Floating wind farm design using social and environmental constraints

Abstract

This work proposes a wind farm design methodology, integrating several design variables from different design aspects into an optimization problem, such as turbine power, number of turbines, cable types, wind farm layout and site location. A mixed integer genetic algorithm is employed to combine discrete and continuous design variables to find the design with minimum Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE). The wind farm LCoE is calculated using a wind farm model, which combines detailed cost functions for different cost elements and engineering wake models to estimate Annual Energy Production. The design is constrained not only by technical aspects such as total power, farm area, but also by environmental and social constraints. These include the wind farm visibility, which is a popular concern among the people living along the coast of nearby wind farms, and availability, implying the compliance with the designated exclusion zones. To demonstrate the sensitivity of design constraints, two floating wind farms are sited and optimized as a case study, using different visibility constraints. The developed design tool within this study aims to bridge the gap between wind farm developers and local authorities who are responsible for permitting and zoning of development areas.