Sensorless control of wind turbines featuring power efficiency maximization and fault accommodation

This paper proposes a sensorless control technique solving the tracking problem of the Maximum Delivered Power characteristic for a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator equipped Wind Energy Conversion System. A previously published control scheme ensuring the achievement of maximum power efficiency of the wind turbine, not requiring feedback information about rotor speed and position, and about wind velocity, is here extended to consider the drive-train dynamics. Moreover, it is proved that the derived control algorithm can be easily modified to ensure also fault accommodation with respect to a class of system faults, sensor faults being absent because of the sensorless approach here pursued.