Intelligent dump load controller for high power wind turbine

Load balancing is crucial in integrating renewable power from large wind turbines into the existing grid. This is due to the fact that the output power of the wind turbines is affected by the wind´s speed. One solution to connect a large wind turbine with the electrical grid is to create a dump load that is responsible for dissipating extra power generated by the wind energy. This paper presents a new system that regulates the output frequency of a wind turbine power generator to 50 Hz using a microcontroller. This new design includes an intelligent dump load controller for wind turbines. Depending on the user´s consumption, the load can go from zero to full load, in a way that the power generated is balanced with the power consumed. The design is implemented and tested on a real large power wind turbine, and the results obtained are very satisfactory.