Optimal electric network design for a large offshore wind farm based on a modified genetic algorithm approach

The increasing development of large-scale offshore wind farms around the world has caused many new technical and economic challenges to emerge. The capital cost of the electrical network that supports a large offshore wind farm constitutes a significant proportion of the total cost of the wind farm. Thus, finding the optimal design of this electrical network is an important task, a task that is addressed in this paper. A cost model has been developed that includes a more realistic treatment of the cost of transformers, transformer substations, and cables. These improvements make this cost model more detailed than others that are currently in use. A novel solution algorithm is used. This algorithm is based on an improved genetic algorithm and includes a specific algorithm that considers different cable cross sections when designing the radial arrays. The proposed approach is tested with a large offshore wind farm; this testing has shown that the proposed algorithm produces valid optimal electrical network designs. © 2011 IEEE.