Prioritization of power generating units of a power plant comprising one or more wind turbine generators
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorsMu Wei, Karthik Krishnan Jamuna, Jacob Quan Kidmose, Søren Sønderbo Andersen, Søren Kappelgaard
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method for determining power set points of a power plant comprising a plurality of power generating units with at least one wind turbine generator. The determination of the power set points are based on a prioritization of the power generating units, where the power generating units are prioritized with respect to individual power levels or fatigue levels obtained for the power generating units. The prioritization is adjusted so that the adjusted prioritization depends both on the power and fatigue levels.
Claims17
A method for controlling power generation from a power plant comprising a plurality of power generating units including at least one wind turbine generator, where the power plant is connected to an electrical power grid for supplying power from the power generating units to the electrical power grid, and where the power generating units are controllable to produce, dependent on individual power set points, power, the method comprises:
- for each power generating unit of the plurality of power generating units:
- (i) obtaining a fatigue level indicative of a combined accumulated fatigue level of one or more mechanical components of the power generating unit;
- and
- (ii) obtaining a power level indicative of the maximum power that can be produced by the power generating unit or indicative of the power produced by the power generating unit;
- determining a prioritized list of the plurality of power generating units wherein the plurality of power generating units are prioritized based on either the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units or the power levels of the plurality of power generating units;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a first difference between the power level of a first power generating unit in the prioritized list and the power level of a second power generating unit located at a lower priority in the prioritized list than the first power generating unit;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the power levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a second difference between the fatigue level of the first power generating unit and the fatigue level of the second power generating unit;
- changing an order of the first power generating unit and the second power generating unit in the prioritized list based on the first difference or the second difference to produce an adjusted prioritized list;
- and
- determining power set points for a portion of the plurality of power generating units based on the prioritization of the plurality of power generating units in the adjusted prioritized list.
A central controller for controlling power production of a power plant which comprises a plurality of power generating units including at least one wind turbine generator, where the power plant is connected to an electrical power grid for supplying power from the power generating units to the electrical power grid, and where at the central controller is arranged to dispatch individual power set points to the power generating units, and where the central controller is arranged to perform an operation, comprising:
- for each power generating unit of the plurality of power generating units:
- (i) obtaining a fatigue level indicative of a combined accumulated fatigue level of one or more mechanical components of the power generating unit;
- and
- (ii) obtaining a power level indicative of the maximum power that can be produced by the power generating unit or indicative of the power produced by the power generating unit;
- determining a prioritized list of the plurality of power generating units wherein the plurality of power generating units are prioritized based on either the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units or the power levels of the plurality of power generating units;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a first difference between the power level of a first power generating unit in the prioritized list and the power level of a second power generating unit located at a lower priority in the prioritized list than the first power generating unit;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the power levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a second difference between the fatigue level of the first power generating unit and the fatigue level of the second power generating unit;
- changing an order of the first power generating unit and the second power generating unit in the prioritized list based on the first difference or the second difference to produce an adjusted prioritized list;
- and
- determining power set points for a portion of the plurality of power generating units based on the prioritization of the plurality of power generating units in the adjusted prioritized list.
A computer program product comprising software code adapted to control a plurality of power generating units of a power plant when executed on a data processing system, the computer program product being adapted to perform an operation, comprising:
- for each power generating unit of the plurality of power generating units including at least one wind turbine generator:
- (i) obtaining a fatigue level indicative of a combined accumulated fatigue level of one or more mechanical components of the power generating unit;
- and
- (ii) obtaining a power level indicative of the maximum power that can be produced by the power generating unit or indicative of the power produced by the power generating unit;
- determining a prioritized list of the plurality of power generating units wherein the plurality of power generating units are prioritized based on either the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units or the power levels of the plurality of power generating units;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a first difference between the power level of a first power generating unit in the prioritized list and the power level of a second power generating unit located at a lower priority in the prioritized list than the first power generating unit;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the power levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a second difference between the fatigue level of the first power generating unit and the fatigue level of the second power generating unit;
- changing an order of the first power generating unit and the second power generating unit in the prioritized list based on the first difference or the second difference to produce an adjusted prioritized list;
- and
- determining power set points for a portion of the plurality of power generating units based on the prioritization of the plurality of power generating units in the adjusted prioritized list;
- and
- dispatching the determined power set points to the respective power generating units of the portion of the plurality of power generating units.
A power plant, comprising:
- a plurality of power generating units including at least one wind turbine generator;
- and
- a central controller, comprising:
- an I/O interface connected to the plurality of power generating units;
- and
- one or more processors configured to perform an operation, comprising:
- for each power generating unit of the plurality of power generating units:
- (i) obtaining a fatigue level indicative of a combined accumulated fatigue level of one or more mechanical components of the power generating unit;
- and
- (ii) obtaining a power level indicative of the maximum power that can be produced by the power generating unit or indicative of the power produced by the power generating unit;
- determining a prioritized list of the plurality of power generating units wherein the plurality of power generating units are prioritized based on either the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units or the power levels of the plurality of power generating units;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the fatigue levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a first difference between the power level of a first power generating unit in the prioritized list and the power level of a second power generating unit located at a lower priority in the prioritized list than the first power generating unit;
- based on the plurality of power generating units being prioritized based on the power levels of the plurality of power generating units, determining a second difference between the fatigue level of the first power generating unit and the fatigue level of the second power generating unit;
- changing an order of the first power generating unit and the second power generating unit in the prioritized list based on the first difference or the second difference to produce an adjusted prioritized list;
- and
- determining power set points for a portion of the plurality of power generating units based on the prioritization of the plurality of power generating units in the adjusted prioritized list.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.