivalent boost inductor current, following (29).

^ig s
1

^iL s s2 C i Lg sC i RLg 1

29

Table 2 shows the values of its most relevant parameters of the

three-phase boost rectier operating in DCM with PCC.
5.2. Design of the speed control loop
Once set the AC/DC converter used in the WGS, it is performed a
small-signal analysis of the system around the operating point and

it is chosen a speed controller to stabilize the system in the whole

range of operation points.
Fig. 18 shows the block diagram of the speed control loop. K = 1
is the speed sensing gain, Gx is the transfer function of a proportionalintegral controller and xref is the reference for the speed
loop, which is provided by a maximum power point algorithm,
which is outside the scope of this paper.
To analyze the response of the system, the wind speed is con^x 0
sidered as a disturbance input for the system, so that m
around an operation point. The relationship between the generator
speed and the generator current is expressed by (24). The current
loop is reduced to the transfer function expressed by (28), so that
the block diagram of the speed loop can be reduced to that shown
in Fig. 19.
The loop gain of the speed loop, T x s, is determined by (30).

T x s Gic sGxg s

^ig s
KG s
^iL s x

30

The chosen gains for the PI speed controller, Gx are: Kp = 0.05777

and Ki = 0.0187752 rad/s. Fig. 20 shows the Bode diagrams of T x
with the chosen controller.
The closed loop transfer function from the reference speed to
the PMSG speed is given by (31) and it is shown in Fig. 21.

Fig. 18. Block diagram of the speed control loop.

Fig. 19. Reduced block diagram of the speed control loop.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Fig. 20. Bode diagram of the speed loop gain Tx(s), at a wind speed of 6 m/s.

^ig s

Gxr

Gic sGxg s ^i s Gx s
^m
x
L

^ ref
1 Tx
x

31

5.3. Speed estimator

Due to both the voltages and frequency of the generator depend
on its speed, the PMSG speed can be estimated starting from the
measurement of the electrical quantities, eliminating the need
for mechanical sensors. The problem is that the measured signals
contain low frequency harmonics of the fundamental frequency
of the generator, as well as switching frequency components due

to the boost rectier. Furthermore, the fundamental and its low

frequency harmonics have different values depending on the generator speed. These issues have been studied in detail in [24], concluding that the use of a Linear Kalman Filter (LKF) is a good
compromise among dynamical response, static performance and
complexity of implementation. In this case sensors are used to
measure the generator output voltages in order to apply the LKF
speed estimation. The main equations of the LKF used in this work
are expressed by (32). The meaning of each variable of (32) is
explained in [24]. The chosen values of the LKF parameters are:
d = 5  106, Ks1 = 0.0032896, Ks2 = 0.54221 and Ks3 = 0.00044647.

Fig. 21. Bode diagram of transfer function of the speed control loop closed, Gxr(s), at a wind speed of 6 m/s.

O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

533

Fig. 22. Scheme of the proposed WGS.

ek V b k cos hk  V a k sin h
hk 1 hk T s xe k K s1 ek
xe k 1 xe k q^ k K s2 ek
q^ k 1 q^ k K s3 ek

32

6. Simulation results
The performance of the proposed WECS has been evaluated by
means of PSIM 7.0.5 software [25]. Fig. 22 shows the scheme of the
proposed WECS. The system includes boost rectier in DCM with
input lter and PCC control, the wind turbine model, the speed
estimator and the speed loop with the designed controller.
In order to evaluate the dynamic performance of the speed control structure, steps are applied in the reference speed to observe

the behavior of the WGS, assuming a constant wind speed. The

steps Dxref are 20 rpm, the update time Dt of the reference is
10 s and the considered wind speeds are 6 m/s and 10 m/s. The reference speed starts at 150 rpm, however, the WGS is limited to a
maximum reference speed, according to the behavior of the turbine, so for the case of 6 m/s, the maximum speed is 310 rpm
and for 10 m/s, it is 530 rpm.
Figs. 23 and 24 show the behavior of the speed loop to steps
in the speed reference at a constant wind speed of 6 m/s and
10 m/s, respectively. It is observed that the speed loop properly
follows the reference value. These gures also show the behavior
of the electric torque and the PMSG output power. It is observed
that the speed loop properly follows the reference value in all
cases.

Fig. 23. Response of the speed loop to speed reference steps at a wind speed of 6 m/s. Top: generator speed and its reference. Middle: generator output power. Bottom:
electric torque.

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Fig. 24. Response of the speed loop to speed reference steps at a wind speed of 10 m/s. Top: generator speed and its reference. Middle: generator output power. Bottom:
electric torque.

Figs. 25 and 26 show in detail the speed loop response to steps

in the reference speed. It may be observed that the speed loop always follows the setpoint established by the reference speed,
regardless of the wind speed value and whether the reference
speed increase or decrease, thereby demonstrating the good performance of the speed control structure.
7. Experimental results
The following tests were carried out to experimentally validate
the performance of the designed speed loop. Fig. 27 shows the

scheme used for carrying out the experimental tests to evaluate

the speed loop in the proposed wind power generation system.
In these tests the sensorless technique described in Section 5.3
has been implemented to calculate the PMSG speed.
To emulate the wind turbine characteristics, the 2 kW PMSG is
connected to a commercial AC motor drive Siemens Micromaster
440 that feeds a 5.5 kW induction motor 1LE1002CC322AA4Z from
Siemens. With the AC motor drive, different wind speeds can be
emulated by properly adjusting its speed reference, following a
programmed wind turbine model. The PCC circuit for the boost
converter has been implemented around an UC3823 integrated

Fig. 25. Detail of the speed loop response to steps at the reference speed, for a wind speed of 6 m/s.

O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

535

Fig. 26. Detail of the speed loop response to steps at the reference speed, for a wind speed of 10 m/s.

circuit. The wind speed emulation, speed control loop and generator speed estimation have been implemented by means of a DSP
TMS320F28335. Table 1 shows the most relevant values of the
experimental WES.
Some of the oscilloscope waveforms shown in the following are
internal variables that are processed inside the DSP. Those variables are displayed by using the DSP PWM outputs and an analog
low pass lter with a cutoff frequency of 300 Hz. This is a simple
way to display some slow variables inside a DSP without the need

of a digital to analog converter. The displayed internal DSP variables are: the estimated speed with a scale factor of 133.69 rpm/
V, the speed reference with a scale factor of 133.69 rpm/V, the generated power with a scale factor of 500 W/V, the electric torque
with a scale factor of 14 Nm/V, the power coefcient with a scale
factor of 0.12/V, and the wind speed with a scale factor of 2.4 m/
s/V.
Figs. 28 and 29 depict the response of the speed loop to a
stepped speed reference at a wind speed of 6 m/s and 10 m/s,

Fig. 27. Scheme of the experimental prototype.

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O. Carranza et al. / Applied Energy 103 (2013) 522538

Fig. 28. Response of the speed loop to a stepped speed reference at a wind speed of 6 m/s. Reference speed (133,69 rpm/V, 500 mV/div). Estimated speed by means of the LKF
estimator (133,69 rpm/V, 500 mV/div). Electric torque (14 Nm/V, 500 mV/div). PMSG power output (500 W/V, 500 mV/div): (a) time scale: 20 s/div and (b) time scale: 10 s/
div.

Fig. 29. Response of the speed loop to a stepped speed reference at a wind speed of 10 m/s. Reference speed (133,69 rpm/V, 500 mV/div). Estimated speed by means of the
LKF estimator (133,69 rpm/V, 500 mV/div). Electric torque (14 Nm/V, 500 mV/div). PMSG power output (500 W/V, 500 mV/div): (a) time scale: 50 s/div and (b) time scale:
20 s/div.

respectively. It is observed that the speed loop properly follows the

speed reference. These gures also show the behavior of electric
torque and the PMSG output power. A great agreement can be observed between these experimental results and the simulated ones
of Figs. 23 and 24.
The tests were performed by applying a series of ascending and
descending speed steps for a given and constant wind speed. The
speed steps have an amplitude of 20 rpm every 10 s, all tests begin
to 150 rpm but are limited to a maximum step, according to the
behavior of the turbine, so that in the case of 6 m/s reaches
310 rpm and in the case of 10 m/s to 530 rpm.
The speed loop responds to all wind speeds with appropriate
monitoring of the reference speed set, both upward and downward
steps. It is also observed behavior of electric torque and power output GSIP as expected.
Figs. 30 and 31 show in detail the response to both ascending
and descending speed steps for a wind speed of 6 m/s and 10 m/

s, respectively. The graphs in yellow represent the reference speed

and the green plots represent the speed estimated by the LKF. A
good performance of the speed control loop is observed in all cases.
8. Conclusions
This paper has presented the analysis of two control structures
for wind power generation systems. The analysis of both control
structures has taken into account all the elements of a wind power
generation system, taking great care of the turbine model, which
considers the mechanical torque as a system variable and not a disturbance as in other studies. Furthermore, the analysis of the control structure is developed to be independent of the chosen power
converter topologies.
The study has concluded that the speed control scheme is best
suited for implementation because it is designed to stabilize a nonminimum phase system, so that a classical and easy to implement

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537

Fig. 30. Detail of the speed loop experimental response to steps at the reference speed, for a wind speed of 6 m/s. Reference speed (133,69 rpm/V, 100 mV/div). Estimated
speed by means of the LKF estimator (133,69 rpm/V, 100 mV/div). Time scale: 5 s/div.

Fig. 31. Detail of the speed loop experimental response to steps at the reference speed, for a wind speed of 10 m/s. Reference speed (133,69 rpm/V, 100 mV/div). Estimated
speed by means of the LKF estimator (133,69 rpm/V, 100 mV/div). Time scale: 5 s/div.

PI controller may be used. On the contrary, the torque control

scheme is applied to a system that has a pole and a zero in the right
half plane, at a very low frequency and very close to each other, so
it is very difcult to stabilize the system, at least by using the classical control theory.
Finally, a sample design of the speed control scheme for WES
has been presented and experimentally evaluated, showing that
this approach offers an excellent performance to place the PMSG
at the desired speed operation point to extract as much energy
as possible from the wind, following a consigned for the speed loop
that would be calculated by a maximum power point algorithm.
Acknowledgements
The rst author thanks the support of the Instituto Politcnico
Nacional (IPN) and of the Comisin de Operacin y Fomento de
Actividades Acadmicas (COFAA). This work was supported by
the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under Grant
ENE2009-13998-C02-02.

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