Windfarms Moving Inland

Helsinki,Finland

Surveys have begun to find suitable sites for wind farms away from coastal areas and islands. With the fast development of the technology of wind power generation, new opportunities and new locations are opening up.

Alliances of local government that have banned together to cooperate in regional economic development are looking for sites that are not only windy enough, but also where operations will not disturb local residents and where the environment would not be unduly harmed.

Currently, the focus is on environmental factors, according to Heidi Saaristo, a landscape architect with an alliance of municipalities in the south west of the country.

"We are moving forward using common sense, that means looking at what kind of terrain there is in the various municipalities. Windfarms can't be too close to residential areas because they are industrial operations and create noise. On the other hand, they can't be in the middle of a wilderness forest. But, even in this part of Finland there are sparsely populated areas. Right now, we are not looking at who owns the land and we don't have to yet. First we have to survey suitable areas and then begin analyzing practical measures," says Saaristo.

The Ministry of the Environment, that is financing the survey project, is to get reports on potential inland windfarm sites next spring.