Wind farm layout optimization using genetic algorithm and its application to Daegwallyeong wind farm

This paper proposes a new wind farm layout optimization methodology based on a genetic algorithm by implementing a simulation model considering wake effect. This method consists of (1) batch optimization to efficiently obtain a rough wind farm layout for the maximum energy production in a large scale, and (2) post-optimization to obtain a refined layout to further improve the energy production in a small scale. The proposed two-step optimization enables to efficiently optimize wind farm layout and thus can be applicable to layout optimization of large-scale wind farms. A case study with the actual Daegwallyeong wind farm shows that wake loss is improved by 2.3% point after the proposed layout optimization which means about 2.5% more energy production compared with the existing layout.