WindPACT 1.5 MW Wind Turbine Rotor Dynamic Loads Under the Effect of Atmospheric Turbulence

The increasing demand for energy in the modern world, and the environmental effects of conventional energy sources, necessitate the need for renewable energy. Among the renewable energy sources, wind energy provides a clean and sustainable source of energy. Since the wind is of turbulent nature, the dynamic behaviour of wind turbines is highly affected by the turbulence intensity value. The study of dynamic loads and behaviour of wind turbine components is of crucial importance to making decisions regarding a wind turbine’s operation. In this work, the rotor dynamics of the WindPACT 1.5 MW wind turbine are studied under the influence of atmospheric turbulence. Four different wind fields with a mean wind speed value of 12 m/s, and turbulence intensities of 1%, 10%, 25% and 50% are simulated for the study. Rotor thrust force and torque are evaluated for each turbulence intensity. It was found that as the turbulence intensity increased, the fluctuations of the load around the mean value increased severely. For the rotor thrust, although the mean value is nearly unchanged, the standard deviation increases by 325% for the 50% turbulence intensity compared to the 1% intensity. An enormous increase in the rotor torque’s standard deviation occurs as well, for the 50% intensity compared to the 1% intensity, a 1300% increase occurs. The extremely high difference implies complications not only in the tower dynamics but also in the added cost of variable speed control continuously in operation. Continuous monitoring of wind speeds is highly recommended for the decision of putting the turbine into brake in such cases of severe turbulence.