Wind blade twist correction for enhanced annual energy production of wind turbines

Abstract

Blade geometry is an important design parameter that influences global wind turbine energy harvesting performances. The geometric characteristics of the blade profile are obtained by determining the distribution of the chord and twist angle for each blade section. In order to maxim-ize the wind energy production, implying a maximum lift-to-drag ratio for each wind speed, this distribution should be optimized. This paper presents a methodology to numerically determine the change in the twist angle by introducing a range of pitch angles for the maximum power coefficient case. The obtained pitch values were distributed from the root to the tip of blade. The results prove that the power coefficient increases for wind speeds greater than the rated point, which improves the yearly production of energy by 5% compared to the reference case.