Layout Optimization Methods for Offshore Wind Farms Using Gaussian Processes

Surrogate modeling is a family of engineering techniques that attracts great interest today and can be applied in many challenging fields. A big advantage of it is that surrogate models (models based on these techniques) offer reliable results by being computationally cheaper than other candidate models. The savings in computational time is...

Optimization of offshore wind farm installation procedure with a targeted finish date

Offshore Wind Farm (OWF) installation procedure is a complicated phase requiring excellent management of resources for timely completion of tasks. The wind farm installation period involves crucial stages like streamlining onshore logistics, transportation of components on vessels, installation of foundations, wind turbines, and cable laying,...

Numerical and experimental investigations of bend-twist coupling effects for a small wind turbine blade

Material bend-twist coupling has been widely studied in the research community as a passive control mechanism for a wind turbine. However, there is a lack of research in incorporating it in the rotor design process, with little research being conducted for its application to small wind turbines. The present study focuses on this issue by...

Path Optimization of a Pumping Kite System

Airborne wind energy is a new research field that aims to harvest winds at high altitudes. The pumping kite concept investigated at the Delft University of Technology is based on leading edge inflatable kites that divide a generation cycle into three phases: traction, retraction, and transition. This research project aims to optimise the...

Layout Optimization of Offshore Wind Farms affected by Wake effects, Cable topology and Support Structure variation

As part of the effort to reduce the cost of offshore wind energy, this MSc Thesis deals with the layout optimization of an Offshore Wind Farm affected by wake effects, cable topology and support structure variation. The main objective of the current MSc Thesis is to investigate how important each of these aspects for the layout optimization is....

Design of a Simple Wake Model for the Wind Farm Layout Optimization Considering the Wake Meandering Effect

The design of the optimal layout of the wind farm is crucial to minimize the cost of energy produced by the wind farm. This requires an accurate wake model to simulate the wake effect on the annual energy yield of the wind farm. On the other hand, the wake model must be very simple in order to limit the duration of the layout optimisation...

Performance optimization of wind turbine rotors for wind farm operation

Due to fierce competition on the electricity market, many wind energy related research projects are currently aimed at cost reduction. In order to establish cost reduction, more and more wind turbines are being clustered in (offshore) wind farms. Major drawback of wind farms however, is the energy production loss due to aerodynamic wake...

Optimization, Scaling and Economics of Pumping Kite Power Systems: Small-scale Systems for Developing Countries or Utility-scale Units for the European Market?

Increased Energy Yield using the Smart Rotor: Sizing and Control of Trailing Edge Flaps on a Smart Rotor for Maximum Power Generation in Low Fatigue Wind Regimes

Offshore wind farm optimization, investigation of unconventional and random layouts

This project aims at investigating whether or not unconventional and/or random offshore wind farm layouts lead to better performance of the farm. The determination of each solution is based on the estimated value of the Levelized Production Cost, thus the cost per produced unit of energy (i.e., ecents/kWh). For the purposes of the current...

Development of a design tool for offshore wind farm layout optimization: Consideration of wake effects and electrical infrastructure costs and losses

A design tool has been developed with the aim of helping in the wind farm design process. The tool is able to handle rectangular layouts with any number of turbines. Wind farm power, as well as wind and site conditions can be specified by the user. The main tool models are described and the developing steps have been detailed. Results of tool...