Consultation Period started on EUROCONTROLs Guidelines on assessing the impact of wind turbines on surveillance systems

Wind turbines can potentially have a detrimental impact on the performance of surveillance systems used for air traffic control. A wind farm could cause the loss or corruption of the declared aircrafts position, or may create false targets. These create additional work for Air Traffic Controllers and may also result in safety issues. The draft guidelines were developed in close collaboration with civil and military surveillance system providers from across Europe, as well as with input from authorities in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Japan. Great care was taken to ensure that the assessment methodologies and mitigation scenarios are easy to understand and simple to apply. Mel Rees, Head of EUROCONTROLs Communication, Surveillance and Navigation Business Division, observed: Civil and military ANSPs are currently spending considerable sums on assessing whether planned wind farms will impact upon their surveillance infrastructure. Similarly, Wind Energy companies are investing significant amounts in seeking planning permission for wind farms. An objective of these guidelines is to reduce these expenditures a gain for all parties involved. This extended consultation period gives Wind Energy Industries an opportunity to consider the proposed guidelines and methodology and marks the first steps in a shared process intended to benefit both parties in supporting our increasing dependency upon wind turbines whilst maintaining an ATM infrastructure that is safe and effective. More than 70 representatives of Wind Energy Authorities, radar manufacturers and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) attended a meeting on 25 June 2009 to formally launch a consultation period leading to the formal release of the document. The consultation period will be open until 31st January 2010. Contact windturbines@eurocontrol.int for further information.