Right placement of wind turbines increases the productivity of wind farms – says a new research from the University of Adelaide.
Dr Frank Neumann, Senior Lecturer from the School of Computer Science at the University has utilized a gradual step-by-step move known as “evolutionary algorithms” to get the best out of wind turbine placement. His approach has considered the details such as the minimum land requirement, wake effects, intricate aerodynamics of wind turbines and wind factors to achieve the results.
According to Dr Neumann, the question of finding an exact place to install the wind turbine and to achieve maximum power production efficiency is a complex subject. He explained that the evolutionary algorithm utilizes a mathematical procedure where the originated solutions are being developed step-by-step till a maximum efficiency is achieved. He further said that the evolution process gets better with each set of solutions and the solutions can be assessed in parallel to speed up the computation process. He suggested for the deployment of “Ant colony optimization” methods in finding the best practical solutions through computer algorithms.
He is currently working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers in optimizing wind turbine placement. In comparison with the currently utilized placement methods that can assist only a limited number of turbines, the researchers have proved the efficient use of algorithm in placing around 1,000 wind turbines. The researchers are presently further tweaking the algorithms by utilizing models with intricate aerodynamic factors and wake effect.