A Critical Review on Wind Turbine Power Curve Modelling Techniques and Their Applications in Wind Based Energy Systems

Abstract

Power curve of a wind turbine depicts the relationship between output power and hub height wind speed and is an important characteristic of the turbine. Power curve aids in energy assessment, warranty formulations, and performance monitoring of the turbines. With the growth of wind industry, turbines are being installed in diverse climatic conditions, onshore and offshore, and in complex terrains causing significant departure of these curves from the warranted values. Accurate models of power curves can play an important role in improving the performance of wind energy based systems. This paper presents a detailed review of different approaches for modelling of the wind turbine power curve. The methodology of modelling depends upon the purpose of modelling, availability of data, and the desired accuracy. The objectives of modelling, various issues involved therein, and the standard procedure for power performance measurement with its limitations have therefore been discussed here. Modelling methods described here use data from manufacturers’ specifications and actual data from the wind farms. Classification of modelling methods, various modelling techniques available in the literature, model evaluation criteria, and application of soft computing methods for modelling are then reviewed in detail. The drawbacks of the existing methods and future scope of research are also identified.