Patents Assigned to General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
  • Patent number: 11967824
    Abstract: A method for controlling an inverter-based resource having a power converter connected to an electrical grid includes receiving, via a regulator of a controller of the inverter-based resource, a plurality of power signals. The method also includes determining, via the regulator, a power error signal as a function of the plurality of power signals. Further, the method includes receiving, via the regulator, a dynamic multiplier factor from a supervisory controller. Moreover, the method includes applying, via the regulator, the dynamic multiplier factor to one or more gains of the regulator to determine one or more modified gains. In addition, the method includes applying the one or more modified gains to the power error signal to obtain an intermediate power signal. Thus, the method includes generating, via the regulator, one or more control commands for the power converter as a function of the intermediate power signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Igor Berroteran, Enno Ubben, Dustin Howard
  • Patent number: 11959456
    Abstract: A vibration mitigating device for engagement with a wind turbine blade includes an air flow modifying element that is configurable between a retracted configuration and an extended configuration. A frame is attachable to and has a fixed length in a span-wise direction of the wind turbine blade. The air flow modifying element is movable along the frame between the retracted configuration and the extended configuration. In the retracted configuration, the modifying element extends between the blade tip and the blade root with a first spanwise length, and in the extended configuration the modifying element extends between the blade tip and the blade root with a second, greater spanwise length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Darren John Danielsen, Marc Canal Vila
  • Patent number: 11959464
    Abstract: A method for rotating a hub of a wind turbine in an inching operation to rotate the hub includes reconfiguring the generator from normal operation by coupling a first string of a first electrical phase of the stator in series with a second string of a second electrical phase of the stator, the first and second strings comprising one or more coils coupled in series. Current is provided from a power converter to the first and second strings o rotate the hub. The generator includes a first and a second winding system, each including a plurality of electrical phases in the normal operation. The first string of the first electrical phase is part of the first winding system in normal operation, and the second string of the second electrical phase is part of the second winding system in the normal operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Maxime Fournier, Julio Cesar Urresty, Giuseppe Iurisci, Stanislas Haentjens
  • Patent number: 11946444
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to wind turbine blades (22) configured to receive a peripheral device (250a, 250b, 250c) at a portion of the outer surface (211) of the blade (22), and wherein the wind turbine blade (22) is configured to magnetically couple to the peripheral device (250a, 250b, 250c). The present disclosure also relates to wind turbine blade assemblies (200) and methods (700) to provide the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Hartmut Scholte-Wassink, Andreas Starke, Willem Bakhuis
  • Patent number: 11939962
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to pitch assemblies and methods for determining one or more pitch references for a pitch control system of a wind turbine. The assembly comprises a wind turbine hub; a pitch bearing including a hub bearing ring configured to be attached to a hub flange and a blade bearing ring configured to be attached to a wind turbine blade; a target configured to be attached to one of the blade bearing ring and the hub; and a sensor configured to be connected to the other of the wind turbine hub and the blade bearing ring, and configured to sense the target such that a position of the target with respect to the sensor can be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Joel Maignan, Javier Bescos Grillo, Alio Medina Diaz
  • Patent number: 11942839
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods and tools for mounting and/or removing active parts of a stator of an electrical machine, e.g. a generator. The present disclosure also relates to rotors, stators and generators. A method comprises removing one or more active rotor parts of a rotor of an electrical machine when the rotor is in a removal starting position, arranging a replacement tool in a gap left by the removed active rotor parts, rotating the rotor to an alignment position such that the replacement tool is radially aligned with an active stator part to be removed, picking the active stator part to be removed with the replacement tool, rotating the rotor to an extraction position, and removing the active stator part from the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Alejandro Hernandez Ferre, Pablo Pozo Torres
  • Patent number: 11933270
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods for determining a maximum power setpoint for a wind turbine comprising determining a temperature of one or more wind turbine components, and determining one or more component temperature errors by determining a difference between the temperatures of the wind turbine components and a corresponding threshold temperature for the components. The methods further comprise determining a present power output of the wind turbine and determining the maximum power setpoint at least partially based at least on the component temperature errors, and on a present power output of the wind turbine. The present disclosure further relates to methods for determining a setpoint reduction and to wind turbine control systems and wind turbines configured for such methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventor: Isaac Pineda Amo
  • Patent number: 11923783
    Abstract: A method for operating a multi-level bridge power converter includes arranging a plurality of switching devices including at least four inner switching devices and at least two outer switching devices in an active neutral point clamped topology. The method also includes determining whether any of the switching devices is experiencing a failure condition by implementing a failure detection algorithm. The failure detection algorithm includes generating a blocking state logic signal by comparing a switching device voltage and a threshold reference voltage for each of the switching devices, determining an expected voltage blocking state for each of the switching devices based on gate drive signals of the switching devices and an output current direction, and detecting whether a failure condition is present in any of the switching devices based on the blocking state logic signals and the expected voltage blocking states of the switching devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Kapil Jha, Fernando Arturo Ramirez Sanchez, Nathaniel Robert Michener, Arvind Kumar Tiwari, Robert Gregory Wagoner, Joseph Kiran Banda
  • Patent number: 11923117
    Abstract: A method for magnetizing a section of one or more permanent magnets arranged substantially in a V-shape, comprising: applying a first magnetic field such that magnetic flux lines are substantially perpendicular to a first leg of the V-shape, and removing the first magnetic field. Then the method comprises applying a second magnetic field such that magnetic flux lines are substantially perpendicular to a second leg of the V-shape, and removing the second magnetic field. Systems and methods for magnetizing sections of permanent magnet modules are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Mikhail Avanesov, Neus Galles Raventos, Cesar Muñiz Casais, Julio Cesar Urresty
  • Patent number: 11913429
    Abstract: A method for operating a generator of a wind turbine includes generating, via a controller, a time series of a plurality of operating signals of the generator. The method also includes applying at least one algorithm to the time series of the plurality of operating signals of the generator to generate a processed time series of the of the plurality of operating signals of the generator. Moreover, the method includes identifying, via the controller, patterns in the processed time series of the plurality of operating signals of the generator to identify one or more of at least one slip event occurring in the slip coupling or a surface health of the slip coupling. Further, the method includes implementing, via the controller, a control action when the at least one slip event occurring in the slip coupling is identified or the surface health of the slip coupling is indicative of degradation in the slip coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Shahid Ali, Rupam Mukherjee, Jishnu Kavil Kambrath, Veena Padmarao, Arvind Kumar Tiwari, Benjamin Simon Engels, Norman Arnold Turnquist
  • Patent number: 11901735
    Abstract: A method for controlling a power system having at least one inverter-based resource connected to an electrical grid includes monitoring, via at least one controller of the at least one inverter-based resource, one or more command signals issued by a system-level controller. The method also includes determining, via the at least one controller of the at least one inverter-based resource, whether the one or more command signals issued by the system-level controller includes oscillatory behavior characteristic of an instability. In response to determining that the one or more command signals issued by the system-level controller includes oscillatory behavior characteristic of the instability, the method includes reducing one or more gains of a volt-var regulator of the system-level controller to reduce the instability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Alfredo Sebastian Achilles, Sudipta Dutta, Randal Voges, Enno Ubben
  • Patent number: 11879433
    Abstract: A method (1000-1001) for operating a wind turbine (100) including a rotor (106) having rotor blades (108) and a power conversion system (118, 210, 234) mechanically connected with the rotor (106), configured to convert input motive power into electrical output power, and electrically connected to a network (242) for feeding the electrical output power (P) to the network is provided. The method includes determining (1100) a current frequency (f) of the network (242), and, when the current frequency (f) is equal to or lower than a threshold frequency (fthresh), operating (1300) the power conversion system (118, 210, 234) at an electrical output power (P) which is increased by an electrical output power increase (PI) in accordance with a monotonic function (PI(f)) of the current frequency (f) limited to a maximum value (PImax).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventor: Christoph Schulten
  • Patent number: 11867158
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to wind turbines comprising a tower, a nacelle mounted on the tower, a wind turbine rotor with a plurality of blades, and a wind turbine generator operatively coupled with the wind turbine rotor. The wind turbine further comprise one or more auxiliary wind energy converters arranged with the nacelle. The present disclosure further relates to methods for providing power to an auxiliary system of a wind turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Pedro Palomares Rentero, Alio Medina Diaz, Victor Manuel García Molina, Xavier Santacruz Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 11867150
    Abstract: A method for operating a wind turbine determines reliability of an azimuth measurement system by measuring loads with load sensors during operation of the wind turbine. Based on the measured loads, in-plane moments generated on the blades at a rotational speed frequency of the rotor are determined. The azimuth measurement system has reduced reliability if the angular phase of the in-plane moments at the rotor rotational speed frequency of the rotor deviates from an angular phase measured by the azimuth measurement system by more than a first threshold value. The method generates a warning signal or changes operation of the wind turbine when it is determined that the azimuth measurement system has reduced reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Pedro Arroyo Beltri, Efren Albisu Iso, Louis Bond-Smith
  • Patent number: 11867147
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods and tools for assembling a hub and a generator for a wind turbine, and more particularly to methods and tools for assembling a hub, a generator and a main frame for a direct-drive wind turbine. A method comprises providing a wind turbine hub, a generator and a main frame. The method further comprises vertically moving at least one of the hub and the generator towards the other of the hub and the generator; attaching the hub and the generator to form a hub-generator assembly; turning the hub-generator assembly while gripping the wind turbine hub; and attaching the hub-generator assembly to the main frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Pablo Pozo Torres, Alvaro Frances Perez, Josep Bosch-Collado, Isidre Guasch Aragonès
  • Patent number: 11835026
    Abstract: A root portion for a wind turbine blade includes a coupling flange configured for coupling the root portion to a hub of the wind turbine. At least one support element is fixedly attached directly to the coupling flange and defines a support plane for contacting a transport or storing surface. The at least one support element includes a block member having an arcuate inner surface that conforms to and is affixed directly to an outer circumference of the coupling flange, and an opposite outer surface that defines the support plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Alexis Travers, Sisouvanh Sonethavy
  • Patent number: 11837918
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to rotors for an electrical machine comprising a first type of permanent magnets, and a second type of permanent magnets, wherein the first and the second types of permanent magnets have a same magnetic strength, and wherein the first type of permanent magnets has a first temperature rating, and the second type of permanent magnets has a second temperature rating different from the first temperature rating. The present disclosure relates to generators, and in particular to wind turbines comprising such generators and to methods for selecting or providing magnets for permanent magnet rotors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Julio Cesar Urresty, Mikhail Avanesov, Neus Galles Raventos, Ross Hall
  • Patent number: 11835034
    Abstract: A lightning bypass system for a blade (22) of a wind turbine (10), the lightning bypass system comprising a blade connector (110) comprising an electrically insulating material (114) and configured to be located substantially in a rotational axis (R) of a blade root (24) of a wind turbine blade (22). The blade connector (110) is configured to be electrically connected to a down conductor cable (100) of the blade (22), and comprises a core configured to be electrically connected to a first end (111) and a second end (112) of the blade connector (110). The present disclosure further relates to methods for providing lightning bypass systems and to wind turbine hub assemblies comprising a lightning bypass system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventor: Raul Gracia Suberviola
  • Patent number: 11835027
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to supporting structures for a central frame of a direct-drive wind turbine and methods for managing such structures. A supporting structure is configured to assume a deployed configuration and a stowed configuration. In the stowed configuration, the supporting structure has a shape and size such that the supporting structure can be introduced into the central frame from an outside. In the deployed configuration, the supporting structure has one or more increased dimensions with respect to the stowed configuration, and comprises a working platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventor: Alejandro Hernandez Ferre
  • Patent number: 11815157
    Abstract: It is provided methods of installing a mechanical damper apparatus to an external surface of a tower of a wind turbine, the tower being in an erect state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Renovables Espana, S.L.
    Inventors: Ingo Paura, Emily Jacob Palmer