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46 renewable energy focus January/February 2009
EU wind focus
Harnessing geography for European windWHAT’S THE BEST PLACE FOR A WIND FARM? NOT JUST ON ANY OLD
HILLSIDE OR “SOMEWHERE OFFSHORE”. THE CONCEPT OF LOCATION
INTELLIGENCE IS PLAYING A GROWING ROLE IN THE PLANNING, DESIGN
AND SITING OF EUROPEAN WIND FARMS, SAYS JUSTIN SAUNDERS. Justin Saunders
When the UK government approved the giant
750 MW Gwynt y Mor wind farm off the coast
of Llandudno, North Wales, in December
2008, key considerations about the exact
location included the distance from the shore
and how the visual impact from points along
the coast could be minimised.
The developers had worked within a Govern-
ment-set “strategic area”, carrying out studies
and consultations to map the precise posi-
tions of turbines, and to show how they
would affect visibility, marine navigation,
ecology and fishing activities.
Similarly, the environmental statement
behind plans for the forthcoming 152-turbine
onshore farm at Clyde in south Lanarkshire,
Scotland, involved the graphical representa-
tion of physical survey results shown against
customised map data. Consultants created a
series of 3D visualisations, photomontages,
ZTVs (zones of theoretical visibility) and
digital terrain and elevation models that accu-
rately predicted how the farm would appear.
And another example can be seen in north-
west Portugal, where the December 2008
commissioning of the 240MW farm at Ventom-
inho, also required a wide array of geographic
assessments to be carried out during design
and construction. Complex logistical issues
had to be tackled to connect five sub-farms
across a 30km zone with a single point of
connection to the electricity grid.
Essentially, whether you call it a map or a “spatial context”, the point of using geographic information is to help extract value from
data and provide a tangible return on investment. A mapping interface can inform vital decisions by showing information in a
graphical form that can never be achieved by tables of figures or text alone.
renewable energy focus January/February 2009 47
EU wind focus/location intelligence
Location intelligence
Deciding where to site a wind farm involves
a range of criteria that can be termed “loca-
tion intelligence”. More than simply a map,
location intelligence concerns the ability to
process, manage and share different kinds
of information relating to a particular point
or wider geographic area. The concept has
evolved from the rather specialist preserve
known as geographic information systems
or GIS. These are essentially sets of software
tools working together to create, manipulate
and present digital map data on screen.
In a GIS that supports a site location map for a
proposed wind farm, additional statistical data
will typically be imported as files from a spread-
sheet to a server-based database system. A
statistical program then helps to categorise data
inputs and define the geographic area parame-
ters. This can help developers compare different
turbine positions in relation to wind speed, grid
capacity, power lines, visual intrusion and other
factors. Finding the optimum position for a
turbine can improve the efficiency of energy
production and protect against unnecessary
costs. That goes for both single turbines and
industrial-scale farms whether on- or offshore.
Onshore, mapping at a scale of 1:50,000 is ideal
for looking at the surrounding geographic
context of a proposed development, including
road infrastructure. Closer in, scales higher
than 1:25,000 offer more detail, with individual
building outlines, critical access routes and
field boundaries coming into view. Preliminary
site investigation must then take into account
even more local factors such as slopes, lines
of sight, ridge lines and gradients. These are
contained in digital surface and terrain models,
3D elevation data and high-resolution aerial
imagery that matches underlying mapping
through a process called orthorectification.
Wind power developers across the EU have
for years bemoaned the lack of a coherent
grid strategy for transferring power between
different Member States; many of the grids are
owned by vertically-integrated power players,
and this inevitably leads to an unfair advantage
when it comes to allowing wind power onto a
grid. According to the European Wind Energy
Association’s (EWEA) Christian Kjaer, the grid is
a monopoly and should be regulated as such,
because “if you own production, and if you own
grid assets within the same Corporate structure,
due to the nature of the whole electricity market
the grid is a wonderful way of optimising profits -
but it’s not a very market-friendly way”.
However, better news might be at hand, and
EWEA themselves have welcomed the key role
given to offshore wind energy in the European
Commission’s Strategic Energy Review (SER)
published late in 2008.
The review includes a commitment to publish
a blueprint for a North Sea offshore grid. With
1,486 MW of capacity currently installed offshore
and 30,882 MW more capacity planned by 2015,
investor interest is high, but the sector needs
a European legislative framework, including a
dedicated offshore grid to reach its full potential.
Although nine countries - one-third of the EU
Member States - now have operational offshore
wind farms, the offshore electricity infrastructure
needs to be vastly improved and the overall
electricity grid updated and reinforced. Crucially,
the European Commission gives one of its aims
in the Strategic Energy Review as to “ensure
the development of the grid to permit the
achievement of the EU’s renewable energy
objectives”.
“An offshore grid and increased interconnector
capacity will allow large amounts of offshore
wind energy to be integrated into the electricity
network, while improving the functioning of the
internal electricity market” Kjaer added.
A section of the SER is devoted to the importance
of renewables. It gives the Commission’s
intention to identify and tackle barriers to their
development, starting with the tabling of a
communication entitled “Overcoming barriers
to Renewable Energy in the EU” in 2010. This
decision demonstrates that the Commission
is aware of the need to reduce obstacles and
is actively taking steps to do so. The SER will
provide the basis for an Energy Action Plan,
which should be adopted at the Spring Council
2010 and form the new EU energy policy.
Commercial grid operator seizes the moment
Meanwhile Imera Ltd, a Dublin-based asset
development company specialising in subsea
power interconnectors and power transmission
grids, has received EU approval for its first
interconnectors linking Ireland and the UK.
The EU approval came in January 2009 as an EU
Exemption for Third Party Access on Imera’s East
West Interconnector (Ireland -UK). According
to Grace Samodal, senior VP, commercial and
trading, at Imera, “This exemption allows us to
operate on a merchant basis.”
At present, Imera holds five licences to build,
own, and operate interconnectors and is actively
developing interconnectors between Ireland
and the UK, France and the UK, and Belgium and
the UK. These projects form the foundation for
EuropaGrid.
The company is now set to build the North
Sea and Atlantic electricity grids, connecting
key markets and offshore wind farms as the
foundation of a pan-European offshore electricity
network. The company claims that EuropaGrid
will enable the development of a true European
integrated power market and greatly enhance
security of electricity supply.
Once installed, EuropaGrid will consist of a
large grid of sub-sea AC and DC cables. These
will connect Ireland with the UK and France
and the UK with France and Belgium. Future
interconnector projects will connect other
countries in Europe and interconnectors will be
linked to form a “mesh” or a grid.
Connections to this grid for large offshore wind
projects will be provided in order to connect all
major wind projects and national transmission
systems in Europe.
Rory O’Neill, Imera’s ceo, said, “there are two main
factors driving the development of the North Sea
Grid – the EU’s call for increased interconnection
across Europe as a priority issue, and its target
of 20% of its required energy from renewable
sources by 2020. Imera’s EuropaGrid will not only
fast-track increased cross-border interconnection
in Europe, but also enable enormous growth in
renewable generation developments.”
Imera’s approach is expected to allow electricity
produced from offshore wind generation to be
traded in the single electricity market. It is also
said to be the most efficient way of building
interconnectors and transmission connections for
offshore generators as it eliminates duplication
and unused capacity on sub-sea cables.
And O’Neill added, “because we are a private
company, we can build networks faster and
cheaper than most regulated organisations. We
also have access to the largest fleet of specialised
cable-laying vessels and marine engineering
expertise through our parent company,
Oceanteam.”
Imera is currently raising over €100M in
investment to finance the development of the
first phase of EuropaGrid.
Location, location, location – the need for better grid access
48 renewable energy focus January/February 2009
EU wind focus/location intelligence
Precise geographic data can be used to:
■ Help develop accurate analyses;
■ Present site plans for the official planning
approval process;
■ Deliver ongoing project management;
■ Provide contextual information to enable
insurers to assess risk and provide cover
for the turbine machinery, connections
and cabling;
■ Mapping can also show noise contours
around a potential site to help influence
design and address any abatement needs.
Bespoke web services are enabling users to
embed mapping components directly into
their database applications, thus replacing
shipments of off-the-shelf data stacks that
require onward processing.
This trend towards web-based location intel-
ligence is opening up engineering-grade data
for mainstream use that was once the sole
domain of geographic technologists.
Benefits of GIS
GIS as a technical subject, far from being
the preserve of experts, is easy-to-use, and
its practical applications are likely to benefit
sectors such as the wind power industry.
In the construction phase of an offshore
farm, for example, GIS can help engineers
and project managers to monitor and track
activities as they happen on and under the
sea. This can be vital for ensuring the health
and safety of personnel and the protection of
kit and infrastructure assets.
And combining GIS and the internet allows
different layers of information to be fed in
to multiple workstations and mobile units,
giving different users an up-to-date picture of
weather conditions, wind speed, boat move-
ments, wave heights and so on. All the infor-
mation is captured, referenced, connected,
analysed and stored online.
In Germany, the renewables industry has long
recognised the importance of location to the
viability and efficiency of wind farms. The
push to offshore generation is in part down
to a lack of suitable land for onshore develop-
ments and the influence of stricter planning
requirements.
On the research side, the Deutsche Energie-
Agentur (dena), has used geographic infor-
mation in a study of how best to integrate
on- and off-shore grid capacity. One of the
considerations was the need to compensate
for the sizeable extra cost of laying founda-
tions and grid connections for the growing
number of offshore turbines.
Dena believes it is necessary to identify pilot
zones in relatively shallow waters within 50km
of the coast and to lay bundled cables into an
expanded onshore grid. The agency says laying
many parallel cables through sensitive ecolog-
ical areas such as the Wadden Sea would create
a serious risk to the undersea environment.
Belgium provides another national case study of
the use of location intelligence. There, succes-
sive Government directives on wind farming
have also laid down criteria for the selection of
zoning, and hence emphasised the benefits of
accurate geographic information.
The European Wind Atlas – and beyond
As with other EU countries, Belgium looked to
the European Wind Atlas as a starting point for
assessing wind energy applications. This atlas
was first published in hard copy in 1989. It was
intended as a comprehensive data bank of the
wind climate across Europe, containing statis-
tics from more than 200 weather stations and a
software pack for producing regional charts of
wind speed and directions.
Researchers at the University of Brussels, acting
on their agreed national criteria, then published
an inventory of suitable locations based on
regional zoning maps. This phase considered
issues such as planning and building regula-
tions and further investigations into topo-
graphic and environmental issues. The next step
was to work with utility companies to examine
the capacity of the grid and cost of connecting
with preferred locations. The study produced a
“capacity map” to help compute the bulk cost of
wind-generated electricity.
The growth of professional standard mapping
in the wind farm sector has now been strength-
ened by advances in surveying that make it
possible to measure and portray the lay of
the land in centimetric detail so that the most
optimal positions for power facilities can be
found. Laser-driven airborne techniques, aerial
photography and satellite imagery are central
to the mix, along with ground-based data
capture fixed with GPS. All of this can sit within
a common geographic reference framework
for ease of sharing and associating data. An
example of such a framework is OS MasterMap
in Great Britain.
At the same time, the trend towards online
delivery and web services means developers
can have a fully hosted “location solution”
brought direct to the desktop rather than
Consultants create a series of 3D visualisations, photomontages, ZTVs (zones of theoretical visibility) and digital terrain (pictured)
and elevation models, and use them to accurately predict how wind farms appear on the landscape.
renewable energy focus January/February 2009 49
EU wind focus/location intelligence
just a data feed. This has benefits in data
storage, copyright management and time and
cost savings. Hosted services such as eMap-
Site provide multiple search criteria and the
means of exporting data in different formats
for CAD, GIS and graphics software.
Looking ahead, it is likely that more and more
site projects will be managed through dedi-
cated web resources, just as in other land and
property sectors that use advanced mapping
solutions. In larger wind energy construction
projects, for example, authorised consultants
and contractors will increasingly be given
appropriate tiers of access to site plans and
other map data through secure log-ins to
assist with asset management, health and
safety, information storage and analysis.
One of the core considerations going forward
will be the need to strike the right balance
between cutting carbon emissions overall
and sustaining biodiversity around specific
site locations. In the UK, guidance produced
by the British Wind Energy Association and
nature conservation bodies recognises the
potential benefits of wind energy as long as
the “right development is in the right loca-
tion”. In this regard, geographic boundary
analysis can help to ensure wind farms do
not cause adverse effects on the integrity of
nature reserves, Special Areas of Conservation
or Sites of Special Scientific interest.
European and national legislation also
governs the protection of plants and animal
species through the mapping of bird migra-
tion routes, local flight paths, foraging areas
and cliff, headland, valley, ridge and other
habitats. When adjacent wind farms are
proposed, geographic information can help to
show the wider cumulative impacts on biodi-
versity through scenario models.
Return on investment
Essentially, whether you call it a map or a
“spatial context”, the point of using geographic
information is to help extract value from data
and provide a tangible return on investment.
A mapping interface can inform vital deci-
sions by showing information in a graphical
form that can never be achieved by tables of
figures or text alone. For example, viewing a
fly-around animation built with geographic
co-ordinates, 3D visualisation tools and topo-
graphic and elevation mapping can help bring
a proposed development to life on screen –
ideal for presentations, planning applications
and reports. The geographic context can help
clarify the development proposition to stake-
holders and allow engineers to iterate turbine
position in response to wind models, accessi-
bility, surface geology and visual impact.
A key challenge for map data providers: to
work with consultancies and wind energy
companies to continue to enhance data
quality and functionality.
Solutions should be available in industry-
standard development environments such as
Javascript and use internationally recognised
protocols such as XML (eXtensible Markup
Language), WMS (Web Map Service) and WFS
(Web Feature Service). The requirements of
application developers and solution providers
are best served through a suite of accessible,
interoperable web services that adhere to
these standards. For the end user, the watch-
words are accuracy, cost-effectiveness and
ease-of-use.
UK offshore boost to move forward
About the author
Justin Saunders is co-founder and technical director of the UK mapping provider, eMapSite (http://www.emapsite.com/renewables), and a member of the British Wind Energy Association (http://www.bwea.com).
The UK Government recently concluded its study on locations for future
offshore energy developments, identifying scope for between 5,000 and
7,000 more offshore wind turbines. The conclusion of the UK Offshore Energy
Strategic Environmental Assessment states that “there are no overriding
environmental considerations to prevent the achievement of the offshore...
wind elements of the programme”.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband said in a
statement that “in terms of electricity, offshore wind power could potentially
make the single biggest contribution to our 2020 renewable energy target”.
Renewable energy is central to the UK Government’s objectives to secure
diverse energy supply and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by
2050. The Government has set a target to generate 10% of the UK’s electricity
supply from renewable sources by 2010. With onshore wind farms already
making a considerable contribution in the UK, the new horizon for larger scale
development lies offshore.
Offshore wind is a new activity for The Crown Estate – the body which owns
the coastline around the UK - and areas of seabed have already been made
available through two rounds of previous development since 2000. A third
round of development is now underway (see image), with 96 ‘entities’ having
expressed an interest in developing sites.
Developers that registered have been invited to bid for one or more of 9
development zones identified through the Marine Resource System by The
Crown Estate. Successful bidders will have exclusive rights to develop wind
farms in specified Zones, in partnership with The Crown Estate.
It is hoped that development of Round 3 zones will lead to 25 GW of wind
power in by 2020, following around 7.2 GW resulting from the earlier rounds.
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