How to improve the estimation of power curves for wind turbines

We introduce a dynamical approach for the determination of power curves for wind turbines and compare it with two common methods - among them the standard procedure due to IEC 61400-12-1, i.e. the international standard prepared and published by the International Electrotechnical Commission. The main idea of the new method is to separate the dynamics of a wind turbine's power output into a deterministic and a stochastic part, corresponding to the actual behaviour of the wind turbine and external influences such as the turbulence of the wind, respectively. In particular, the governing coefficients are reconstructed from the data, and the power characteristic is extracted as the stationary states of the deterministic behaviour. Our results prove that a dynamical approach enables one to grasp the actual conversion dynamics of a wind turbine and to gain most accurate results for the power curve, independent of site-specific influences.