Development of a Wind Turbine Simulator for Wind Generator Testing

The paper presents the development of a wind turbine simulator which consists of an induction motor driven by a torque control inverter. The wind turbine simulation system includes wind speed simulation, mathematical models of wind turbines, modeling of rotor blade characteristics, modeling of tower effect and emulation of rotor inertia. Wind speed can be easily programmed based on Van der Hoven spectrum, or recorded wind speed data or manual set up. The developed algorithms were implemented by a low-cost, high-performance digital signal controller with C language and the system was tested in a laboratory with a 1 kW dc generator. The power responses, torque responses and tip speed ratio responses confirms that the system can perform satisfactorily under step changes of power reference, load disturbances and tower effect.