Concept for Collaborative Design of Wind Farms Facilitated by an Interactive GIS-based Visual-acoustic 3D Simulation

Planning of wind farms appears to be a complicated matter in Switzerland and all over Europe, causing growing government and business frustration. The implementation often fails on the local level when it comes to choosing a suitable location for a wind farm, although the public generally supports wind power (DEVINE-WRIGHT 2005, WOLSINK, 2005). Social acceptance is a key issue for successful wind energy market development. The choice of the location is most crucial for public stakeholders and there is growing awareness amongst policy makers that not only the physical characteristics of a wind farm but also the process of planning a wind farm is an important factor influencing public acceptability (DEVINE-WRIGHT 2005). However, 75% of all stakeholders in Switzerland state that there is a lack of planning instruments to improve or support social acceptance (BFE 2009). Thus, participatory wind power planning needs adequate new instruments.