Visual compatibility of wind power plants with the landscape: Possible methods for preliminary assessment

This paper describes three methods that have been taken into consideration by the Italian utility ENEL, in co-operation with the research companies Conphoebus and ISMES, with a view to evaluating the possible visual impact of wind power plants on the local environment. These three methods refer to as many consequential levels of assessment. The first method is aimed at getting a preliminary evaluation of landscape sensitivity to the insertion of a wind power plant, in order to choose the less sensitive sites among those found as technically suitable. The second method carries out an evaluation of the visibility of a plant from the most significant landscape viewpoints in a chosen area to define the best possible lay-out of wind turbines. As a further step, the third method makes it possible to obtain photo-insertions of the wind power plant into the landscape to depict some realistic scenarios of the area.