Abstract
GIS Applications for Wind Farm Development, Siting, and Permitting Track: Electric and Gas Author(s): Tim Hughes, Bruce Moreira Renewable energy wind farms are becoming more common on the landscape across the United States. The 150 MW Rugby Wind Farm, near Rugby, North Dakota, will be the state's largest wind farm and generate enough energy to supply 70,000 homes. In the siting and permitting process for the Rugby Wind Farm, PPM Energy and HDR Engineering used GIS to determine project location, general turbine layout, and specific turbine locations and access road alignments. These decisions required consideration of a wide range of environmental and geographic factors including wind availability, existing electrical transmission infrastructure, wetlands and species habitat, turbine visibility, USFWS easement boundaries, and archeological findings on the site. Turbine setback requirements varied for each factor. Buffers were developed based on these setbacks to identify viable locations for each turbine. GIS analysis and mapping technology integrate many aspects of the wind turbine siting process and facilitate decisions in project development. Tim Hughes PPM Energy 1125 NW Couch, Suite 700 Portland , OR 97209 US Phone: 763-278-5925 E-mail: bmoreira@hdrinc.com Bruce Moreira HDR Engineering 6190 Golden Hills Drive Minneapolis , MN 55416 US Phone: 763-278-5925 E-mail: bmoreira@hdrinc.com |
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