Optimizing the Layout of 1000 Wind Turbines

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate an accurate, efficient, and parallelizable optimization algorithm for the layout of hundreds, then 1000, turbines. It is modular and therefore allows different wake effect models to be incorporated. Its computational cost is a relation which depends upon how many candidate layouts it investigates and the complexity of its wake loss calculation. We demonstrate how well it maximizes energy capture and show how it allows one to examine how wake loss scales with energy capture and number of turbines.