A distributed optimization framework for wind farms

• A distributed controller has been developed with the aim of load reduction and power reference distribution among wind turbines..
• A structured matrix approach that makes the computations fast has been implemented for the first time in wind farm control.
• The controller uses a spatial discrete wind flow model, and calculates and sends power reference signals to each wind turbine.
• The power reference signals are obtained considering the trade-off between load and power.
• The wind turbines are defined as subsystems of the distributed system and wind flow and the power are the interconnections.

The wind farm has an intrinsically distributed structure, where wind turbines are counted as subsystems of the distributed system. The coupling between the subsystems is the wind flow and the power reference set-points across the turbines, which are designed to provide the total wind farm power demand. Distributed controller design commences with formulating the problem, where a structured matrix approach has been put in practice. Afterwards, an H2 control design formulation is used to find the control signal set points for the wind farm to minimize structural loads on the turbine while providing the desired total wind farm power.