Smart Wind Farms: Simulation and optimization of wind farms

The project encompasses two sub-aspects of wind farm optimization: On the one hand, the aim is to develop a comprehensive software tool for a priori optimization of wind farms during the design phase. This encompasses the design of the park layout and the wind sector management of the individual turbines. The second aspect covers the development and testing of a control unit prototype for a wind farm, which uses models to keep energy production costs as low as possible whilst the farm is in operation (‘CoE wind farm control’).

The tools developed are primarily intended for the onshore market and satisfy the requirement of also being able to be used in complex landscapes. To this end, wake models for the wind turbines are employed, which are based on the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Detailed load calculations are also integrated in the target function / optimization conditions. The yield is then calculated as closely to actual practice as possible based on the modelled prevailing wind conditions at the turbine site. The different models implemented in the project are validated with the available measured data and example optimizations are performed on the basis of existing wind farms.