Maximum power point tracking applied on small hydroelectric power plants

This paper presents a new generation scheme for small hydroelectric power plants feeding weak grids. The configuration in use is a squirrel cage asynchronous machine as a generator, rather than the synchronous machine, which is most commonly used for this purpose. Besides the lower costs of acquisition and maintenance of the squirrel cage asynchronous machine, this paper presents a control based on a back-to-back converters arrangement. This control makes the rotor speed be adjusted online according to the water flow through the turbine. This way the potential power generated is significantly increased in addition to turbine operation damages prevention.