A wind turbine is a 20-year investment that slowly pays back. Over time, each turbine component gradually degrades until the day when its “damage budget” is entirely spent and it has reached its end-of-life. Modern wind turbines can be de-rated to comply with grid requirements, and while energy production reduces, so do the loads. We may, therefore, imagine a situation where the turbine is de-rated purely to reduce loads. Could an active load-reducing control strategy extending turbine lifetime improve the long-term investment?

Requate, Meyer, and Hofmann (2023) present a mathematical long-term planning method called VIOLA to determine the optimal operational strategy of a wind turbine. As proof of concept, VIOLA is applied to a wind turbine surrounded by other turbines and, therefore, affected by their wakes. Requate, Meyer, and Hofmann (2023) show that load-reducing control strategies are realistic and can increase wind energy investments’ lifetime and net present value.

Requate, Niklas, Tobias Meyer, and René Hofmann. 2023. “From Wind Conditions to Operational Strategy: Optimal Planning of Wind Turbine Damage Progression over Its Lifetime.” Wind Energy Science 8 (11): 1727–53. https://wes.copernicus.org/articles/8/1727/2023/