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Onshore and Planning

Interested in Building a Wind Farm?

BWEA receives great numbers of inquiries from people interested in either building a wind farm or finding a way into the wind energy business. BWEA is a trade association supported solely by its members, and in turn BWEA members are the beneficiaries and focus of staff resources.

Should you be a company wishing to get involved in the wind industry, then please note you will need to join the association to receive BWEA staff time in person, and all the other benefits that membership offers.

Should you be interested in building your first turbine, we have produced this brief for your benefit. To receive all the information required, you will need to become a BWEA member, but this should answer those initial questions. It serves as an introduction to the issues for consideration before building a commercial wind farm.

(Should you be looking to erect a turbine for domestic or small industrial purposes, then please contact our member 'small system suppliers' which are listed in our Company Directory)

Once you have decided you wish to build a wind farm, you will need to go through several initial steps to assess the viability, and pursue your proposal through the planning system.

Feasibility

There are three key components required to assess the economic viability of a project:

  1. You will need to calculate the wind speed. Click here for instructions on how to use the DTI's wind speed database. For more accurate information you may also choose to install an anemometer mast to gauge wind speed data over a given period.
  2. You will need to calculate the distance to the nearest national grid connection point and assess the cost of this.
  3. You need to ensure there are suitable access roads, or take into account the cost of building them. Wind turbine towers and blades are huge components and transportation to site needs to be fully considered.

Scoping

If you have done your calculations and the project appears viable, you can move to the second stage in project delivery which is scoping. Scoping involves consultation with the various parties that have a significant influence over the outcome of your project. Below is a list of key organisations whom you must consult at an early stage:

  1. MOD and the Civil Aviation Authority: There are still claims that if wind turbines interfere with radar they could compromise safety. These are somewhat precautionary claims but nonetheless can seriously affect the likelihood of a project being given the go-ahead.
  2. Local Planning Authority: The LPA determines your scheme and therefore planning officers and the local planning policy need to be consulted early. The best practice for a developer is to speak to the LPA at the earliest possible time to see if there are objections to your proposal which cannot be negotiated. However, the planning office may also indicate key issues of concern from which you can make a judgement on how to deal in terms of the design, location, size and scale of the project.
  3. Local Community Groups: Community support and involvement is essential to planning for wind energy. For a relatively new technology to proceed through the planning system, it is important that the local community understand both the need for wind power and the way in which it coexists with other aspects of their local environment.

Planning and EIA

Once you have concluded your proposal as both economically viable and acceptable in principle to key organisations, you will need to begin preparing a planning application. This will involve design and location considerations, but more particularly will entail an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An EIA is a detailed assessment of all the local environmental data taking account of some of the following considerations:

  • species types, movements and numbers;
  • distance to the nearest dwelling/road;
  • nature conservation areas;
  • landscape conservation areas.

This is not an exhaustive list and professional advice should be sought from a consultant to ensure a comprehensive EIA is undertaken that can stand up to scrutiny.

Pre-construction preparations

Finally, if planning consent is awarded, you will need to ensure the following issues are negotiated:

  1. Settlement of capital with the bank or your development partner.
  2. Connection to the national grid. You will need to speak to the relevant Distribution Network Operator (DNO) to arrange this.
  3. Acquisition of wayleave rights across the land (upon or beneath) which you will need to lay cabling from the wind farm to the grid connection point.
  4. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a supply company, to secure a buyer for the electricity you produce along with its value under the Renewables Obligation.

This is not an exhaustive list of considerations, but BWEA hopes this is of help to new and interested parties to the wind industry. However, the best way in which to find out more is to become a member of BWEA.Click here to find out about membership.