East coast scientists develop method to optimize offshore wind farms

The United States East Coast is known to have abundant, strong and consistent offshore wind, which is influencing coastal states to move toward a future in which offshore wind farms have a leading role in power production. However, until now, an effective model to optimize these wind farms had not been developed. A research team from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Old Dominion University has presented a unique method to provide optimal values of component ratings for meeting design constraints while minimizing cost.

Most previous models attempting to optimize wind farms have focused on cost analysis assuming specific component ratings. The team, headed by Shirshak K. Dhali, believes these assumptions often lead to suboptimal design. The problem is much more complicated, with a variety of design variables, including, but not limited to, wind turbine rating and cost efficiency. This influenced the team to develop a framework for computational optimization.

The team focused on developing a design method that could be implemented to maximize reliability while minimizing cost and electrical loss. Rather than developing a specific design, the researchers emphasized the design method and tradeoffs. They could determine that tighter loss constraints increase the power ratings of the transformer cable, and that these tighter reliability constraints lead to a reduction of the number of components needed.

Per Dhali, the researchers could develop a general method that can be applied to aid in the production of optimal offshore windfarms. The generality of the method provides room for refinement as more wind farms become operational.

Source: “Design of electrical layout of offshore wind farms,” by Shirshak K. Dhali and Mahidhar Nandigam, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2017). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4995272 .