Data accuracy impacts your turbine performance. A wind turbine controller is in many ways the brain of the turbine. The effectiveness of the controller is highly dependent on the accuracy of the data it receives. The more accurate the data, the better the adaptation of the turbine to its climatic conditions. The two main input signals that determine a wind turbine’s performance are the wind speed and the wind direction in front of the turbine’s rotor. It is these inputs signals that allow the turbine to optimise its yaw alignment, pitch angle and rotor speed. This in turn, impacts the turbine loads and energy production. The more upwind the turbine is aligned, the smaller the load impact and the greater the energy output. Algorithms that improve wind measurements Today, most wind turbines measure wind speed and wind direction via sensors located on the nacelle behind the rotor. These measurements differ from the wind speed and wind direction in front of the rotor due to the turbulence created by the rotor and the nacelle. Algorithms are used to convert the measurements from the wind sensors into estimations of the actual wind speed and wind direction in front of the rotor. The algorithms improve the adaptation of the wind turbine to the site conditions through continuous correction factor calculations for wind speed and wind direction measurements. The correction factors applied in the algorithms are based on prototype turbine measurements. They are naturally sensitive to obstacles in front of the turbine, the alignment of the sensors, and site-specific conditions such as complex terrain. It is for this reason, that an upgrade of these software algorithms to actual site conditions of the turbine is beneficial for asset owners. Power Performance Optimisation Vestas continuously develops innovative solutions that make wind turbines even more effective. Vestas PowerPlus® product range targets performance optimisation of turbines already in operation. As part of Vestas PowerPlus®, we offer software upgrades that can increase your wind turbine’s annual energy production by up to 1.5%*. We call this Power Performance Optimisation. The smart software algorithms that Vestas has developed for Power Performance Optimisation improve wind measurement estimates. Ultimately, this leads to an optimisation of the pitch angle and the yaw alignment of the turbine. Furthermore, the algorithms allow for smarter use of power boosts and for the turbine to exploit low air density conditions. *Dependent on wind and site conditions
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