Identification of environment and socio-economic impact factors for wind resource land mapping using ArcGIS, WaSP and Multi Criteria Decision analysis (MCDA)

The wind power potential in India estimated by Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET) at the macro level is around 48581 MW. This is based on the assumption that 1% land is available for wind farm development and a more precise estimation of the wind potential land in India considering the wind resource, electrical grid infrastructure, physical, socioeconomic and environment factors would further the development in a planned and systematic manner. This paper strives to identify impacts due to wind energy development regarding environment and socio-economic factors and its mitigation techniques.The identification of environment and socio-economic factors as one important input will assist in a larger study for the determination and quantification of wind resource potential land for wind energy projects into ranges and classes using ArcGIS, WaSP(Wind Analysis, Analysis and Application model) and Multi Criteria Decision making(MCDA).