Solving the problem of power ripples for a multi-rotor wind turbine system using fractional-order third-order sliding mode algorithms

Power quality is one of the most prominent challenges hindering the spread and use of direct power control (DPC) in the field of control, especially for induction generator (IG) control. The lower power quality in the case of using the DPC approach is due to the use of hysteresis comparators. This work proposes a new controller to overcome the drawbacks of the DPC approach, such as low robustness and high total harmonic distortion (THD) value of current for IG present in multi-rotor wind turbine (MRWT) based power system. The proposed controller is fractional-order third-order sliding mode control (FOTOSMC), as this controller is used to determine reference values ​​for a voltage. In addition to using the FOTOSMC controller, the pulse width modulation strategy is used to control the operation of the machine inverter. The proposed approach differs from the traditional DPC approach and existing controls. This proposed approach is characterized by high robustness and high performance in improving power quality. The DPC approach based on the FOTOSMC controller was implemented in MATLAB with a comparison to the traditional DPC approach and some related works in terms of response time, jitter, steady-state error, and overshoot. Simulations under different wind conditions are performed to evaluate the designed strategy’s performance and robustness against conventional methods, revealing substantial improvements in dynamic response and stability. The results show the superior dynamic performance of the developed algorithm in terms of enhancing the quality of active power (37.99%, 55.04%, and 44.44%) and reactive power (49.17%, 27.27%, and 30.87%) in the two tests compared to the DPC. This control method effectively reduces the THD by 42.35%, 41.25%, and 31.36% compared to the DPC, resulting in a more efficient and reliable wind energy conversion system. This research confirms the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach in renewable energy applications. It promotes the most efficient and sustainable energy solutions, making it a promising solution in other industrial applications.