Coordinateurs du projet
Context
The development of floating wind turbine solutions is a key focus for the use of such renewable energy sources. While significant efforts are being made to design innovative mechanical solutions with the aim of optimizing energy production, ensuring system stability, and limiting stress on the structure, it appears that research into the use of new control strategies is more limited, particularly in France, even though these strategies can significantly improve the dynamic behavior and energy performance of the system. Currently, most control techniques for floating wind turbines are based on linear representations of the system’s dynamics, which reduces their scope of application and results in the need to multiply control laws to cover the entire operational domain.
Scientific breakthroughs and innovation
The primary objective of the O2GRACE project is to study the implementation and performance of new control strategies for floating wind turbine systems. These strategies are characterized by their consideration of the nonlinear, uncertain, and disturbed dynamics of such systems, and the online adaptability of their parameters in order to optimize performance. These control strategies also have the advantage of requiring only very limited knowledge of the system model, which is beneficial in the context of a complex system, and of being operational over a wider operational range.
However, one of the drawbacks of these approaches is the large number of adjustment parameters and the lack of formal procedures for achieving the “best” adjustment. Therefore, the second objective of the project will be to develop a methodology based on global optimization techniques with the aim of obtaining a tool that allows for the effective adjustment of control or estimation strategies.
All of the control or estimation solutions developed in this project will be tested in simulation, on benchmarks defined in partnership with the industrial partner, and on an experimental basin system currently under development at LHEEA as part of the SOFTWIND project.
Expected technical and economic impact
The challenge is to master these control techniques and apply them to robust control approaches for which LS2N is internationally recognized, particularly in the sliding mode community. LS2N therefore aims to maintain its leadership in this community by providing a tool (learning) that is still relatively unused.
From an applied perspective, the French academic automation community has so far shown very little interest in floating wind turbine control. The project therefore also aims to raise awareness of this topic in Nantes, drawing on the expertise of LHEEA and D-ICE partners, who have extensive experience in this field.
Thanks to this involvement, the project will enable the industrial partner D-ICE to acquire expertise in new approaches to robust control and the tools used to adjust them, thereby potentially industrializing these new solutions.
Results
- new control strategies based on robust nonlinear techniques (sliding modes) for controlling floating wind turbines;
- experimental validations on the SOFTWIND prototype;
- development of new stability conditions for robust control algorithms (twisting and super-twisting);
- use of these conditions to design optimization processes for control law tuning;
- participation of the three partners in the ANR CREATIF project on the simulation and control of floating wind turbines;
- participation of LS2N in the submission of a Doctoral Network application.