Multi-Stage Optimization of Wind Farms With Limiting Factors
Larger onshore wind farms are often installed in phases, with discrete smaller sub-farms being installed and becoming operational in succession until the farm as a whole is completed. An extended pattern search (EPS) algorithm that selects both local turbine position and geometry is presented that enables the installation of a complete farm in discrete stages, exploring optimality of both incremental sub-farm solutions and the completed project as a whole. The objective evaluation is the maximization of profit over the life of the farm, and the EPS uses modeling of cost based on an extensive cost analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The EPS uses established wake modeling to calculate the power development of the farm, and allows for the consideration of multiple or overlapping wakes. A limiting factor is used to determine the size of wind farm stages: optimization stages based on the number of turbines currently available for development (representative of limitations in initial capital, which is commonly encountered in wind farm stage development). Two wind test cases are considered: a unidirectional test case with constant wind speed and a single wind direction, and a multidirectional test case, with three wind speeds and a defined probability of occurrence for each. The test case shown in the current work is employed on a 4000 km by 4000 km solution space. In addition, two different methods are performed: the first uses the optimal layout of a complete farm and then systematically “removes” turbines to create smaller sub-farms; the second uses a weighted multi-objective optimization over sequential, adjacent land that concurrently optimizes each sub-farm and the complete farm. The exploration of these resulting layouts indicates the value of full-farm optimization (in addition to optimization of the individual stages) and gives insight into how to approach optimality in sub-farm stages. The behavior exhibited in these tests cases suggests a heuristic that can be employed by wind farm developers to ensure that multi-stage wind farms perform at their peak throughout their completion.