Individual pitch control for mitigation of power fluctuation of variable speed wind turbines

Grid connected wind turbines are the sources of power fluctuations during continuous operation due to wind speed variation, wind shear and tower shadow effects. This paper presents an individual pitch control (IPC) strategy to mitigate the wind turbine power fluctuation at both above and below the rated wind speed conditions. Three pitch angles are adjusted separately according to the generator output power and the azimuth angle of the wind turbine. The IPC strategy scheme is proposed and the individual pitch controller is designed. The simulations are performed on the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) 1.5MW upwind reference wind turbine model. The simulation results are presented and discussed to show the validity of the proposed control method.