Enhancement of Wind Farm Design by Using Biogeography based Optimization

Abstract

This paper investigates the optimal layout of wind turbines (WTs) within a wind farm. Finding the best placement of WTs in a wind farm is a challenging process due to the existence of multiple wake effects. A biogeography based optimization (BBO) algorithm method is proposed to search for the optimal location of WTs in a wind farm (WF), to maximize the power produced by the WF and improve the annual economic performance of the WF. A wind turbine (WT) that operates in the wake of one or more other turbines is subject to lower flow and therefore produces less power. When designing a wind project, the arrangement of the turbines with each other in a wind farm is a very important factor. The best layout of a wind farm is to achieve the optimal placement of the turbines in relation to each other in a given area to maximize the efficiency of the whole wind farm and reduce its cost. A dense configuration would result in considerable power losses. Each turbine must have a sufficient distance from other turbines in the WF where the optimal number of turbines should be placed. The BBO approach is conducted on a 2 km x 2 km wind farm assuming a constant wind speed of 12 m/s with a fixed wind direction, for solving the wind farm layout optimization problem in two different configurations which include 26 and 30 WTs respectively. A comparison of the results obtained with the previous studies shows that the BBO is more efficient in terms of maximizing power output and economic profitability of the same wind farm model, which validates that BBO performs effectively in optimizing WTs placement within WF. BOO provides the greatest improvement in the optimal layout, for example, in the case of the layout for 30 WTs. The power output reaches 15,383 KW, the agreement between the ideal and the optimal layout is more favorable. The difference in output power is only 169 KW (1%). Knowing that the ideal layout is reached if all WTs receive a wind flow with a maximum wind speed of 12 m/s. Furthermore, a case study of wind turbine layout optimization using the BBO program on the Alta X wind farm has been performed under variable wind speed and variable wind direction. The results indicate that the optimized layout of the Alta X wind farm achieves a 12% increase in the power output for a similar cost when compared to the original layout of Alta X. It is also more appropriate for evaluating the wind farm layout in the Wind Power Project (WPP).