Abstract-In this work a nonlinear model predictive controller with individual pitch control for a floating offshore wind turbine is presented. An aerodynamic model of the collective pitch control approach is extended by describing pitching and yawing moments based on rotor disk theory. This extension is implemented in a reduced nonlinear model of the floating wind turbine including disturbance preview of wind speed, linear vertical and horizontal wind shear, and wave height to compute optimal input trajectories for the individual pitch control inputs and the generator torque. An extended cost functional for individual pitch control is proposed based on the collective pitch control approach. The controller is evaluated in aero-servohydro-elastic simulations of a 5 MW reference wind turbine disturbed by a three-dimensional stochastic turbulent wind field. Results show a significant blade fatigue load reduction compared to a baseline controller through minimizing yawing and pitching moments on the rotor hub while maintaining the advantages of the model predictive control approach with collective pitch control.

The purpose of this paper is to show an exemplary methodology for the integrated conceptioning of a floating wind turbine system with focus on the spar-type hull and the wind turbine blade-pitch-to-feather controller. It is a special interest to use a standard controller, which is easily implementable, even at early design stages. The optimization of the system is done with adapted static and dynamic models through a stepwise narrowing of the design space according to the requirements of floating wind turbines. After selecting three spar-type hull geometries with variable draft a simplified nonlinear simulation model with four degrees of freedom is set up and then linearized including the aerodynamics with the blade pitch controller in the closed-loop. The linear system allows conventional procedures for SISO controller design giving a theoretically suitable range of controller gains. Subsequently, the nonlinear model is used to find the optimal controller gains for each platform. Finally, a nonlinear coupled model with nine degrees of freedom gives the optimal solution under realistic wind and wave loads.

The current key challenge in the floating offshore wind turbine industry and research is on designing economic floating systems that can compete with fixed-bottom offshore turbines in terms of levelized cost of energy. The preliminary platform design, as well as early experimental design assessments, are critical elements in the overall design process. In this contribution, a brief review of current floating offshore wind turbine platform pre-design and scaled testing methodologies is provided, with a focus on their ability to accommodate the coupled dynamic behaviour of floating offshore wind systems. The exemplary design and testing methodology for a monolithic concrete spar platform as performed within the European KIC AFOSP project is presented. Results from the experimental tests compared to numerical simulations are presented and analysed and show very good agreement for relevant basic dynamic platform properties. Extreme and fatigue loads and cost analysis of the AFOSP system confirm the viability of the presented design process. In summary, the exemplary application of the reduced design and testing methodology for AFOSP confirms that it represents a viable procedure during pre-design of floating offshore wind turbine platforms.

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