Visual impact assessment method for wind parks: A case study in Crete

The number of large scale wind parks (WPs), has gradually increased over recent years as a result of the support by national and European policies. Even though it is a more environmentally friendly electricity generation option than conventional power stations, large WPs pose questions concerning their visual impact in the areas they are located. Particularly when there are no clearly defined siting criteria, land use conflicts are more intense, leading to the inhibition, and delaying, of wind park projects. In this paper, a methodology for the assessment of wind parks' aesthetic integration, and for the support of public decision-making processes, was developed. The main asset of the proposed methodology is the combined use of quantitative indicators and dynamic 3D computer simulation. The visual impact of a WP installation is determined, through the comparative consideration of the quantitative and qualitative results. The proposed methodology simulates the changes after the WP installation realistically and calculates the grade of the visual impact, and was applied to a WP in the prefecture of Chania, Crete. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.