Title Page:

The Impact of Eurocontrol Wind Turbine Guidelines on the development of future European
Wind Generation.

Author Details:

Michael Watson & Adam Knights

Pager Power Limited
New Mill
Bakers Court
Great Cornard
Sudbury
Suffolk
CO10 0GG
Telephone: 0044 1787 319001
Fax: 0044 1787 319007
Email: mike@pagerpower.co.uk
Email: adam@pagerpower.co.uk

Summary

Eurocontrol has issued Guidelines on How to Assess the Potential Impact of Wind Turbines on
Surveillance Sensors for consultation. Eurocontrol is the European Organisation for the Safety
of Air Navigation that has 38 Member States from across Europe.

Radar is a significant barrier to wind farm development in Europe. The Guidelines may influence
the size and shape of this barrier in future. The Guidelines consider the impact of wind turbines
on both primary surveillance radar (PSR) and secondary surveillance radar (SSR).

The draft Guidelines are described as a reference guide for radar operators and wind energy
developers and contain a methodology recommended by Eurocontrol. It is the intention that
they will become part of an international safeguarding document. Eurocontrol has 38 member
states - other states might adopt the Guidelines in future.

There are other documents and guidelines relating to wind farms and radar issued by ANSPs,
national regulators, national governments, ICAO and NATO. Some ANSPs, regulators and
governments have little formal guidance on wind farms and radar. As these bodies see the need
for guidance they will develop new guidelines or adopt existing ones.

The Guidelines influence may increase over time for a number of reasons. Awareness of the
wind farm radar issue and the Guidelines will increase as more wind farms are built. New
national guidelines are likely to be derived from the European guidelines. National aviation
functions will gradually be replaced by European ones and non-Eurocontrol states will be
influenced by the Guidelines.
The Impact of Eurocontrol Wind Turbine Guidelines on the development of future European
Wind Generation.

Introduction

The Eurocontrol guidelines on Wind Turbines may affect the development of wind energy
throughout Europe over the coming years.

Eurocontrol

EUROCONTROLs mission is to harmonise and

integrate air navigation services in Europe, aiming at
the creation of a uniform air traffic management (ATM)
system for civil and military users.

Eurocontrol is established under the EUROCONTROL

International Convention relating to Cooperation for
the Safety of Air Navigation. Eurocontrol has
established a Wind Turbine Task Force which recently
issued the Guidelines for consultation.

These draft guidelines have been reviewed and

commented upon by various organisations including
EWEA, RenewableUK [formerly BWEA] other national
wind organisations and a number of technical
consultancies including Pager Power. There will be a
seminar in Brussels to discuss the review comments
and take the document forward on 29 April. The
document is currently a draft.

At a recent IEA [International Energy Agency] topical expert meeting on wind farms and radar it
was agreed that the Eurocontrol Guidelines should be supported as the benefits of having a
common international approach and understanding was seen as beneficial for both the aviation
and wind industries.

The current version of the document relates to wind farms and air traffic control radar only. It is
intended that later versions will cover the impact of wind turbines on radio navigation aids such
as Instrument Landing Systems. Safeguarding of aeronautical radio equipment from building
development is covered by International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO document 015. It is
intended that this document will be updated to incorporate the Eurocontrol Guidelines.
Radar operators in some countries, such as Belgium and Czech Republic are already starting to
consider the Eurocontrol Guidelines when assessing wind turbine developments. In countries,
such as the United Kingdom, that already have their own wind turbine radar guidelines [CAA
document CAP 764] the Eurocontrol Guidelines are less likely to be applied.

Wind Turbines and Radar

There are thought to be approximately 1000 air traffic

control radar in the Eurocontrol states having ranges
between 50km and 500km. These radar are not
distributed evenly, with some airspace in northern and
central Europe being covered by more than 20 radar.
It is estimated that around 8GW of European wind
developments are currently being held back by radar
issues.
 2 Detailed 3 Simple
Zone 1 Safeguarding 4 No assessment
assessment assessment
>15km and
500m 15km and
PSR radar line of Not radar line of sight
radar line of sight
sight
0 500m
500m 16km and >16km or not radar line
SSR N/A
radar line of sight of sight

The Guidelines apply to Primary Surveillance Radar PSR and Secondary Surveillance Radar
SSR. Four zones are defined around the radar, these being defined by the wind turbines
distance from the radar and whether Line of Sight LOS exists between the radar sensor and
the top of the wind turbine. The zone definitions for PSR and SSR are shown in the table above.
It should be noted that these definitions may well change as a result of the ongoing consultation
process. The requirements for a detailed assessment are currently complex and costly and,
some parties think, discouraging to wind farm developers.

The size of zone 3 is dependent on terrain and radar range and therefore varies for each radar.
It is useful to understand typical zone area sizes. The table below shows area sizes for each of
the zones.

2 Detailed 3 Simple
Zone 1 Safeguarding 4 No assessment
assessment assessment
2 2
PSR 706 km 10000 km N/A
2
0.8 km
2
SSR 803 km N/A N/A

Conclusions

It is the authors opinion that the guidelines will be formally issued

during 2010 and will be referred to by some parties before they are
formally issued. They are likely to influence European wind farm
development by December 2010.

This influence may increase over time for a number of reasons.

Awareness of the wind farm radar issue and the Guidelines will
increase as more wind farms are built. New national guidelines are
likely to be derived from the European guidelines. National aviation
functions will gradually be replaced by European ones and non-
Eurocontrol states will be influenced by the Guidelines.

The level of influence for many ANSPs will be small initially but the
overall influence on European wind development will be large, because
of the number of states and ANSPs involved.

References

1. Guidelines on How to Assess the Potential Impact of Wind Turbines on Surveillance Sensors,
Eurocontrol, 30 June 2009
2. European Guidance Material on Managing Building Restricted Areas, ICAO EUR Doc 015,
Second Edition, 2009
3. CAA Policy and Guidelines on Wind Turbines, CAP 764, Civil Aviation Authority, UK