Landowners and Onshore Wind Farms
If you are a landowner, and your lands have good wind resources, you
may be interested in leasing them to wind farm developers, or in
erecting one or more wind turbines yourself, if you are able to
arrange $1.000.000 or more per turbine...
Landowners and local communities are common co-partners of energy
companies.
Good windy sites are crucial to wind developers and it may be
easy to interest them, if the site is effectively a good one,
with an high average wind speed: a site with a 10% higher annual wind speed may produce
20% or more extra energy...
Wind speed and turbulence
Wind farms and mega-wind turbines demand sites with an adequate
average wind speeds and a non-turbulent pattern.
See:
Wind speed and wind maps
The property size
Wind farms demand relatively large properties. Turbines in a
wind farm can’t be too close. They need to be widely spaced in
order not to cause turbulence to each other: mega turbines must
be sited sufficiently apart from each other (say 2,500 feet
/ 750 m apart)
The footprint of their towers is also significant: 16 feet/5m
in diameter, base foundations of over 300 cubic yards of concrete
and access service roads of 16 feet/5m width are common.
Farming and wind
systems
Wind systems do not collide with farming. After a wind farm has
been built, most of the land can still be used for farming: 98%
or more. The towers take up a very small amount of land, and the
blades do not disturb farming since they are well above the
ground in order to allow better wind speeds.
Leasing the wind
rights
Leasing the wind rights of your land for a wind project can be
very profitable. Your annual income from a single mega wind
turbine can attain values of $3,000 or more (it depends upon the
electricity generated in your site).
Landowners income from the wind rights amounting to $50 to $80 per acre
are rather typical.
Conditions needed to wind
farms
There are several conditions for a wind farm to be viable and
profitable. The wind velocity and constancy is one, very
important. But there are others:
- Proximity and access to transmission lines (sub-stations and
high-voltage power lines). Proximity and easy access may
represent huge advantages. A remote place, too far from
electrical infrastructures may be condemned in terms of
development of onshore wind farms.
– a close market for the electricity produced, and favorable
state positions and legislation (eventual state incentives to renewables)
may also be important elements.
For guidance on legal issues you may look for information in
Windustry
(in USA)
and
Wind Systems & Legal
requirements.
See also:
Basics on Wind electric generators
Wind farms
Wind Maps and data
Stand alone systems
On-grid systems
Net metering
Turbines
Power and size
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