Productivity of small wind turbines for various wind potentials conditions: application in Bulgaria and Corsica

Abstract

Less or more accurate power curve models are generally used to simulate the wind turbine electrical production versus the available wind speed. However, if such models are adapted to large machines, this is not the case for small ones. The objective of this paper is to study the impact of different small-scale wind turbines power curves and wind distributions on the electrical production. An inventory of small wind turbines available on the market shows a great diversity of technical specifications and power curves and among them, eight types of power curves have been selected as representative of the available small machines. The influence of wind distribution and wind turbines power curves on the estimated production is shown. Lastly, a comparison of small wind energy conversion systems (WECS) performances on various sites in Bulgaria and Corsica is performed and shows that, for a same rated wind turbine power, in a same location, the electrical production varies greatly depending on the wind turbine power curve.