Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Wind energy is one of the most promising and fastest growing energy resources in the world. The installed wind energy capacity worldwide reached 58.9GW (gigawatts) by 2005, and the average global rate of growth over the last two years was 22.5%. Although the rate of growth in Canada over the same period was 46%, Canada was ranked 14th in wind power generation with a total wind power installation of just 0.68GW by the end of 2005. It is recommended by the Canadian Wind Energy Association that Canada achieve a wind energy capacity of 10GW by 2010. This would result in a reduction of approximately 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. A wind energy system is normally composed of a wind turbine, a gearbox, an electric generator, and a power converter system with a digital controller. The technological trend is towards large capacity wind turbines and generators (4 - 6 megawatts) with full-scale power converters. There are a number of challenging technical issues with high-power wind energy systems, such as development of efficient and reliable converters, compliance of transmission and distribution grid codes, management of active and reactive power flow, and advanced controls for system stability, protection and optimal performance. The main objective of this research is to develop efficient power converters and advanced control schemes for high-power variable speed wind energy systems. The research will contribute to the growth of fundamental knowledge through technological innovation in power electronics and wind energy control systems. Technology developed through this research can then be transferred to Canadian industry for commercialization, thereby leading to the creation of high-technology jobs and contributing to Canada's economic growth.