Modal frequency and damping estimation of wind turbines: analysis of a wind farm

In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis carried out on several units of the same Wind Turbine (WT) model installed in a wind farm. We have collected simultaneous data under several different operating conditions ranging from the idling state to nominal power close to cut-out. Both frequency and damping parameters have been estimated for the first and second Fore-Aft (FA) and Side-Side (SS) tower modes. As far as we know, there are no previous publications combining data from so many turbines, operating conditions, and for a time period spanning several months. We have made use of a novel strategy to isolate the modes and minimize the influence of harmonics, using an algorithm previously proposed by the authors. The main conclusion is that estimated modal frequencies allow for a clear discrimination between turbines, whereas damping ratios, subjected to much wider deviations, do not seem to be very discriminant. We show here results for only one operating mode (nominal power), for which the method has been tuned. The analysis of other operating modes and longer periods, now under consideration, will allow for more conclusive results.