A mathematical approach to minimizing the cost of energy for large utility wind turbines

With the aim of reducing green gas emission, wind turbine installations worldwide have grown rapidly in recent years. Wind energy itself is free, but has costs due to the wind turbine infrastructure and maintenance. The installation size of the wind turbine at a specific location is not only determined by the wind statistics at that location, but also by the turbine infrastructure and the maintenance cost. The payback time of the turbine is determined by the turbine cost of energy (COE). In this paper, a mathematical approach is proposed to minimize the turbine cost of energy based on wind statistics. Turbine annual energy production (AEP) is calculated based on turbine output power and annual wind speed distribution. A wind turbine cost model developed by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is used for turbine cost analysis. The turbine cost of energy model includes the turbine rated power and the turbine rated wind speed. Finally a general guideline to minimize the turbine COE is presented. Three case studies are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.