Optimal Design of Offshore Wind Power Farm Considering Wind Uncertainty

Abstract

Abstract This study presents an optimization-based framework for the design of offshore wind power farms (OWFs). First, the main characteristics of the OWF facilities are decided including the size and type of the turbines and the capacity of the inter-array cables. Second, a feasible location for installing the facility is identified by considering various geographical characteristics such as average wind speed and water depth, with the aid of a geographic information system (GIS). Finally, we construct a mixed-integer fractional programming (MIFP) optimization model to decide on the exact locations of the wind turbines and the offshore substations as well as the routes of the inter-array cables, by minimizing the unit cost which is the total installation cost divided by total power generated. A case study is conducted based on the 6 th regional energy plan of Jeju island, South Korea, which plans to construct two 100 MW and one 125 MW OWFs. The optimized unit cost of the OWFs turns out to be 2.3 MM$/MW, which is at par with existing OWFs. Furthermore, we introduce a stochastic programming model to consider various potential wind scenarios directly in the design. The robust design obtained via stochastic programming approach showed an improved average unit cost by ~ 5% compared to the nominal design which assumed a specific scenario of wind speed and direction.