A MPPT Vector Control of Electric Network
Connected Wind Energy Conversion System
Employing PM Synchronous Generator
Youssef Errami *, Mohamed Maaroufi
Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingenieur, Mohammed V- Agdal
University, Department of Electrical Engineering, Rabat,
Morocco
errami.emi@gmail.com, maaroufi@emi.ac.ma
Abstract- In this paper, a control for variable speed Wind
Energy Conversion System (WECS) that
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator
described. The proposed approach is based on a Vector Control
theory (VC) for regulate of both grid-side
converters of a PMSG wind turbine. Then, an optimal control
strategy is developed for integrated control of PMSG power
extraction. It combines Space Vector Modulation (SVM) and
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control strategy to
maximize the generated power from Wind Turbine Generator
(WTG). A pitch control scheme for variable speed WTG is
proposed to limit the output power produced by the turbine.
Therefore, WECS can not only capture the maximum wind
energy, however also can maintain the frequency and amplitude
of the output voltage with unity power factor.
effectiveness of the novel control strategy
simulation using Matlab/ Simulink environment.
results have shown the effectiveness of the proposed control
strategy for WECS based on the PMSG.
Keywords-WECS;PMSG;MPPT;Vector Control;
speed control; Unity power Jactor.
I. INTRODUCTION
Over the last years, wind power systems are attracting
great interest and attention as safe, economical and clean
renewable sources. So, it has been the fastest growing form of
renewable energy sources with improving technologies of
reducing costs and higher wind energy capture [1-2]. On the
other hand, variable-speed Wind Energy Conversion System
(WECS) are the dominant technology in the present wind
power industry, as they possess several advantages over the
fixed velocity systems such as the ability to obtain Maximum
Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control strategy to extract
maximum power at different wind, increased power capture,
higher overall efficiency, power quality and it can be
controlled to reduce aerodynamic noise and mechanical stress
on WECS by absorbing the wind-power fluctuations [3-5]. In
WECS, several types of electric generators are used such as
Synchronous Generator (SG) with external field excitation,
Squired-Cage Induction Generator (SCIG), Doubly Fed
Induction Generator (DFIG) and Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Generator (PMSG) [6-11]. Lately, with the
advances of power electronic technology, PMSG based
978-1-4673-6374-7/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
Mohammed Ouassaid
Ecole Nationale des Sciences Appliquees- Safi, Cadi Ayyad
University, Department of Industrial Engineering, Safi,
Morocco
ouassaid@yahoo.fr
variable speed WECS are becoming more popular due to the
incorporates a elimination of external excitation current. Then, the PMSG
(PMSG) is can provide highly efficient and reliable power generation.
Furthermore, PMSG is connected directly to the turbine
and machine without gearbox, so it can operate at low speeds and reduce
again weight, losses, costs and maintenance requirements.
PMSG is an attractive choice for variable speed WECS. In
addition, the PMSG is connected to the grid via an AC-DC
AC converter system so as to extract the maximum power
from the fluctuating wind. For this reason, variable speed
operation of the WECS is fundamental and control strategy for
the system is used [8-13].
In this context, this work proposes a PMSG based variable
Finally, the speed WECS is modelled for grid connected variable speed
is verified by WECS. The system model includes a WTG, a PMSG, PWM
Simulation
rectifier in generator side converter, intermediate DC linl<
capacitor and PWM inverter in grid side converter.
Accordingly, it allows fully decoupled control between the
grid side converter and the rectifier. PMSG is coupled directly
Variable
to WTG without using gearbox. Under variable speed
operation, this configuration play an essential role transferring
the PMSG extracted power in the form of variable voltage and
variable frequency to the fixed voltage and fixed frequency
grid. Considering the variation of wind velocity, both
converters used Vector Control (VC) strategy and the WTG
can be operated as close as possible to its optimal speed so as
to realize MPPT. The grid side converter is used to deliver the
renewable power to the utility grid, to achieve unity power
factor and to regulate the DC-bus voltage. Whereas, a speed
controller is designed to maximize the extracted energy from
the wind which is below the rated power area. Besides, so as to
limit the output power extracted by wind turbine, a pitch
control scheme for WTG is proposed.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The
models of WTG and PMSG are given in Section II. In Section
III, control of WECS will be given. Section IV presents and
discusses the simulation results. Finally, some conclusions are
given in Section V.
 [I. MODELING OF WECS direct stator current, respectively. Rg is the stator

A. Wind turbine characteristic resistance, Lq and Ld are the inductances of the generator on

A wind turbine (WT) can not fully capture wind energy. the q and d axis, If/f is the permanent magnetic flux and OJe is
Then, the output power of the wind-turbine is described as [1]: the electrical rotating speed of the generator, defined by:
[ 2 Cp (A, fJ)v3
Prurbine = 2. ptrR (1) (7)
3 where Pn is the number of pole pairs of the generator and OJm
where, p is the air density ( kg/m ), R is the blade radius
is the mechanical angular speed.
(m), Cp is the performance coefficient of the turbine which is The electromagnetic torque can be expressed as:
a function of the pitch angle of rotor blades fJ ( in degrees )
and v is the wind speed (in m/s). The tip-speed ratio A is = % Pn [ If/riq - ( Ld - Lq ) idiq ] (S)
given by: If id =0 , the electromagnetic torque is described as:

(2) (9)

where Rand OJm are the blade length (in m) and the wind The dynamic equation of the wind turbine is given as:
turbine rotor speed (in rad/sec), respectively. dOJm
The wind turbine mechanical torque output Tm given as: dt
= Te - ll - FOJm
J -- (10)

[ 3-[ where n is the mechanical torque developed by the wind

n = 2 pA Cp (A, fJ)
- V (3) turbine, F is the viscous friction coefficient and J is the
OJm
moment of inertia.
A generic equation is used to model the coefficient of power
conversion Cp (A, fJ) based on the modelling turbine III. CONTROL OF SYSTEM
characteristics described in [10] as:
A. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and Pitch
Control
(4) The MPPT controller is used to generate the reference
1 0.035 speed command which will enable the WTG to extract
fJ3+[
maximum power at different wind speeds. Thus, when the
Ai A+O.OSfJ
wind velocity changes, the speed of PMSG is controlled to
The coefficient of power conversion and so the power
follow the maximum power point trajectory and, the optimum
extracted are maximum at a certain value of tip speed ratio
rotational speed of the generator can be simply estimated as
called optimum tip speed ratio Aopt . For this reason, the follows [5]:
maximum value of Cp (A , fJ) , that is Cp =0.41, is achieved vA
opt
max
OJm-opt = - - (II)
for Aopt = S.1 and for fJ = 0 . Moreover, any change in the R
The maximum extracted power of the WTG is given as :
wind speed or the rotor velocity induces change in the tip 3

( ]
1 ROJm-opt
P/,urhine_max = 2. pA Cpmax
speed ratio leading to power coefficient vanatIOn. (12)
Consequently, the output power of the WTG is affected. This Aopt
power is maximized at the particular rotational velocity for
As a result, the MPPT controller computes the optimum speed
various wind and it's obligatory to keep the rotor velocity at
of PMSG OJm-opt and by regulating the WTG speed in
an optimum value of the tip speed ratio, Aopt' As a result, the
variable speed WECS can operate at the peak of the
different wind velocities the maximum power PTurbine max is
P(OJnJ curve when the wind velocity changes and the extracted. Also, if the wind speed reached the nominal value
6
2 5x10
maximum power is extracted continuously from the wind .

(MPPT control) [5]. That's shown in Fig.l. Maximum power point

2

B. Modelling of PMSG
The mathematical model of a PMSG is usually defined in 1.5
the rotating reference frame d-q as follows [14]: I
"-
v gd = ( Rg +pLd ) id - OJeLqiq (5)
0.5
V gq =( R g )
+ p.Lq . iq +OJe Ld id +OJelf// (6)
-------
34L---
2 5
where V gq and Vgd are the quadrature stator and direct stator 0
Wind generator speed(rd/s)
voltage, respectively. iq and id are the quadrature stator and Fig. l. Wind generator power curves at various wind speed
of WTG, the system of Pitch Angle controller enters in current with P[ controller. The voltage balance across the
operation to prevent WT damage from excessive wind speed. inductor Lf is given, in the rotating dq reference frame, by
Accordingly, by reducing the coefficient Cp' both the power [10]:
and rotor speed are maintained for above rated wind velocities. did-f
Lf . .
So, the blade pitch angle fJ , will increase until the wind turbine --'- = ed - Rt'ld-"t' + OJ L t'l _ t' - vd (13)
' ' q
is at the rated speed. The implemented pitch angle system is
di I
_
shown in Fig. 2 where Pg is the generated power. L q ' = e - RI 1. _ I - OJL l.d_ - V
--- (14)
't q , q , "t t q
, , '

dt
where L and Rf are the filter inductance and resistance
B. Control of the PMSG side converter with MPPT and I
Vector Control respectively; ed and eq are the inverter d-axis q-axis voltage
The generator-side converter is used to regulate the wind components respectively; id-f and i -f are the d-axis current
WTG, which enables optimal velocity tracking for the optimal q
power capture from any particular wind speed. The proposed and q- axis current of Grid. vd and V are the grid voltage
q
MPPT controller generates OJm-opt , the reference velocity of the components in the d-axis q-axis voltage components
PMSG, which when applied to the speed control loop of the respectively. The DC-side equation can be given by:
d Ud 3 Vd . V .
generator side converter control system, maximum power will
C --e =- (--ld_1 +-- q l _ ) - l.d
q 1 e
be produced by the WECS. Consequently, Vector Control (15)
dt 2 Ude Ude ' '

(VC) is adopted and the control scheme shown in FigA is used

as the control methodology for the generator side rectifier with where ide and Ude are the grid side transmission line current
double closed loop regulate. In the inside loop, the current and DC- bus voltage respectively.
controllers are used to regulate q-axis and d-axis stator current The instantaneous powers are given by:
to follow the command, while a speed controller is used in the 'i
outside loop to regulate the generator speed so as to follow the Q= (Vd i _'f - v id-,f) (16)
2 q q
command value OJm-opt, and produces corresponding q-axis
(17)
current command i r. Also, us is obtained by the error of i r
q q q
and i where i r is the reference current. This error is delivered
q q [f the grid voltage space vector U is oriented on d-axis, then:
to a P[ controller. [n order to reduce the copper loss, the d-axis vd = V (18)
current component idr is set to zero. Besides, voltage feed V =0
q (19)
forward compensations, !1us and !1u,\d are added into the
q So, equations ([3-[4) may be expressed as:
control methodology so as to improve the dynamic response. did-f .
L L .
Finally, we use PWM to produce the control signal to t, -- = ed - R"fld-f + OJ "fl _ f - V (20)
dt q
implement the vector control for the PMSG.
di _ f
L q ;;- = e - R l. _ - OJL l.d-f
f ---; (21)
C. Grid Side Controller methodology q fq f f

The grid side converter is used to deliver the energy from Then, the reactive power and active power can be expressed as:
the WTG side to the grid, to regulate the DC bus voltage, to
adjust the quantity of the reactive and active powers delivered Q = 'i Vi _ t (22)
2 q ,
,

to the grid during wind variation in order to achieve Unity

Power Factor (UPF) [12-16]. So, the Vector Control with two P = 'i Vid_ 't , (23)
control loops is used. The implemented controller is depicted in 2
Fig. 3. and FigA. Then, in the inner control loops, P[ Consequently, it's fundamental to control quadrature and direct
controllers are used in order to regulate direct and quadrature current components to regulate reactive power and active
current components, respectively. Although, in the second power, respectively. Then
loop, the DC-voltage controller stabilize, the DC voltage, by
controlling the d-axis (24)

(25)

)_
----,
where idr-f and i r-f are the reference signal of d-axis and q
q
T
axis current, respectively. Qr and Pr are the reference of
pg_Pr_a_e
ld _

PI reactive and active power, respectively. In addition, the inverter

_

is used to transfer all the active power coming from the rectifier
to the utility grid and also to produce no reactive power so that
Fig, 2, WECS Pitch angle controller UPF is obtained. Consequently, the DC-link voltage must be
 e = Kp (i r-/ - i _/ )+ KJ (i r-/ - i _/)dt
controlled to a constant value. It's fundamental to use two
closed-loop controls to regulate the DC bus voltage and the q q q f q
(31)
required transmission line current. Fig.3 and FigA show the Fig. 4 depicts the control block diagram of grid-side PWM
control scheme of DC-bus voltage and schematic of control inverter based on the above strategy. PWM is used so as to
strategy for WECS based on the PMSG, respectively. Pgt is the produce the control signal to regulate the grid-side converter.
Furthermore, the decoupling voltages, Liv et Livd are added
q
'

active power delivered from the PMSG. So, an outer DC-link

voltage control loop is used to set the d-axis current reference
for active power control. So, all the power coming from the
rectifier is instantaneously transferred to the grid by the grid
side converter, while the second channel is used to control the
reactive power Qr , according to (25), by setting a q-axis
current reference to a current control loop similar to the
previous one. Furthermore, the fast dynamic is associated with
the line current control in the inner loop with the Vector
control, whereas in the outer loop slow dynamic is associated
with the DC voltage control. In order to compensate the cross
coupling effect due to the output filter, in the rotating
synchronously reference frame, the decoupling voltages are
added to the current controller outputs.
Accordingly, we use: e et e as:
did_j
to the current controller outputs to compensate the cross
coupling effect.
IV. SIMULATIONS RESULTS
This paragraph presents the simulated responses of the total
WECS under variable wind velocity. The parameters of
PMSGs used are given in Table I. During the simulation, the
q axis command current of the grid side inverter, i r_/, is set
q
to zero; although, for the PMSG side converter control
systems, the d axis command current, idr, is set to zero. Fig. 5
illustrates the profiles of wind velocity, considered in the
simulation, and the rated wind speed (vn =12A m/s). Fig. 6 to
Fig. 9 show the simulation results of pitch angle, tip speed
ration, coefficient of power conversion, active power, rotor
angular velocity and optimum speed wm opt. If the wind speed
_

.
Rjld_,j +Lj
, --- = ed (26) increases, the rotor angular velocity of WTG and the power
,
'

dt converted from the turbine increase proportionally too, with a

. di _f limitation.
R,f l -t, + L,t, --q =e (27)
q dt q Pr
+-----1 X I+-----
So, the inverter q-axis d-axis voltage components can be given
by:
ed = e - Ljwi _/ + V (28)
q
e = e + L/wid_/ (29)
q
Consequently, e and e;] are calculated as follows:

e = Kp (idr-/ - id_/)+ KJ (idr-/ - id_/)dt

f (30) Fig. 3, Control of DC-bus voltage,

Machine Side Grid Side

PMSG Converter converter

Pitch
Control

r
K =. L'>vd=V-LjOJiq_/
p 3V
-

Fig, 4, Schematic of control strategy for WECS based on the PMSG,

This speed limit will be obtained by the pitch angle variations.
The system operates under MPPT control. Consequently, the
performance coefficient Cp is maintained to its maximum
value ( CPmax = 0.41 ) and the pitch angle is j3 = 0 . But, if the
wind velocity reaches the rated wind speed of the turbine
(vn =12.4 m!s), Cp is decreasing because the operation of the
pitch angle control is actuated. So, j3 increases and the tip
speed ratio /L is decreasing. Thus, rotor angular velocity and
power generated are kept constant. The limitation of the power
captured and so of the turbine velocity is carried out using the
pitch control. Besides, the rotational speed of WTG is
effectively limited to 2.57rd/s. The generating power reaches
the rated power of WECS.
[f the wind velocity continues to rise, the extracted power and
rotational speed remains constant at the design limits. Fig.9
illustrates the optimum speed and the speed of PMSG. As it's
clearly shown, the turbine speed follows the reference speed
very closely. Fig.10 illustrates the simulation result of DC-bus
voltage that remains a constant value. Fig.11 shows the
variation and a closer observation of three phase voltage and
current of utility GRID. The frequency imposed by the grid is
50 Hz and we see that unity power factor is achieved
approximatively. Then, the effectiveness of the implanted
regulators is confirmed. The simulation results demonstrate
that the control methodology shows very good dynamic and
steady state performance and works very well for WECS based
on the PMSG.

17 ----
Current
- Voltage
16 2000

15
1000
14
1.5
13
r-------7-----------_r
12
11
-1000
10 0.5
9 -2000
8
0:----0-10--15---=2 0:---------10
----15----=
20 0 5 10 15 20
TimeCs) TimeCs) TimeCs)
Fig. 5. Instantaneous wind speeds (m/s) Fig. 8. Power generated. Ca)
12 r-----------____, 4
-----__
,-----__---- __ -----,
- - Generator speed Current
- Optimal speed - Voltage
3.5 2000
10

8 1-------,
2.5
6

4 1.5

2 v 'v
0.5 -2000
0 1-------'

o 10 15 20 0:---0
------10--15--=2 6 6.02 6.04 6.06 6.08
Time(s) TimeCs) TimeCs)
Fig. 6. Pitch angles f3 (in degree) and Tip Fig. 9. Speed of PMSG. (b)
speed ratio A . Fig. ll. The waveforms of three phase
current and voltage of GRID.
1550 .-------,
- Udc-r
- Udc
0.4 1:------,
0.35
0.3
0.25
1500 I------J_--------_--".J_
0.2
0.15
0.1

0.05

1450
0:---------10--15--=20 0----- 10 --15------.J
20
TimeCs) TimeCs)
Fig. 7. Coefficients of power Fig. 10. DC link voltage.
conversion C p .
 V. CONCLUSIONS
A new maximum power point tracking controller for a
variable speed WECS, based on the PMSG, has been proposed.
The model, used in the simulation, includes WTG, the PMSG
with rectifier, intermediate DC-bus and PWM inverter in grid
side. The performance of WECS has been demonstrated under
varying wind conditions. The proposed approach is based on a
Vector Control theory for regulate of both grid-side and
machine converter of a PMSG wind turbine. Detailed control
strategies of rectifier and inverter have been discussed. For
generator side converter, a MPPT controller is developed so as
to generate the reference velocity speed command which will
enable the system to increase the energy generated from
variable speed WTG under any wind conditions, while the
inverter can deliver the energy from the PMSG to the utility
grid with unity power factor. It is fmally shown that the results
proved the effectiveness of the employed control strategies.
Then, WECS can not only capture the maximum wind energy,
however also can maintain the frequency and amplitude of the
output voltage with unity power factor.
Appendix
TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF THE PMSG
Parameter Value
Pr rated power 2 (Mw)
OJm rated mechanical speed 2.57 (rd/s)
R stator resistance 0.008( Q)
Lq , Ld stator d-axis and q-axis inductance 0.0003 (H)
I(ff permanent magnet flux 3.86 (wb)
Pn pole pairs 60
REFERENCES
[I] Y Xia, K.H Ahmed, B.W. Williams, "A New Maximum Power Point
Tracking Technique for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator
Based Wind Energy Conversion System," IEEE Transactions on Power
Electronics, Vol. 26( Issue 12),pp. 3609- 3620, December 201I.
[2] Shao Zhang, King-Jet Tseng, D. Mahinda Vilathgamuwa, Trong Duy
Nguyen and Xiao-Yu Wang, " Design of a Robust Grid Interface
System for PMSG-Based Wind Turbine Generators," IEEE Transactions
On Industrial Electronics, Vol. 58, No I, pp.316-328 , January 201I.
[3] Jiacheng Wang, Dewei (David) Xu, BinWu, Zhenhan Luo, "A Low
Cost Rectifier Topology for Variable-Speed High-Power PMSG Wind
Turbines, " IEEE Transactions On Power Electronics, Vol. 26, No. 8,
August 20II.
[4] S. El Aimani, "Modeling and control structures for variable speed wind
turbine, " IEEE- International Conference on Multimedia Computing
and Systems (lCMCS'II), pp. I- 5, April 201I.
[5] S. M. Muyeen, Rion Takahashi, Toshiaki Murata and Junji Tamura, "A
Variable Speed Wind Turbine Control Strategyto Meet Wind Farm Grid
Code Requirements,"IEEE Transactions on power systems, Vol. 25, No.
1, February 2010, pp. 331- 340.
[6] F.O. Bennouna, S.N.Heraud, " Diagnosis & fault detection in wind
energy conversion system, " 10th IEEE International Conference on
Environment and Electrical Engineering (EEEIC), pp. 1-4, May 2011.
[7] M. Benchagra, M. Maaroufi, M. Ouassaid, "Study and Analysis on the
Control of SCIG and its Responses to Grid Voltage Unbalance,"
Proceedings of International Conference on Multimedia Computing and
Systems, IEEE ICMCS'II, pp. 1-5, 201I.
[8] Frede Blaabjerg, Zhe Chen, Soeren Baekhoej Kjaer," Power Electronics
as Efficient Interface in Dispersed Power Generation Systems," IEEE
Transactions On Power Electronics , Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 1184-1194,
September 2004.
[9] Zhe Chen, Josep M. Guerrero and Frede Blaabjerg, "A Review of the
State of the Art of Power Electronics for Wind Turbines," IEEE
Transactions on power electronics, Vol. 24, No. 8, August 2009, pp.
1859 - 1875.
[10] Y. Errami, M. Ouassaid and M. Maaroufi," Control Strategy for PMSG
Wind Farm Based on MPPT and Direct Power Control," IEEE
International Conference On Systems and Control (lCSC), June 2012.
[11] S. M. Muyeen, Rion Takahashi and Junji Tamura, "Operation and
Control of HVDC-Connected Offshore Wind Farm," IEEE Transactions
On Sustainable Energy, Vol. I, No. I, April 2010, pp. 30 - 37.
[12] A. Mesemanolis, C. Mademlis and 1. Kioskeridis,"Maximum Efficiency
of a Wind Energy Conversion System with a PM Synchronous
Generator," IEEE-MedPower 2010, Power Generation, Transmission,
Distribution and Energy Conversion, Proceedings of 7th Mediterranean
Conference and Exhibition on, pp. 1-9, November 2010.
[13] F. Blaabjerg, F. lov, Z. Chen, K. Ma, "Power Electronics and Controls
for Wind Turbine Systems," Energy Conference and Exhibition
(EnergyCon), IEEE Conferences, pp. 333- 344, December 2010.
[14] K.H. Kim, Y.C. Jeung, D.C. Lee, H.G. Kim, "LVRT Scheme of PMSG
Wind Power Systems Based on Feedback Linearization,"IEEE
Transactions On Power Electronics, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 2376-2384, May
2012.
[15] Hua Geng, Dewei Xu, BinWu and Geng Yang, " Active Damping for
PMSG-Based WECS With DC-Link Current Estimation," IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 1110-1119,
April 2011.
[16] Hua Geng, Geng Yang, Dewei (David) Xu, Bin Wu," Unified Power
Control for PMSG - Based WECS Operating Under Different Grid
Conditions," IEEE Transactions On Energy Conversion, Vol. 26, No. 3,
pp. 822-830, September 201I.