Introduction
We expect centralised district heat networks, which use heat pumps as the main source of heat, to be most viable if much of their electricity is supplied by nearby wind generation. We have completed a wind constraints mapping process to identify land parcels in mainland Great Britain which may be suitable for wind turbine development with the aim of associating them with potential heat network sites.
Process Overview
Estimates of the potential annual energy yield at each of these land parcels have been completed by estimating the number of 1 MW turbines which could fit within each area and then cross referenced against wind turbine capacity factor data for a 1 MW wind turbine. We have completed our initial site screening using dimensions of a 1 MW wind turbine however we anticipate that sites which could host multiple turbines would likely install a single, more cost effective, multi-megawatt turbine instead.
We have artificially limited the maximum annual energy generation at each potential wind site to be 7884 MWh, equivalent to the annual yield of a 3 MW wind turbine with a capacity factor of 0.3. This is considered a reasonable practical limit for the scale of onshore wind to be developed by a community near an urban conurbation.
Constraints Layers and Buffer Sizes
The tables below defines the constraints layers we have used in our constraints mapping process. The following buffers are applied:
- Domestic buildings: 500m
- Non-domestic buildings: 100m
- Roads: 100m
- Powerlines: 100m
- Scheduled Ancient Monuments: 500m
Note that Grade 1 agricultural land has been excluded from the site searching process.
Mainland GB Wide Datasets
The following datasets have been used to exclude land parcels from our search for potential wind sites.
| Name | Link |
| OS AddressBase Core (Building Locations) | https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/addressbase-core |
| Built-up Areas | https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/ad30b234308f4b02b4bb9b0f4766f7bb/explore?location=52.744291%2C-2.679583%2C12.62 |
| Roads | https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/os-open-roads |
| Powerlines | DNO websites and https://openinframap.org |
| Open Street Map Land Usage including: – Exclusion areas – Non-Agricultural – Military – Aeroway – Lakes – Waterways | https://www.openstreetmap.org/ |
| Important Bird Areas | https://opendata-rspb.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/RSPB::ibas-uk/explore?location=52.389506%2C-2.879836%2C9.64 |
| RSPB Reserves | https://opendata-rspb.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/RSPB::rspb-reserves/explore |
England Datasets
The following English datasets have been used to exclude land parcels from our search for potential wind sites.
Wales Datasets
The following Welsh datasets have been used to exclude land parcels from our search for potential wind sites.
Scotland Datasets
The following Scottish datasets have been used to exclude land parcels from our search for potential wind sites.