Wind turbine power plant with power saving control method

A central controller for controlling power consumption of a power plant, which comprises a plurality of power generating units including a plurality of wind turbines, wherein the power plant is connected to an electrical power grid, wherein the central controller comprises:

• an I/O interface configured to communicatively couple to the plurality of wind turbines;
• and
• one or more processors configured to perform an operation, comprising, in response to determining that a power production value of the power plant is below a power threshold:
• after a first time delay of a first group of one or more wind turbines, controlling the first group to operate in a power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the first group;
• and
• after a first time delay of a second group of one or more other wind turbines, controlling the second group to operate in the power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the second group;
• wherein the first time delay of the first group is less than the first time delay of the second group;
• and
• wherein the power saving mode inhibits a power consuming activity for the wind turbines operating in the power saving mode.

A power plant, comprising:

• a plurality of power generating units including at least one wind turbine;
• and
• a central controller communicatively coupled to the at least one wind turbine, wherein the central controller is configured to perform an operation, comprising, in response to determining that a power production value of the power plant is below a power threshold:
• after a first time delay of a first group of one or more wind turbines, controlling the first group to operate in a power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the first group;
• and
• after a first time delay of a second group of one or more other wind turbines, controlling the second group to operate in the power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the second group;
• wherein the first time delay of the first group is less than the first time delay of the second group;
• and
• wherein the power saving mode inhibits a power consuming activity for the wind turbines operating in the power saving mode.

A computer program product comprising non-transitory computer readable medium storing software code which, when executed by one or more processors, control a power plant by performing an operation, comprising:

• in response to determining that a power production value of the power plant is below a power threshold:
• after a first time delay of a first group of one or more wind turbines of the power plant, controlling the first group to operate in a power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the first group;
• and
• after a first time delay of a second group of one or more other wind turbines of the power plant, controlling the second group to operate in the power saving mode for a predefined first power saving period of the second group;
• wherein the first time delay of the first group is less than the first time delay of the second group;
• and
• wherein the power saving mode inhibits a power consuming activity for the wind turbines operating in the power saving mode.