ABSTRACT
Wind energy has been exploited for thousands of years. Its principal ancient applications are extracting water from wells, cutting lumber, grinding grain for making flour, and other mechanical power applications. Wind energy has become an important issue for European nations, and political measures are implemented in many nations in order to encourage its use. The first step in a wind energy project is to evaluate the potential of the zone in which it is proposed to locate the eolic park, the life-cycle costs, the reduction in greenhouse gases emission, and the proper wind turbine design. The variable operation requires power converters that partially or totally decouple the connection of the electric machine with the electrical grid. The induction generator used for this configuration is the squirrel cage, because it is the roughest machine and also the most economical. Variable-speed operation is possible due to the power electronic converters' interface, allowing a partial decoupling from the grid.
