Direct-drive permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machines for wind turbines are large, heavy and thus expensive to build, transport and install. The structure that is required to maintain the airgap clearance is often heavier than the electromagnetically active material. It is shown that the structural material can be estimated early on in the design process for axial-flux and radial-flux machines. By moving to a design without iron in the stator, the forces that the machine structure must deal with can be significantly reduced. The mass of iron-cored and air-cored axial-flux PM synchronous machines for a range of multi-MW wind turbines is compared. Scaling laws for PM generators in direct-drive wind turbines are also developed.@en

The objectives of this paper are to investigate the feasibility of a 10 MW generator for a direct-drive wind turbine and to compare the generator systems for pitch control and for active speed stall control. The idea behind the active speed stall control concept is to make a rotor that is as simple as possible, and therefore very robust and suitable for offshore wind turbines. This is done by removing the pitch control of the blades. Above rated wind speed, the power is not controlled by controlling the pitch, but by controlling the rotor speed: the rotor speed is so much reduced that the aerodynamic power is limited to the rated value. A rough 10 MW permanent-magnet direct-drive generator design is presented, indicating that such a generator is feasible. It is shown that for a thorough evaluation of active speed stall control, more knowledge is required about changes in the wind speed. However, a considerable increase in generator system cost is necessary to enable active speed stall control.@en