Experimental results of floating platform vibration control with mode change function using full-scale spar-type floating offshore wind turbine

Abstract

Floating offshore wind turbines have great potential for harvesting renewable energy sources since offshore wind is stronger and more stable than onshore wind. The foundations of floating offshore wind turbines are not rigidly fixed and it leads to vibration of the floating platform pitch angle. This vibration is caused by fast blade pitch angle motions of variable speed control for controlling rotor speed at rated values. This study proposes a control method to address this vibration, floating platform vibration control. This method extracts a natural frequency component of the vibration from the floating platform pitch angle signal by a band pass filter and controls the blade pitch angle on the basis of proportional–derivative control. Its key characteristic is changing control modes in accordance with electrical power. Experiments using a full-scale spar-type floating offshore wind turbine were performed, and results show that the proposed floating platform vibration control can suppress the vibration of floating platform pitch angle.