TOPFARM - next generation design tool for optimisation of wind farm topology and operation

The present report is the publishable final activity report for the EU project TOPFARM. The project has been running from 1st December 2007 to 30th November 2010, and has successfully addressed optimization of wind farm topology and control strategy based on aero-elastic modeling of loads as well as of power production as seen in an economical perspective.

Crucial factors in this regard are the overall wind climate at the wind farm site, the position of the individual wind turbines, the wind turbine characteristics, the internal wind farm wind climate, the wind turbine control/operation strategy for wind turbines interacting through wakes, various cost models, the optimization strategy and a priori defined constraints imposed on the wind farm topology.

In TOPFARM, the object function used in the optimization platform is formulated in economical terms, thus ensuring the optimal balance between capital costs, operation and maintenance costs, cost of fatigue lifetime consumption and power production output throughout the design lifetime of the wind farm.

The report describes the project consortium and the project activities, which has been organized in 9 Work Packages. A summary description of the results is given, and reference is made to a large number of publications resulting from the project.