Optimisation of electrical system for offshore wind farms via genetic algorithm

An optimisation platform based on genetic algorithm (GA) is presented, where the main components of a wind farm and key technical specifications are used as input parameters and the electrical system design of the wind farm is optimised in terms of both production cost and system reliability. The power losses, wind power production, initial investment and maintenance costs are considered in the production cost. The availability of components and network redundancy are included in the reliability evaluation. The method of coding an electrical system to a binary string, which is processed by GA, is developed. Different GA techniques are investigated based on a real example offshore wind farm. This optimisation platform has been demonstrated as a powerful tool for offshore wind farm design and evaluation.