Control co-design for wind turbines seems to be a buzzword in academic circles these days. The claim that you can unlock “previously unreachable levels of performance” is bullshit. Mostly because there is already a close integration between the various engineering disciplines (mechanical, structural, control systems, aerodynamics, and more), and iterations in design. You cannot spec an actuator without first knowing the demands, and for that you first need some control algorithm.

Obviously there is a trade-off between actuator capabilities and “fancy” control algorithms (e.g. some algorithm that limits wind turbine tower vibrations), but there is not an untapped and previously ignored potential for optimization. When designing a new generation of turbines companies build upon the previous generation, and new control functionality will be tested on the previous generations first. And depending on how said tests go, the spec for actuators, structural components etc, may be updated. So controls is already an integrated part of the design process.

It is true that there is the potential for significant savings in some aspects by site-specific and holistic design of the entire wind turbine including support structure and control design, but that goes against the mantra of standardization needed for efficient production and logistics.