Case Studies

Terence O'Rourke: Identifying the best location for wind farms

27/01/2010

Understanding the visual impact of wind farms helps developers identify and promote potential sites but also assists local authorities and the government when preparing plans and making decisions on applications for consent. The computer visualisation required is just one service provided by planning, design and environmental consultancy Terence O’Rourke Ltd, experts in securing permission for a diverse range of complex development projects, including renewable energy schemes.

Outgrown existing GIS

Having been asked to provide GIS consultancy services to support a number of wind farm planning and Section 36 Electricity Act applications in Scotland, Terence O’Rourke Ltd had been pushing the boundaries of its existing GIS tool. Many standard mapping and visualisation tasks could be accommodated but the GIS team wanted to perform more sophisticated analysis in a shorter timeframe, on constraints such as landscape and visual impact.

Faster spatial analysis

Part of the process involves showing the authorities not only where the proposed wind farm will be visible from but also the cumulative visual impact, which involves all other wind farms within a 60km radius. Using ESRI’s ArcGIS, Terence O’Rourke Ltd can now take into account the height of turbines, earth curvature and atmospheric corrections and quickly produce maps showing the total visual effect on the landscape, local communities and key designations such as cultural heritage features.

“For a single wind farm project we might have to create around 50 Zones of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV), for the proposed and existing wind farms in the area,” explained Jeff Van Etten, Associate Director, GIS Team, Terence O’Rourke Ltd. “ESRI provides the automation we need to achieve results much faster than before.”

Better value to clients

Terence O’Rourke Ltd now has a more sophisticated GIS solution in place, adding value to its visualisation services portfolio. “The return on investment was the primary reason for choosing ESRI.” Van Etten added: “With several more projects in the pipeline, we can now deliver our analysis more efficiently passing on cost and time savings to our clients.”