A comparative study based on proportional integral and backstepping controllers for doubly fed induction generator used in wind energy conversion system

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative study between the conventional PI (Proportional Integral) and backstepping controllers applied to the DFIG (Doubly Fed Induction Generator) used in WECS (Wind Energy Conversion System). These two different control strategies proposed in this work are developed to control the active and reactive power of the DFIG on the one hand, and to maintain the DC-link voltage constant for the inverting function on the other hand. This is ensured by generating control signals for two power electronic converters, RSC (Rotor Side Converter) and GSC (Grid Side Converter). In order to optimise the power production in the WT (Wind Turbine), an MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) algorithm is applied along with each control technique. To simulate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers, MATLAB/Simulink Software is used, and the obtained results are analysed and discussed to compare PI and backstepping controllers in terms of robustness against wind speed variations and tracking performance in dynamic and steady states.