Site feasibility studies

GL Garrad Hassan provides holistic support to inform effective site choice and helps clients understand both their short and long-term exposure to external power market influences.

Choosing the right site for a wind farm is critical to its commercial success but the many factors involved including meteorology, turbine technology, electrical engineering, civil engineering and environmental issues can make it a challenging task. GL Garrad Hassan has the skills and capabilities to combine all the required disciplines to undertake a site feasibility study enabling the developer to make a well-informed decision on the best route forward.

This service is offered at the initial stage of project development where developers require a general overview of their site(s) and an assessment of how feasible the site(s) may be. GL Garrad Hassan usually delivers a multi-criteria study of a proposed site, combining a preliminary analysis of the wind resource and expected energy production, foundation concept, interconnection potential, construction complexity and consenting issues. If various sites are being considered, GL Garrad Hassan can also provide a weighted ranking of sites to assist developers in choosing the best one.

A typical service package includes:

Initial mapping of site constraints e.g. natural features, special uses, regulatory requirements; pre-screening for interference with military operations or other radio-communication issues
Development of a preliminary layout and therefore capacity of the site
An initial wind resource (likely to rely on meso-scale wind mapping), energy production and high level financial analysis
Identification of a range of turbine models, suggested for further consideration at the site
A grid connection study
Details of case studies are available on request.