Optimization of wind farm layout and cable network topology under generalized wake effects

PRESSER, DEMIAN J.; FIORINI, M. JOSEFINA; CAFARO, DIEGO C.

Computer Aided Chemical Engineering

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2023; p. 3191 - 3196

The world is undergoing a significant change of the energy matrix towards a sustainable future. Wind energy has proved to be one of the key players in this transition. A new historical record of installed capacity was achieved in 2021, currently supplying 7% of the world energy demand. The optimal design of wind farms is a still challenging problem for industry, aiming at maximizing power generation while minimizing costs and energy loss, also accounting for uncertain wind speed and direction. We propose a mixed integer linear programming formulation coupled to a wake effect computation algorithm to optimally locate and connect turbines in a wind farm under uncertain conditions. In contrast to previous contributions, the proposed framework accounts for combined wake effects that can significantly compromise turbine efficiency and drastically affect optimal wind farm designs and cable network topologies. An illustrative case shows improvements of 6.8% relative to state-of-the art approaches.