Electrical Cable Routing Optimization in Offshore Wind Farms

Resumo

Wind energy production has garnered increasing attention as a leading source of renewable energy, thanks to its widespread availability and increasingly competitive costs. Wind power is a renewable energy source that efficiently and sustainably converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through the rotation of wind turbines. In Brazil, onshore wind energy is the second largest source of electricity generation, surpassed only by hydroelectric power. In contrast, despite its abundant wind resources and extensive coastline, Brazil has not yet implemented any offshore wind energy infrastructure, highlighting the significant research potential in this field. In this context, this manuscript proposes a model for optimizing the routing of electrical cables and the interconnection of system components in previously defined positions   — namely, wind turbines and the electrical substation — with the objective of automating the design of offshore wind farms layout. The wind farm electrical cable routing problem must consider design and seabed constraints, while coordinating different objectives, such as minimizing cable length, enhancing energy efficiency, and reducing overall costs. Specifically, the developed routing model aims to minimize the total length of electrical cables, using a minimum spanning tree (MST) approach. In the model, wind farm elements are modeled as a graph, with turbines and substations represented by nodes and possible interconnections between elements represented by the edges. A case study was conducted to assess the proposed model, and the results demonstrate the feasibility of the tool. With the proposed tool, we expect to reduce the time required for designing offshore wind farm projects, while also delivering more efficient and cost-effective solutions.