A New Model for Wind Farm Layout Optimization With Landowner Decisions

Current wind farm layout optimization research focuses on advancing optimization methods. The research includes the assumption that a continuous piece of land is readily available. In reality, wind farm development projects rely on the permission of landowners for success. When a viable wind farm site location is identified, local residents are approached for permission to build turbines on their land, typically in exchange for monetary compensation. Landowners play a crucial role on the development of a wind farm and some land parcels are more important to the success of the project than others. In order to advance the research on wind farm optimization, this paper relaxes the assumption that a continuous piece of land is available, developing a novel approach that includes landowners’ decisions on whether or not to participate in the project. The optimization results of this new approach show that, for a specific wind farm layout case, we can identify the most crucial landowners and the optimal positions of turbines prior to the negotiation process with landowners. Using this approach, a site developer can spend more resources on persuading these most-important landowners to take part in the project, or approach them in a personalized manner. This will ultimately increase the efficiency of wind farm projects, saving time and money in the development stages.