State-of-the-Art of Wind Turbine Design Codes: Main Features Overview for Cost-effective Generation

For successful large-scale application of wind energy, the price of electricity generated by wind turbines should decrease. Model-based control can be important since it has the potential to reduce fatigue loads, while simultaneously maintaining a desired amount of energy production. The controller synthesis, however, requires a mathematical model describing the most important dynamics of the complete wind turbine. In the wind energy community there is a wide variety in codes used to model a wind turbine's dynamic behaviour or to carry out design calculations. In this paper, the main features of the state-of-the-art wind turbine design codes have been investigated in order to judge the appropriateness of using one of these for the modeling, identification and control of flexible, variable speed wind turbines. It can be concluded that, although the sophistication of the design codes has increased enormously over the last two decades, they are, in general, not suitable for the design, and easy implementation of optimal operating strategies.