Overview- Development

Process

Wind farm development, from site prospecting to financing

 Site Prospecting – Identifying
Potential Sites
•Site Prospecting: Searching a specific region for potential wind farm sites
This study is carried out against key site
criteria established by the developer for:

• Wind resource
• Minimum site area
• Proximity to designated areas
• Proximity to airport exclusions
• Proximity to habitation
• Proximity to grid connections
• Development plans of Local Authority
• Likelihood of gaining planning permission

GIS constraints map to aid site prospecting

 Site Selection – Choosing
the Best Sites
•The site prospecting stage may identify many potential sites. Each site will be
ranked from 1 (poorest) to 5 (best) according to the key criteria (see previous
slide).

• This list contains many sites and must be reduced to a few by taking only the
highest scoring.

• The most promising of the sites will require preliminary discussions with the
landowner and a site visit.

• Following landowner consent preliminary consultations are undertaken with the

the statutory consultees e.g. local planning authority and Nature. This yields
information on planning policy and the views of the statutory consultees on the
proposed site.

•The remaining sites are then assessed in detail according to the relevant
environmental and technical considerations.
Site Selection – Environmental
Considerations
1. Visibility from surrounding areas
2. Proximity to habitation:
•Noise: minimum separation of 10 rotor diameters (approximately 800m
for a 2MW machine).
•Shadow flicker: minimum separation of 10 rotor diameters.
•Safety: Modern turbines very reliable. Minimum distance from above
more than enough in case of blade failure
3. Electromagnetic Effects
•TV interference (“ghosting”)
•Radar (airports) / Microwave / Mobiles
4. Flora and fauna
•Identify particular areas/species
•Breeding birds will may influence times of construction
5. Impact upon land use
•Normally no problem
•<1% of land used
•Farming still possible
•Farmer may be able to use access tracks
6. Designated areas (eg: Sites of Special Scientific Interest – SSSI’s)
Site Selection – Technical
Considerations (1)
1. Wind Resource
• Wind Farm economics dominated by mean wind speed
• Wind turbine layout dominated by wind direction
• Also consider local turbulence and surface roughness (e.g. forests)
• Unlikely to have measurements available site selection stage
→ use mesoscale resource modeling / NOABL Database

2. Availability of suitable land

• Large open land area required (turbine spacing 100 to 400 m)
• Well exposed
• Not too steep
• Suitable ground conditions for construction (e.g. peat bogs not good)

3. Good access
• Building long site access tracks is expensive
• Corners, buildings can cause problems for lorries carrying blades

4. Grid Connection
• Building a grid line is expensive so need to be within a reasonable proximity
of an existing network of appropriate voltage.
Site Selection – Technical
Considerations (2)
Grid Connection : Voltages

Different options feasible depending on the size of the project:

Installed Capacity < 200-300kW:

Can connect to low voltage network.

Installed Capacity < 30-40MW:

Use turbine transforms to step up voltage (690V -> 33KV) and connect to
medium voltage network.

Installed Capacity > 40MW:

Use wind farm transformer to step up voltage (33kV -> 132kV) and connect to
high voltage network.

In all cases connection to the grid will include switchgear to regulate faults and
perform metering.
Selection
•After considering all relevant environmental and technical considerations a
developer will make a decision as to which sites to develop further.

•The selected sites begin the core part of the development process which
consists of:

-Resource & Energy Yield Concurrent to the site

Assessment development is a
-Environmental Assessment continuous process of
-Planning public consultation;
-Power Sales Procurement Public meetings,
-Detailed Engineering information leaflets,
-Financing information websites.
Resource Assessment
•The term ‘wind resource’ is used to refer to the amount of useful wind available
at a site.
•The economic viability of a project is dictated by the resource assessment and
hence it is extremely important to get right.
•Following the decision to commit to the detailed development of a site,
planning permission is usually sought to erect a meteorological mast.
•Measure wind for at least 12 months to
Met site
Potential Wind
Farm Site
observe seasonal variation.
•But what is the wind speed over 15
concurrent Met data correlations
Measured years?
•Use Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP)
period data

to predict long term wind resource.

•Important: no significant measurement
changes at met station over long term
historic
period
Met data correlations Prediction period (e.g. Met mast moved)
•If no long term data exists – measure
on site for longer (e.g. 5 years)
MCP Process
Layout Design and Optimisation (1)

• A preliminary assessment of ground

conditions and constraints is normally carried
out during wind monitoring period.

• This information, together with the

measured wind data and wind flow model, is
used to provide an initial site layout for the
turbines.
Wind flow model used for layout design

• This layout should be such as to optimise

the energy yield from the site by maximising
the beneficial topographical effects and
minimising wake effects while staying within
the various constraints.

•Layout design is inevitably an iterative

process.
Layout designed around various constraints
Layout Design and Optimisation (2)

•The complexity of the optimisation process is indicated by the wind rose.

•For a unidirectional wind rose the turbines will be positioned in rows; within the
rows turbines are positioned reasonably close (2-3 rotor diameters) while the rows
are spaced farther apart (>5 rotor diameters).

•For multi-directional winds layout optimisation algorithms will be required.

Optimum layout for a site with a unidirectional Optimum layout for a site with a multidirectional
wind rose. wind rose.
 Energy Yield Assessment (1)
•Wind farm energy yield: Calculated by combining measured wind resource, wind
shear exponent, and turbine power curve.

Input: Long term wind resource (at a particular height)

Taurbeg Wind Farm 0
Wind Frequency Distribution RITB07 Wind Rose
1500.0
Wind Speed @ 40m = 8.88m/s
1000.0 330 30

900.0
1000.0
800.0
300 60

700.0
500.0
Number of hours

600.0

500.0
270 0.0 90
400.0

300.0

200.0
240 120
100.0

0.0
10.5

11.5

12.5

13.5

14.5

15.5

16.5

17.5

18.5

19.5

20.5

21.5

22.5

23.5

24.5

25.5

26.5

27.5

28.5

29.5
0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

5.5

6.5

7.5

8.5

9.5

210 150
Wind speed
180

Wind Speed Frequency Distribution Wind Direction Frequency Distribution

(Wind Rose)
 Energy Yield Assessment (2)
Input 2: Wind shear
Needed if wind not measured at turbine hub height.

Wind Shear (exponent = 0.1) How to calculate wind shear (using

80
power law):
70

60
Wind speeds measured at two heights
50 (V1 @ H1, V2 @ H2).
Height (m)

40

30
Shear defined by:

V1  H 1 
20

  
10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Wind Speed (m/s)
6 7 8 9
V2  H 2 

 is known as the shear exponent. The value of α depends on the surface

roughness, atmospheric stability, and topography.
 Energy Yield Assessment (3)
Input: Wind Flow Model
•Know wind resource at one location (Met mast)
•Need to know wind resource over whole site
•Terrain influences wind speeds
•Surface roughness and trees influence wind speeds
•So use 3D flow model: Traditionally WASP/ MS3DJH (linearised
models), more recently full CFD calculations have been performed.

Wind flow model used for energy yield

assessment
CFD Modelling
Linear models perform well in shallow terrain but become unreliable when
gradients are relatively steep (>17º).

CFD predicts flow separation which the linear model is unable to capture.
MS3DJH results are fundamentally wrong.
Energy Yield Assessment (4)
Input: Turbine Power/Thrust Curve

•Defines performance of turbine

•Get from turbine manufacturer
•Can be site specific (some machines density sensitive)
•Energy yield calculated by combining power curve with wind distribution
-3
Vestas V47 (single speed) - Power and Thrust Data - density = 1.21 kgm
700 100

90
600
80

500 70

60
Power (kW)

Thrust (kN)
400

50

300
40

200 30

20
100
Power
10
Thrust

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
-1
Wind Speed (ms )
 Energy Yield Assessment (5)
Energy Yield calculated from:
- power curve (& thrust curve for wake losses)
- wind distribution
- wind shear
- air density (power linearly proportional to density)
- turbulence (impact on wake losses and power curve)

Losses
-Wake losses: Initial velocity deficit given by manufacturer turbine thrust curve
-Topographical effect: Calculated using flow model
-Availability (turbine and electrical grid)
-Electrical line losses
-Turbine control losses

Eg: power curve and wind distribution combined gives

5.5GWh per year energy yield for 1 turbine
For 25 turbines
Wake losses = 5%
Topographical effect = 2% (increase)
Turbine availability = 97%
Grid Availability = 99%
Turbine net yield = 25 * 5.5 * 95% * 102% * 97% * 99%
 Environmental Assessment (1)

 Environmental assessment (EA) evaluates the effect of the proposed Wind Farm
on the landscape and environment.

 Required as part of the planning application.

 Allows the developer to show how they have considered the environmental
impact of the Wind Farm.

 Early discussions with landscape, ecological and ornithological consultees are

strongly advised in order to ascertain serious concerns, and modify where
possible.
Environmental Assessment (2)
The EA consists of the following:

1. Introduction – report purpose, introduce applicant

2. Site selection
 Overview of site selection, including environmental and technical
considerations
 Details of how and why site was selected

3. Project description – details of proposed development

4. Assessment of Effects – main substance of document

 Visual and landscape assessment
 Visual impact has proved to be the key issue in the UK
 Worth creating a quality product
Environmental Assessment (3)
• Visual and landscape assessment: Wireframe

• Visual and landscape assessment: Photomontage

Environmental Assessment (4)
Zone of Visual Influence (ZVI):
 Defines locations where wind turbines are visible
 Colors define number of turbines that are visible

Can also do cumulative ZVI’s for wind farm intervisibility

Environmental Assessment (5)
Ecology – Flora and Fauna
 Use respected, independent consultants
 Identify areas of national or local interest
 Identify protected species
 Breeding/migrating birds very important – construction

Archeological, Architectural & Historical features

 Consult local sites and monuments record officer
 Establish any local features and ensure sufficient separation

Agriculture and Land Management

 Give details of project land usage and intended integration
 Look for underground springs

Noise
 Measure background noise
 Predict noise caused by Wind Farm at nearby locations
 Ensure noise below regulations
 Noise a complex subject – further research ongoing
Environmental Assessment (6)
Environmental Constraints

Constraints are used to refine layout design.

 Environmental Assessment (7)
Electromagnetic Links
 Looking for interference with TV, Radar, Microwave, Mobile phones
 Keep turbines away from line-of-sight

Highways and Rights of Way

 Public rights of way kept open at all times, including construction

Ecological Benefits
 State the environmental benefits
 State emissions (CO2 and NOX) savings
 Environmental Assessment (8)
Local Benefits
 Landowner rental payments
 Tourism
 Local jobs
 Community Fund

Safety
 Turbines independently certified
 Sufficient separation from habitation and roads

Construction
 Details of traffic movements and other significant effects
Environmental Assessment (9)

Mitigating Measures
 Allows developer to show how they have minimised the
environmental impact of the Wind Farm

Visual and Landscape Assessment

Examples:
 re-location of turbines
 layout revised
 number/size of turbines changes
 color of turbines

Ecological Assessment
Examples:
 avoid sensitive areas (eg: rare flowers, archeological site)
 avoid construction during bird breeding
 Public Consultation
•Information Leaflets
•Public Meetings
•Site Specific Websites:

•Regional Protocols:
Planning Procedures (1)
•All Wind Farms need planning permission.
•Application for planning can take a long time.
•Public consultation plays a major role in planning success.

The Application
•Important to talk to planning officers prior to application
•Normal to provide an Environmental Assessment (EA)

The Assessment
•Planning authority sends EA to statutory (e.g. Environment Agency), and
nonstatutory (e.g. RSPB) consultees
•Planning authority required to determine in 16 weeks
Planning Procedures (2)
The Decision
•After consultation, planning officer submits report to planning
committee with a grant/refuse recommendation
•Committee debate application and take a vote

If refused, options are:

•accept decision, look for a new site
•appeal to Secretary of State for the Environment
•amend application and re-submit
 POWER CONTRACTS AND FUNDING MECHANISMS

A wind farm with planning permission and a good resource has no value if the
electricity it generates can not be sold.

The sole income to a project is normally the revenue received from the generation
and sale of electricity. A power purchase contract (PPC) is required.
Developers obtain PPC’s in a number of ways:

•Through Government sponsored process (eg: RO)

• Responding to Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) from Utilities. These are
normally competitively bid, the PPC’s being negotiated with the successful
bidder.
•Through a Government set tariff scheme (e.g. Spain and Portugal) where all
developers have the right to a PPC if they obtain the necessary licences and
permits (a.k.a. feed in law).
•Direct sales to consumers.

The key considerations to any developer are that the PPC is secure and ‘bankable’
i.e. international banks are prepared to lend money against the P.P.C. If possible,
the energy price should be index linked and the PPC should run for at least 10 and
preferably 15 years.