WIND TURBINES, WIND FARMS AND OPTIMAL PLACEMENT FOR THE WIND TURBINES WITH GENETIC ALGORITHM

smail KAYAHAN
Department of Systems Engineering, Yeditepe University, 26 Austos Yerlekesi, stanbul, TURKEY

ABSTRACT This paper presents the modern wind power systems which shows the reasons and outcomes of large penetration of wind power into the traditional power generation systems. Also it discusses about the wind turbines general structure and the wind farms which are comprised of this wind turbines optimal placement and connection. This paper gives information about offshore wind farms and its technical issues. For optimal placement there used an optimization algorithm of Genetic Algorithm. This wind farm case study is in Turkeys one of the most windy place Gkeada. The outcomes are discussed in two aspect while one of them is power maximization with a limited budget, the second one is power/cost ratio with the best placement layouts, results include objective function values, total power output, cost and number of turbines for each configuration. 1. INTRODUCTION The main energy problem in the global world is the growing demand and the decreasing of fossil fuels amount. Also the environmental problems of the new world causes to find another energy source for todays technological and energy dependant world. These kind of energy sources are mainly called the non-conventional sources, wind and solar energy generators are on the top of lists at researches. As a most competitive form of renewable energy, wind energy has attracted more and more attention in recent years. The re-emerge of the wind as a significant source of the worlds energy must rank one of the significant developments of the late 20th century. The advent of the steam engine, followed by the appearance of the other technologies for converting fossil fuels to useful energy, would seem to have forever relegated to insignificance the role of the wind in energy generation. In fact, by the mid 1950s that appeared to be what had already happened. By the late of 1960s, the first signs of a reversal could be discerned, and the by the early 1990s it was becoming apparent that a fundamental reversal was underway. The full history of wind energy studies can be referred to Park (1981), Elridge (1980), Inglis (1978), Dodge (2000) and Ackermann and Soder (2000). Also Goldings (1977) presents a history of wind turbine design from ancient Persians to the mid-1950s. In addition to a summary of the historic uses of wind power wind power, Johnson (1985) presents a history of wind electric generation. The most recent comprehensive historical reviews of wind
1

energy systems and wind turbines are contained in the books of Spera (1994), Gipe (1995) and Harrison (2000). Egglestone and Stoddard give a historical perspective of some of the key components of modern wind turbines. Berger (1997) provides a fascinating picture of the early days of winds re-emergence. [1] The main factors to understand why wind power becomes so popular can be listed as below: a- The need: An emerging awareness of the finiteness of the earths fossil fuel reserves as well as the adverse effects of burning those fuels for energy had caused many people to look for alternatives. b- The potential: Wind exists everywhere on the earth and in some places with considerable energy density. c- The technological capacity: In particular, there had been developments in other fields, which are applied to wind turbines and electrical grids. If we observe the worlds overall map and improvements over years of wind power generation we can see that Europe continues to lead the world in total installed capacity. In 2008, the country having the highest total installed capacity is Germany with 20,621 MW, Spain and the United States are in second and third place, each with a little more than 11,603MW installed. India is in fourth place, and Denmark ranks fifth. Asia experienced the strongest increase in installed capacity outside of Europe, with an addition of 3679 MW, taking the total capacity over 10,600 MW, about half that of Germany. The Chinese market was boosted by the countrys new Renewable Energy Law. China has more than doubled its total installed capacity by installing 1347MW of wind energy in 2006, a 70% increase over 2007. This brings China up to 2604MWof capacity, making it the sixth largest market worldwide. It is expected that more than 1500MWwill be installed in 2009. Growth in African and Middle Eastern market also picked up in 2008, with 172MW of new installed capacity mainly in Egypt, Morocco, and Iran bringing the total up to 441 MW, a 63% growth. The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has set a target to satisfy 23% European electricity needs with wind by 2030. The exponential growth of the wind industry reflects the increasing demand for clean, safe and domestic energy and can be attributed to government policies associated with the environmental concerns, and research and development of innovative cost reducing technologies. (2) This paper will discuss the important issues related to the large scale wind power integration into modern power systems as a new type of power stations. Firstly, the modern wind turbines and wind farms will be described; the wind power development and wind farms will be introduced. The impacts of wind farms on power system are analyzed, then the technical requirements for wind farm grid connection will be introduced. The possible operation and control methods to meet the specifications are discussed. At the last part of the paper before the conclusion placing a set of turbines in the specifi ed wind farm at Gkeada by applying multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) optimization techniques. As in many optimization studies, genetic algorithms (GAs) were employed to address the turbine placement problem5 by using single objective function that lumps all different objectives into
2

one. However, turbine placement problem is a multi-objective problem for which it is diffi cult to identify the true benefi ts and constraints mainly because of the uncertainty in future demands. Here, the objectives are set separately as total power obtained from the farm and cost of turbine investment including installation and commissioning. These objectives allow a decision maker to visualize the trade-offs between power and cost, and more importantly to consider uncertainty in future demands. 2. MODERN WIND POWER SYSTEMS 2.1 Modern Wind Turbines The electrical power produced by wind turbine generators has been increasing steadily, which directly pushes the wind technology into a more competitive area. Basically a wind turbine consists of a turbine tower, which carries the nacelle, and the turbine rotor, consisting of rotor blades and hub. Most modern wind turbines have three rotor blades usually placed upwind of the tower and the nacelle. On the outside the nacelle is usually equipped with anemometers and a wind wane to measure the wind speed and direction, as well as with aviation lights. The nacelle contains the key components of the wind turbine, e.g. the gearbox, mechanical brakes, electrical generator, control systems, etc. The wind turbines are not only installed dispersedly on land, but also combined as farms with capacities of hundreds MWs. Which are comparable with modern power generator units, consequently, their performance could significantly affect power system operation and control. The main components of a modern wind turbine system are illustrated in Fig. 1, including the turbine rotor, gear box, generator, transformer and possible power electronics.

Figure 1- Main components of a wind turbine system

The mathematical model of the grid connected wind turbine is shown in the Figure 2. The wind turbine model consists of a number of blocks where each block corresponds to a physical phenomenon or a physical component in the wind turbine construction. In this paper the mathematical formulations will not be explained briefly. The detailed degree of wind turbine is defined and explained briefly in the Referance 5.

Figure 2- Mathematical Model of The Wind Turbine (6) The conversion of wind power to mechanical power is done aerodynamically. The available power depends on the wind speed but it is important to be able to control and limit the power at higher wind speed to avoid damage. The power limitation may be done by stall control (the blade position is fixed but stall of the wind appears along the blade at higher wind speed), or active stall (the blade angle is adjusted in order to create stall along the blades) or pitch control (the blades are turned out of the wind at higher wind speed). Mainly three types of typical wind generator systems exist. The first type is a constantspeed wind turbine system with a standard squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG) directly connected to the grid. The second type is a variable speed wind turbine system with a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG). The power electronic converter feeding the rotor winding has a power rating of approximately 30% of the rated power; the stator winding of the DFIG is directly connected to the grid. The third type is a variable speed wind turbine with full-rated power electronic conversion system and a synchronous generator or a SCIG. A multi-stage gearbox is usually used with the first two types of generators. Synchronous generators, including permanent magnet generator, may be direct driven, though a low ratio gear box system, one or two stage gearbox, becomes an interesting option. 2.2 Wind Farms Wind farms or wind parks, as they are sometimes called, are locally concentrated groups of wind turbines that are electrically and commercially tied together. There are many advantages to this electrical and commercial structure. Profitable wind resources are limited to distinct geographical areas. The introduction of multiple turbines into these areas increases the total wind energy produced. From an economic point of view, the concentration of repair and maintenance equipment and spare parts reduces costs. In wind farms of more than about 10 or 20 turbines, dedicated maintenance personnel can be hired, resulting in reduced labor costs per turbine and financial savings to wind turbine owners.

2.2.1 Wind Farm Configurations Large wind farms may present a significant power contribution to the grids, and play an important role in power system operation and control. Consequently, high technical demands are expected to be met by these generation units, such as frequency and voltage control, active and reactive power regulation, quick responses under power system transient and dynamic situations. The power electronic technology is an important part of the wind farms to fulfill these demands. Mainly 4 types of electrical configuration can be showen as below: A-Doubly fed induction generator system with ac-grid : The power electronic converters can perform both active and reactive power control and operate the wind turbines in variable speed to maximize the captured energy as well as reduce the mechanical stress and noise. B-Induction generator with ac-grid: STATCOM or SVC can be used to provide the reactive power to meet the system reactive power and voltage control requirements. C- Speed controlled induction generator with common dc-bus and control of active and reactive power: Each wind turbine has its own power electronic converter, so it is possible for each wind turbine to operate at an individual optimal speed. D- Speed controlled induction generator with common ac-grid and dc transmission: Wind turbines are connected as an AC network in the wind farm, therefore each wind turbine does not need a separated power electronic converter system. A comparison of the topologies is given in Table 1, where main features of various wind farms have been shown. The overall performance considerations will also include production, investment, maintenance and reliability, etc.

Table 1-Comparison of four wind farm topologies(4) 2.2.2 Wind Farm Technical Issues Numerous technical issues arise with the close spacing of multiple wind turbines. The most important are related to the question of where to locate and how closely to space the wind turbines (common terms for referring to wind turbine array spacing are illustrated in
5

Figure 3). The wind resource may vary across a wind farm as a result of terrain effects. In addition, the extraction of energy by those wind turbines that are upwind of other turbines results in lower wind speeds at the downwind turbines and increased turbulence. These wake effects can decrease energy production and increase wake-induced fatigue in turbines downwind of other machines. Wind turbine spacing also affects fluctuations in the output power of a wind farm. The fluctuating power from a wind farm may affect the local electrical grid to which it is attached. This section describes the relationship between wind farm output power fluctuations and the spacing of the turbines in wind farm.

Figure 3- Wind farm array schematic

Thus a wind farm will not produce 100% of the energy that a similar number of isolated turbines would produce in the same prevailing wind. The energy loss is termed array loss. Array losses are mainly a function of: Wind turbine spacing (both downwind and crosswind) Wind turbine operating characteristics The number of turbines and size of the wind farm Turbulence intensity Frequency distribution of the wind direction (the wind rose)

Array losses can be reduced by optimising the geometry of the wind farm. Different distributions of turbine sizes, the overall shape and size of the wind farm turbine distribution, and turbine spacing within the wind farm all affect the degree to which wake effects reduce energy capture. About this optimization at the last part of the project there will be an optimization case study which is studied in Turkey. 2.2.3 Development of Offshore Wind Farms Wind projects need a large area to achieve significant levels of energy production, however, it may not be easy to find suitable sites for land-based wind farms, while offshore
6

wind farms have no such problems. Other advantage of moving turbines to offshore is that wind speed is more consistent and less turbulent, therefore more energy production and less wear and tear on turbines. Also offshore wind farms become more ubiquitous than that on land, so that placing wind farms offshore removes or minimizes the visual impact.

Figure 4- Offshore foundation possibilities Meanwhile, wind turbine technology advances have made offshore wind farm increasingly attractive and financially viable. The basic technical requirements for efficient offshore wind turbine deployment are moderate wave heights, relatively shallow water, and class 4 or 5 wind speeds, averaging 15.7 mph or higher [2]. The turbine technology and the actual construction of offshore wind farms are undergoing rapid progress as wind farms are planned to be erected in deeper waters and even further off the coast. An offshore wind farm consists of almost the same components as an onshore wind farm; however, the harsh environment at sea may have more demands on the design and constructions. The operation and maintenance of an offshore wind farm depend greatly on the weather conditions which in some seasons will result in limited access to the turbines. Consequently, these activities become more time consuming and costly. Offshore wind farms now account for about 2% of Europes total wind capacity, Germany alone plans to have 3500MW of offshore wind farms by 2010. It is expected that offshore turbines could be supplying 10,000MW throughout Europe within five years. [2] 2.2.4 Operation and Control of Wind Farms in a Grid Integration of large scale wind power may have severe impacts on the power system operation. Stable, reliable and economic operation of the power system under the massive integration of wind power is a big challenge to power system operators. The technical specifications, grid codes, for grid connection of wind turbines have been produced to specify the requirements that wind turbines must meet in order to be connected to theelectric grid. Electric grids can be divided into four main parts: generation, transmission, distribution, and supply feeders (Fig. 5)

Figure 5-Electric grid system schematic The requirements which mentioned above can be listed as follows. The reactive power should be regulated within a control band, at a maximum level of 10% of rated power Wind turbine will generally operate in normal conditions (90 105% voltage and 49 51 Hz), however, it may also be allowed to operate outside of the above conditions within specified time limits Under the condition of a power system fault, a wind turbine would experience a voltage variation. The severity of the voltage variation and the time period of such voltage variation will determine whether the wind turbine must not be disconnected (low voltage ride through) or may be disconnected or must be disconnected.

3. WIND FARM PLACEMENT OPTIMIZATION WITH GENETIC ALGORITHM 3.1 System Definition The wind power harnessed by a set of wind turbines within the confined farm region is a function of local wind speed distribution throughout the farm, rotor diameter, hub height and surface roughness. Total power generated by a wind farm is the sum of the individual turbine powers, each of which is subject to different wind speeds caused by wake defi cits and multiple wakes. The farm area of our interest is assumed to be on the north-west of Gokeada.18 The monthly average speeds between the years of 1994 and 2002 and annual average speed has been given as 8.89 m . The prevailing wind direction is noted as NNE. Figure 6 illustrates the farm geography together with prevailing wind direction and wind distribution. The farm terrain is divided into 100 equal rectangular cells, some of which are omitted to adapt the geometry to existing land geography (see Figure 7 for the details). The turbines are assumed to be placed at the centre of each cell. The lengths of the cells are determined according to the minimum spacing rule.20 When distances are shorter than certain values, this will cause
8

potential turbine damage caused by the large wake decay effects. The minimum spacing distances are 8D and 2D for prevailing wind and crosswind, respectively, where D is the diameter of the rotor. Grid area is therefore chosen as rectangle which allows more effi cient use of the area.

Figure 6- Position of the land and prevailing wind direction representation of region

Figure 7- Partitioned

We have assumed that a single type of a turbine would be employed in the farm. The selected turbine for this study is Enercon E-48 turbine. A few important properties of this turbine are given in Table 2. The parameters used in the calculations are given in Table 3. Rated power Rotor diameter Swept area Cut-out wind speed Hub height Power coeffi cient Number of blades Trust factor Orientation 800kW 48 m 1810 28-34 m 50 m 0.44 3 0.52 Upwind Turbine Power(W) Axial induction factor Surface roughness (m) Wake Spreading constant Hub height (m) P= 487.8 a = 0.1535 = 0.005 k = 0.054 = 50

Table 2- Properties of turbine used for this study

Table 3- Used parameters during the calculations

3.2 MOGA Optimization For Turbine Placement Turbine placement may seem as a rather straightforward task at fi rst glance if a smooth convex area is of concern. However, when the balance between cost and extracted power is considered, this issue becomes an optimization problem. In addition to confl icting attributes of cost and power, the power of each and every individual turbine is determined by the wake effects caused by the turbines at the proximity; this problem can be considered in the fi eld of combinatorial optimization where the set of feasible solution is discrete or can be
9

reduced to discrete one. Consequently, solving the problem with a heuristic search method is appropriate. The GA is a proven method to solve optimization problems including non-linear problems. GAs are search and optimization methods based on natural evolution. They consist of a population of bit strings transformed by three genetic operators: selection, crossover and mutation. Each string (chromosome) represents a possible solution for the problem being optimized, and each bit (or group of bits) represents a value for a variable of the problem (gene). These solutions are classifi ed by an evaluation function, giving better values, or fi tness, to better solutions. The advantage of GAs is their use of stochastic operators instead of deterministic rules to search for fi tness solutions. The search process jumps randomly from point to point, thus avoiding the local optimum, in which other conventional optimization algorithms might land. Therefore, the GA is a very promising method to deal with complex, multi-variable optimization problems. It should, however, be noted that GA cannot always fi nd the exact solution, but the best solution and is relatively slow compared to other optimization techniques. These disadvantages can partly be avoided using different techniques. Based on a GA approach, an effective and effi cient optimization platform is applied for the turbine placement for Gkeada wind farm in this paper. Because GA is a population-based algorithm, it has been recognized to be well suited to multi-objective optimization as described in literature[7]. One way of dealing with multiple objectives is to give a weight to each of the objectives. On the other hand, MOGAs adopt the other method and do not impose an ill-informed weighting process on the task of selecting a single optimal solution, but instead, the concept of Pareto ranking can be applied in order to deliver a set of candidate solutions. In this study, a controlled elitist GA has been used. An elitist GA always favours individuals with better fi tness value (rank), whereas a controlled elitist GA also favours individuals that can help to increase the diversity of the population even if they have a lower fi tness value. It is very important to maintain the diversity of population for convergence to an optimal Pareto front. This is done by controlling the elite members of the population as the algorithm progresses[8]. The algorthm of the MOGA( Multi Objective Genetic Algortim) is as the Figure 8.

10

Figure 8-Algorithm of fitness function

Fi rst objective function was predicated on the cost of the confi guration. Kiranoudis et al.[9] offered adetailed cost analysis that is tuned for the Enercon turbines. We have evaluated this cost structure for our cost objective function. Equations (1)(6) provide the base equations for the cost calculation. (1) (2) ) (3) (4) (5) (6)
11

The algorithm is designed to eliminate the individuals who have higher costs than our budget constraint of $20M. It manages this through assigning large values as the fi rst objective fi tness value for infeasible individuals in terms of budget. One can buy at most 25 turbines with $20M according to cost function. Thus, the confi gurations having more than 25 turbines are forced to exhaust according to our fi rst objective function. The second objective function was the power extracted from the farm. This function was designed to find the most effective design in terms of power with the budget. In order to do this, we fi rst calculate an upper bound for the power that will be extracted from a farm with 25 turbines without any wake effect.

Table 4-Constants of cost equations 3.3 Results of Case Study In this case study, main concern is finding the best layout in terms of power based on the budget constraint at hand. So, the ranking according to the second objective is the main interest. On the other hand, the individuals are also ranked according to ratio in order to validate the results of algorithm. The results are presented in Tables 5 and 6 in three layouts at each with number of turbines they include. Table 5 presents the fi rst three best layouts sorted for power objective, and Figure 9 shows the turbine distribution in the area of interest corresponding to this layout, where the 1s represent the cells having a turbine, while 0s no turbine cells. Layout No 4 5 6 Cost($) Power (W) 19.960.950,0 7.220.743,0 19.162.477,0 7.020.217,0 18.364.008,0 6.804.834,0 Table 5- Layouts for power objective Number of Turbines 25 24 23

12

Figure 9- Turbine placement for Table 5 There have been pursued a criterion for validating our algorithm by presenting our results about the ratio of power over cost in order to compare the results with the previous studies. Table 6 presents the three best results, and Figure 10 gives the corresponding optimal turbine placement under this criterion. It is important to note that the evaluation with this criterion has been applied after the algorithm evolved based on Pareto optimality, and produced a Pareto optimal solution set according to two objectives, namely cost and power. Ratio Ranking Cost($) Power (W) Power/cost ratio Number of Turbines 7.984.336,0 3.212.145,0 0,402305798 10 7.186.010,0 2.890.930,0 0,402299767 9 6.387.694,0 2.569.716,0 0,402291593 8 Table 6- Layouts for power/cost ratio objective

Layout No 7 8 9

Figure 10- Turbine placement for Table 6

13