Data pooling for the optimal localisation of wind-farms

The design of wind farms is a complex task with the optimal siting of each wind turbine as the most critical aspect for the productivity of the farm. There are a number of data which are critical to determine the best location of a wind farm. Among them there are the wind potential of a region, local environment characteristics, potential interference on communication systems, visual impact, the existence of archaeological sites, socio‐economic factors, etc. The data to evaluate the above‐mentioned issues come from different sources such as public administrations and private companies, with different approaches and interests, and data of different formats and nature. This is usually a handicap for SMEs that have to consider all these collateral but crucial aspects. The main objective of SOPCAWIND is to create new services and products for SMEs based on the development of a software tool being able to optimise the location for a wind farm based on a large and heterogeneous set of data containing information from different fields (weather, geography, environment, archaeology, radiocommunications and socialeconomy), that will be treated, converted, validated, and maintained for this purpose.