TECHNICAL-ECONOMIC OPTIMIZATION OF A WIND POWER-PLANT BY MEANS OF A STOCHASTIC ANALYTICAL MODEL

Stochastic analytical approaches are particularly suitable to design a nd study engineering systems based on aleatory information, as wind sy stems are. The present paper provides a stochastic analytical model to evaluate the performance of a wind power plant. The model has been ap plied to a small isolated wind system. The results obtained indicate a strong influence of wind speed stochastic variability on the minimum production costs turbine size. The results also point out the economic advantage in the use of a stochastic analytical approach in wind syst em design compared with a design procedure based on system average per formances evaluated according to a determinist approach. (C) 1997 Else vier Science Ltd.