Analysis of the performance of GNSS receiver in monitoring the behaviour of the wind turbine nacelle

Wind turbines are frequently employed to harness the kinetic energy of the wind for electricity generation, and they are anticipated to encounter diverse wind forces that could lead to potentially severe structural reactions. Hence, structural health monitoring is an essential task for safe and productive operation of wind turbines. The structural health monitoring of wind turbines is usually conducted using strain gauges, accelerometers, etc., while few studies have applied Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology for monitoring the response of wind turbines. This study is the first attempt to evaluate the performance of GNSS receivers in monitoring the behaviour of the nacelle of a wind turbine. For the purpose of this study, we conducted experiments where the position and behaviour of the nacelle was recorded by an array of GNSS receivers strategically positioned on a wind turbine nacelle. A GNSS base station was used for post-processing the GNSS raw data and the GNSS time-series were analysed to evaluate the GNSS receivers’ performance. Two experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, we evaluated the performance of the GNSS receivers depending on their position on the nacelle and analysed of the precision of the estimation of nacelle position and orientation. In the second experiment, we assessed the GNSS performance under different configurations of nacelle and turbine blade movements, considering scenarios where the nacelle was either stationary or subjected to rotation, and the turbine blades were either stationary or in motion. As the first pioneering study in wind turbine nacelle monitoring with GNSS, in the study, we present the main results of the performance of GNSS receivers in monitoring the behaviour of the nacelle of wind turbine and we develop methodologies in GNSS data analysis to enhance the precision of the GNSS time-series. The study revealed a planar precision range of 5–7 mm during blade rotation, improving to 4–6 mm when the blade slows or stops, alongside a high precision of 1.6 degrees for nacelle bearing determination using GNSS coordinates.