Chapter 7 - Wind Farms, Electrical Optimization, and Repowering

Abstract

A wind farm is a collection of wind turbines that act, together, as a single power station. The largest contain hundreds of turbines. When wind turbines are grouped it is important to optimize the arrangement of the turbines so that they do not interfere with one another. This usually requires sophisticated fluid dynamic modeling of air flows for differing arrangements of turbines. Optimization strategies include varying the turbine tower height or mixing turbines of different generating capacities. Another important aspect of wind farm design is the cabling layout between the individual turbines and the wind farm substation. Meanwhile specialized wind turbine transformers are now being made available to replace less reliable off-the-shelf units. Older wind farms can often be economically upgraded or repowered by replacing the original turbines with new, larger, and more efficient units. At the same time the older units may be sold into the used turbine market.