Maximizing the overall production of wind farms by setting the individual operating point of wind turbines

The classical operation strategy of wind farms seeks each wind turbine to convert as much aerodynamic power as available from the incoming airflow. But this does not warranty that the power converted by the whole wind farm be a maximum due to the interaction between turbines (wake effect). Unlike the conventional operation, this paper proposes the individual selection of the operation point of each turbine so that the overall production of the wind farm is maximized. To reach that goal, the power produced by some upwind turbines is slightly reduced in order to increase the available aerodynamic power for the downwind turbines, which results in an increase of the overall wind farm energy extraction. The optimization is performed by means of a genetic algorithm that selects the optimal pitch angle and tip speed ratio of each individual wind turbine, in order to maximize the overall wind farm production. As an important side effect, the proposed method, firstly intended to the maximization of the production of the wind power plant, also allows decreasing the added turbulence produced by wakes. As a consequence, the mechanical efforts acting on turbines are diminished and the overall wind farm availability (production) is increased. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.