Technical Report

NREL/TP-6A2-45834

August 2009

Land-Use Requirements of 

Modern Wind Power Plants 

in the United States

Paul Denholm, Maureen Hand, 

Maddalena Jackson, and Sean Ong
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401-3393

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov

NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308

Technical Report

NREL/TP-6A2-45834

August 2009

Land-Use Requirements of 

Modern Wind Power Plants 

in the United States

Paul Denholm, Maureen Hand, 

Maddalena Jackson, and Sean Ong

Prepared under Task No. WER9.3550
NOTICE

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i 

Acknowledgments

Substantial assistance in preparing this analysis, including the land-cover data, mapping, 

as well as general advice and guidance, was provided by Donna Heimiller, Anelia 

Milbrandt, and Billy Roberts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). 

Additional graphics and editorial support were provided by Jim Leyshon and Michelle 

Kubik. 
ii

Table of Contents 

Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... i 

1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 

2 Wind Power Plant Land-Use Metrics .......................................................................................1 

2.1 Direct Impact Area ...............................................................................................................4 

2.2 Total Wind Plant Area .........................................................................................................4 

3 Wind Power Plant Land-Use Data ............................................................................................5 

3.1 Direct Impact Area ...............................................................................................................6 

3.2 Total Wind Plant Area .........................................................................................................6 

3.3 Wind Power Plant Land-Cover and Configuration Data .....................................................6 

4 Results ..........................................................................................................................................9 

4.1 Summary Results ...............................................................................................................10 

4.2 Direct Impact Area Results ................................................................................................11 

4.3 Total Area Results ..............................................................................................................13 

5 Alternative Area Metrics and Measurement Methods ..........................................................20 

5.1 Habitat Impact Area ...........................................................................................................21 

5.2 Uniform Estimation of Total Area Requirements ..............................................................21 

6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................22 

References .....................................................................................................................................24 
iii

List of Figures

Figure 1. Illustration of the two types of wind plant land use: total area and direct impact 

area (including permanent and temporary) ......................................................................................3 

Figure 2. Example of direct impact area ..........................................................................................6 

Figure 3. Examples of wind power plant configurations .................................................................8 

Figure 4. Locations of wind power plants evaluated in this study...................................................9 

Figure 5. Distribution of permanent direct impact area .................................................................11 

Figure 6. Distribution of temporary direct impact area .................................................................12 

Figure 7. Distribution of total area requirements ...........................................................................14 

Figure 8. Distribution of total area expressed as capacity density .................................................15 

Figure 9. Direct impact area requirements (hectare/MW) as a function of wind power 

plant size ..................................................................................................................................19 

Figure 10. Capacity density as a function of wind power plant size .............................................20 

Figure 11. Possible methodologies for assigning uniform land metrics to total area of 

wind power plants ....................................................................................................................22 

List of Tables

Table 1. Summary of Collected Wind Power Plant Area Data ......................................................10 

Table 2. Projects with Detailed Direct Impact Data ......................................................................13 

Table 3. Distribution of Direct Impact Area ..................................................................................13 

Table 4. Wind Power Plant Configuration .....................................................................................16 

Table 5. Land-Cover Data ..............................................................................................................17 

Table 6. Relationship between Configuration and Land-Use Area ...............................................18 

Table 7. Relationship between Land-Cover and Average Land-Use Area ....................................18 

Table 8. Relationship between Land Cover and Configuration .....................................................19 

Table 9. Direct impact area requirements (hectare/MW) as a function of wind power plant 

size ...........................................................................................................................................19 
1

1 Introduction

By the end of 2008, a combination of environmental, economic, and policy factors 

resulted in the cumulative deployment of more than 25 gigawatts (GW) of wind 

generation capacity in the United States (AWEA 2009a). Continued growth is anticipated 

due to renewable portfolio standards and expected constraints on carbon emissions in the 

electric sector. One of the concerns regarding large-scale deployment of wind energy is 

its potentially significant land use. Estimates of land use in the existing literature are 

often based on simplified assumptions, including power plant configurations that do not 

reflect actual development practices to date. Land-use descriptions for many projects are 

available from various permitting agencies and other public sources, but we are not aware 

of any single source that compiles or summarizes this data. In addition, there is limited 

information comparing land use for wind power plants across different terrain and plant 

configurations. The existing data and analyses limit the effective quantification of landuse impacts for existing and future wind energy generation, particularly in comparison to 

other electricity generation technologies.

In this report, we provide data and analysis of the land use associated with modern, large 

wind power plants (defined as greater than 20 megawatts (MW) and constructed after 

2000). We begin by discussing standard land-use metrics as established in the life-cycle 

assessment literature, and then discuss their applicability to wind power plants. We 

identify two major “classes” of wind plant land use: 1) direct impact (i.e., disturbed land 

due to physical infrastructure development), and 2) total area (i.e., land associated with 

the complete wind plant project). We also provide data for each of these classes, derived 

from project applications, environmental impact statements, and other sources. We also 

attempt to identify relationships among land use, wind plant configuration, and 

geography. We evaluated 172 existing or proposed projects, which represents more than

26 GW of capacity. 

In addition to providing land-use data and summary statistics, we identify several 

limitations to the existing wind project area data sets, and suggest additional analysis that 

could aid in evaluating actual land use and impacts associated with deployment of wind 

energy. 

2 Wind Power Plant Land-Use Metrics 

There are a number of existing and proposed metrics for evaluating land-use impacts.

While there is no generally accepted methodology (Canals et al. 2007), review of the lifecycle assessment (LCA) literature suggests at least three general categories for evaluating

land-use impacts: 1) the area impacted, 2) the duration of the impact, and 3) the quality of 

the impact (Koellner and Scholz 2008). 

In this report, we focus on quantifying and summarizing the first component of land-use 

impact identified above (area of impact), recognizing that the quality and duration of the 

impact must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The quality of impact, which may also 

be stated as a “damage function,” evaluates both the initial state of the land impacted, and 
2

the final states across a variety of factors including soil quality and overall ecosystem

quality (Koellner and Scholz 2008). 

 Quantifying the area of a wind power plant is challenging given the discontinuous nature 

of its configuration. “Area” includes not only land directly disturbed by installation of the 

turbines, but also the surrounding area that potentially may be impacted. In reviewing 

various environmental impact assessments and other evaluations of wind plant land use, 

it appears that there are two general types of “areas” considered. The first is the direct 

surface area impact (i.e., disturbed land) due to plant construction and infrastructure. The 

second is more vaguely defined, but is associated with the total area of the wind power 

plant as a whole. Figure 1 provides a simplified illustration of the two types of areas, 

which are vastly different in both quantity and quality of impacts as discussed in 

subsequent sections.
3

Figure 1. Illustration of the two types of wind plant land use: total area and direct impact 

area (including permanent and temporary)1

 

1 The total project area map is adapted from an actual project application (U.S. DOE 2005). The direct 

impact area is a simplified illustration meant to represent typical components and does NOT represent this 

or any actual project.

 
4

2.1 Direct Impact Area

Development of a wind power plant results in a variety of temporary and permanent 

(lasting the life of the project) disturbances. These disturbances include land occupied by 

wind turbine pads, access roads, substations, service buildings, and other infrastructure 

which physically occupy land area, or create impermeable surfaces. Additional direct 

impacts are associated with development in forested areas, where additional land must be 

cleared around each turbine. While land cleared around a turbine pad does not result in 

impervious surfaces, this modification represents a potentially significant degradation in 

ecosystem quality (Arnett et al. 2007). 

In addition to permanent impacts, which last the life of the facility, there are temporary 

impacts from plant construction. These impacts are associated with temporary 

construction-access roads, storage, and lay-down. After plant construction is completed, 

these areas will eventually return to their previous state. The amount of time required to 

return to its “pre-disturbance condition” is estimated at two-three years for grasslands and 

“decades” in desert environments (Arnett et al. 2007). 

An illustration of the direct impact area is shown in the magnified section of Figure 1, 

and demonstrates the components of direct impact, including the impermeable turbine 

pad and road, the permanently altered clearing around the turbine, and the temporary laydown area. This illustration is not meant to represent any specific project and the actual 

components and configuration of direct impact area will vary among projects. 

2.2 Total Wind Plant Area 

While the area and impacts associated with physical infrastructure described in Section 

2.1 may be the easiest to quantify, the more commonly cited land-use metric associated 

with wind power plants is the footprint of the project as a whole. However, unlike the 

area occupied by roads and pads, the total area is more challenging to define and 

subjective in nature. Generally, the total area of a wind power plant consists of the area 

within a perimeter surrounding all of the turbines in the project. However, the perimeter 

is highly dependent on terrain, turbine size, current land use, and other considerations 

such as setback regulations. An example of the total area of a project is illustrated in 

Figure 1, showing the individual turbine strings, and the very irregular perimeter. There is 

no uniform definition of the perimeter or boundary surrounding a wind power plant – in 

fact, the total area of a wind power plant could have a number of definitions. The 

boundary could be defined based on the required turbine spacing as a function of rotor 

diameter, or use a standardized setback from turbines at the edge of a project. As 

discussed in Section 3, this paper relies on the area defined through project applications 

or other documentation associated with each project. 

The character of impact of the total area of a wind power plant is very different from the 

direct impact area, or the area associated with other types of energy production facilities. 

Many previous comparisons of total land use associated with energy production only 

include the total area affected, and provide little discussion of the damage function as a 

comparative metric. A wind plant in an agricultural area with low population and 

minimum avian impacts would have a much lower damage function than an area mined 

for coal or flooded by a hydropower project, for example. As a result, using the total area 
5

metric without qualification may significantly overstate the land impacts of wind power 

compared to other sources. Alternatively, wind power projects should consider the 

impacts associated with habitat disruption, avian impacts, and aesthetics. Ultimately, the 

actual quality of impacts, captured in a damage function, is needed to compare the land 

impacts of wind to other sources. 

3 Wind Power Plant Land-Use Data 

Our goal was to collect and provide a summary of reported land-use data associated with 

modern, large wind power plants. As a result, we restricted the sample of sites to projects 

constructed after 2000 and with a nameplate capacity greater than 20 MW.2

A variety of sources for land-use data were used for this study and fell into three general 

categories. First, where available, we collected official project data from federal, state, 

and local regulatory agencies, including environmental impact statements (EIS), 

environmental assessments (EA), and project applications to utility regulatory bodies.

The availability of this data is highly dependent on state and local regulations. Some 

states require very detailed environmental assessments, while others require little in the 

way of analysis of potential land use. Second, we collected project fact sheets, news 

releases, and other data provided by the project owner or developer. When no other 

source of data could be located, we used news articles, Web sites and other secondary 

sources. As a supplement to area data, we also collected location and land-cover data for 

individual turbines from publicly available data sets. The following sections provide 

details about the specific types and sources of data collected. 

 We included 

proposed projects, but only those with detailed, formal applications (or environmental 

assessments) to a regulatory agency. 

3.1 Direct Impact Area 

The direct impact area was identified in project materials as land “permanently 

occupied,” “permanently disturbed,” or using similar wording. When provided, most 

projects report a single number for land directly occupied; however, some provide a 

breakdown of occupation categories. Figure 2 provides an example of a detailed table of 

occupied area from a project application. 

 

2 We excluded older projects largely because they use turbines less than 1 MW. This excludes several large 

projects such as those in the Altamont Pass and Tehachapi regions in California.
6

Figure 2. Example of direct impact area (adapted from BLM 2008) 

When provided, we recorded the permanent direct impact area data for five categories: 

turbine pad, roads, substations, transmission, and other. 

A number of applications also included temporary direct impact data associated with 

plant construction. We recorded temporary direct impact area data in four categories: 

temporary roads, staging, substation/transmission construction, and other. 

3.2 Total Wind Plant Area

The total area was identified in project materials as “project area,” “lease area,” “site 

boundary,” or similar terms. This area is not uniformly defined, and is often established 

by the individual project developer; it also will vary between developers and between 

states. In addition, many applications define the project area without a map or any 

additional information about how this boundary is determined. 

3.3 Wind Power Plant Land-Cover and Configuration Data

In addition to area data, two additional parameters associated with wind plants were

collected to aid in evaluating possible dependence of land use on wind plant 

configuration and location. 

For each wind power plant evaluated, we collected location data for each turbine in the 

project from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA 2009). This data set includes 

latitude and longitude for each turbine. From this database, we then acquired the landcover type for each turbine using a U.S. Geological Survey data set (USGS 2006). Land 

cover in this data set is described as “the nature of the land surface at a particular 

location” with 21 classes of land cover. This data provides additional insight into the 

potential impact – for example, turbines located in primarily agriculture area should have 
7

significantly less impact than turbines located in forested area, which are more likely to 

require additional clearing and have a greater potential for habitat fragmentation and 

other adverse environmental impacts.

Once we collected the location data for each turbine, we also examined the overall wind 

plant configuration to identify relationships between land-use area and configuration. 

After examining the various configurations, we created four general categories: Single 

String, Multiple Strings, Parallel Strings, and Clusters. These are qualitatively defined as 

follows: 

• Single String: A single long string of turbines, including projects with one or 

more discontinuities. 

• Multiple String: A series of identifiable strings of turbines, but not uniformly 

oriented. 

• Parallel String: A series of well-defined strings that are roughly parallel to each 

other (i.e., strings do not intersect). This configuration is closest to the grid 

spacing often used to represent an “ideal” plant layout. 

• Cluster: Sites that have very few to no observable turbine strings. 

Examples of these configurations are provided in Figure 3. 
8

Figure 3.1. Single string configuration 

(Waymart, Pennsylvania)

Figure 3.2. Multiple strings configuration 

(Wyoming Wind Energy Center, 

Wyoming) 

Figure 3.3. Parallel string configuration 

(Roscoe Wind Project, Texas)

Figure 3.4. Cluster configuration (Spring 

Creek Wind Farm, Illinois)

Figure 3. Examples of wind power plant configurations 

In these representative cases, the different configurations are easily visible. However, it is 

sometimes difficult to establish a single, uniform configuration for an entire plant, which 

introduces an element of subjectivity to this metric.
9

4 Results 

We obtained one or more categories of land-use data for 172 individual projects, 

representing 26,462 MW of proposed or installed capacity. Of this capacity, 19,834 MW 

was completed as of March 2009, 2,892 MW was under construction, and the remainder 

consists of proposed projects. According to a the American Wind Energy Association

(2009b), as of March 2009, 28,206 MW wind capacity had been completed in the United 

States, with 24,640 MW meeting our criteria as a large modern plant with a capacity of at 

least 20 MW and constructed after 2000. As a result, we collected at least some 

information on about 80% of the targeted installed wind capacity in the United States.

Figure 4 provides a map of project locations. A complete listing of all projects, data 

sources, and individual project data is provided in the Appendix. 

Figure 4. Locations of wind power plants evaluated in this study
10

4.1 Summary Results

Table 1 summarizes the direct impact area data and total area data for projects shown in 

Figure 4 and listed in the Appendix. As noted earlier, this represents a mix of data from 

the 172 projects. The number of projects where we obtained data for the corresponding 

area metric is listed in the first row of Table 1 – for example, we were able to obtain total 

impact area for 161 of the 172 projects, but only 52 of the projects had information on the 

temporary direct impact area. The average area requirements (hectare/MW) were 

calculated by summing the total area of all plants with corresponding land-use data and 

dividing by the total capacity of those plants.3

Table 1. Summary of Collected Wind Power Plant Area Data

 

Data Type

Direct Impact Area

Total Area Permanent Temporary

Number of Projects

with Corresponding 

Data

93 52 161

Total Capacity (MW)

with Corresponding 

Data

13,897 8,984 25,438

Total Number of 

Turbines with 

Corresponding Data

8,711 5,541 15,871

Total Reported Area 

(km2) 37.6 61.4 8,778.9

Average Area 

Requirements 

(hectare/MW)4

0.3± 0.3 0.7 ± 0.6 34.5 ± 22.4

 

3 This represents a weighted average and is not equal to the simple average. The simple average would sum 

each individual land use requirement (area per unit capacity) and the divide the sum by the total number of 

evaluated projects. This method would weight each wind plant equally, so that the land use “intensity” of a 

small plant would count as much as a much larger project.

4 The standard deviation is also reported. It should be noted that the data sets do not represent normal 

distributions as can be observed in Figures 5-7. 
11

4.2 Direct Impact Area Results

There is substantial variation among the reported area requirements as indicated by the 

large standard deviation values. For the permanent direct impact, the range is about 0.06 

hectares/MW to about 2.4 hectares/MW; however, approximately 80% of the projects 

(both number of projects and total capacity) report direct land use at below 0.4 

hectares/MW. Figure 5 indicates the range of direct impact area for the projects that 

provided this data. In this figure, the data were binned and reported as both the number of 

projects and the total capacity (MW) in each bin of direct impact area (hectares/MW).

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

<0.1 0.1-0.2 0.2-0.3 0.3-0.4 0.4-0.5 0.5-1.0 1-1.5 >1.5

MW

Number of Projects

Permanent Direct Impact Area (Hectares/MW)

Number of Projects MW

Figure 5. Distribution of permanent direct impact area 

Figure 6 provides the distribution of temporary direct impact area. The temporary impact 

area is much higher than the permanent area, with about 50% of the projects (both 

number and capacity) reporting a temporary impact area of greater than 0.5 hectares/MW.
12

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

0

2

4

6

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<0.1 0.1-0.2 0.2-0.3 0.3-0.4 0.4-0.5 0.5-1.0 1-1.5 >1.5

MW

Number of Projects

Temporary Direct Impact Area (Hectares/MW)

Number of Projects MW

Figure 6. Distribution of temporary direct impact area 

The overall average direct impact area is 0.3 ± 0.3 hectares/MW for permanent impact

and 0.7 ± 0.6 hectares/MW for temporary impact, or a total direct surface area disruption 

of about 1.0 ± 0.7 hectares/MW.

The reported values can be compared to previous estimates of direct impacts. The Bureau 

of Land Management (BLM 2005) estimated a direct impact area (both permanent and 

temporary) of 0.4 to 1.2 hectares per turbine in the western United States. Assuming a 1.5 

MW turbine, this corresponds to total direct impact area of 0.3 to 0.8 hectares/MW. 

Strickland and Johnson (2006) estimate permanent infrastructure impacts of 0.3 to 0.4 

hectares per turbine, and temporary impacts of 0.2 to 1.0 hectares per turbine. Assuming 

a 1.5 MW turbine, this corresponds to a permanent impact area of 0.2 to 0.5 hectares/MW 

and temporary impact area of 0.1 to 0.7 hectares/MW. 

Where provided, we collected data that breaks out the occupation categories as described 

previously. Less than a third of the projects that reported direct impact area provided 

detailed data. Tables 2 and 3 provide summary statistics of this data. 
13

Table 2. Projects with Detailed Direct Impact Data

Permanent Temporary

Number of Projects with 

Detailed Data 23 17

Total MW 4,257 3,642

Table 3. Distribution of Direct Impact Area 

Permanent Impact 

Category % of Area Temporary Impact Category % of Area

Turbine Area 10% Staging Area 30%

Roads 79% Temp Roads 62%

Substation 6%

Sub/Trans 

construction 6%

Transmission 2% Other 3%

Other 2%

Table 3 indicates that the majority of direct impacts are associated with roads. In most

cases, the road area provided in the documents only counts new road development or 

road improvement. For further studies, it would be useful to more closely review project 

documents to determine the amount of new roads that were constructed versus the extent 

to which the project used the preexisting road network. 

4.3 Total Area Results

For total area requirements, the range of values is from about 9 hectares/MW to 100 

hectares/MW, with five “outliers” – three projects with requirements below 6 

hectares/MW and two projects with reported areas of greater than 135 hectares/MW. 

Figure 7 provides a distribution of the total area requirements (hectares/MW).
14

0

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7000

8000

9000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

<10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 >70

MW

Number of Projects

Total Project Area (Hectares/MW)

Number of Projects MW

Figure 7. Distribution of total area requirements 

Many estimates of total area often express wind plant land use in terms of capacity 

density (capacity per unit area, typically MW/km2). Excluding the outliers, the reported 

data represents a capacity density range of 1.0 to 11.2 MW/km2

 and an overall average 

capacity density of 3.0 ± 1.7 MW/km2. Figure 8 provides a distribution of the capacity 

density data. Of the 161 projects with total land-use area data, 125 (representing 80% of 

the evaluated capacity) have reported area of between 10 and 50 hectares/MW (or a 

capacity density range of 2-10 MW/km2).
15

0

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<1 1--2 2--3 3--4 4--5 5--6 6--7 7--8 >8

MW

Number of Projects

Capacity Density (MW/km2)

Number of Projects MW

Figure 8. Distribution of total area expressed as capacity density

Previous estimates of total area are often based on theoretical potential to extract energy 

over a particular area, such as the U.S. DOE (2008) estimate of 20 hectares/MW (equal to

a capacity density of 5 MW/km2). Other estimates assume turbines are configured in a 

grid with a fixed array spacing, such as 5 rotor diameters by 10 rotor diameters (a 5D by 

10D array), or some alternative fixed spacing (Manwell et al. 2002, Fthenakis and Kim

2009). For modern wind turbines, a 5D by 10D array yields an area of 13-20 

hectares/MW, equal to a capacity density of 5-8 MW/km2 (Denholm 2006). These 

estimates represent minimum spacing to optimize energy extraction. 

The overall average land use reported in this study is higher than estimates that use 

optimal grid spacing due, in part, to irregular spacing seen in actual projects. However, in 

reviewing the project applications and environmental assessments, we found several

potentially significant sources of overestimates of the land use associated with some 

projects. 

In some cases, developers lease (or propose to lease) all the land deemed necessary for a 

multiphase project at once, and all of that land then gets associated with an initial phase 

of the project rather than the final (larger) project. 

We have also found that in several states, project areas are mapped based on discrete 

sections (where a section is defined as a 1 square mile parcel5

 

5 http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html

), and that an entire section 

is included if there is a turbine located anywhere on that section. This can actually lead to 

double counting of sections, when two separate projects overlap on the same section, and 
16

that section is assigned to both projects. Additional complete or partial sections may be 

assigned to the project area surrounding the outermost edge of turbines. These factors 

will tend to increase the reported land use, decreasing the reported capacity density of 

wind projects. 

One example of potential land-use overestimation is the Moraine II Project in Minnesota

(PPM Energy 2007). This project has the greatest total area of all evaluated projects equal 

to 226 hectares/MW, or a capacity density of 0.44 MW/km2

. This value was based on the 

application, which states that “The site boundary in Minnesota encompasses an area of 

approximately 26,992 acres.” Examining the project map, the site boundary includes 40 

complete sections of land, while turbines are located on only six of these sections. While 

this is the most extreme example, many other projects include large areas unoccupied by 

“initial phase” wind turbines or associated infrastructure.

4.4 Dependence of Area on Configuration, Geography, and Plant Size

Despite the inconsistent methods used to report area, it may be useful to examine the 

dependence of area requirements on configuration and geography. To further evaluate the 

potential sources of variation in land area, we first assigned each project a configuration 

and land-cover classification as discussed previously. Table 4 provides the distribution of 

configurations of all wind plants evaluated. 

Table 4. Wind Power Plant Configuration 

Configuration Projects % of Projects MW % of Capacity

Parallel 

Strings 67 39.0% 11704.5 44.2%

Single String 11 6.4% 1071.0 4.0%

Multiple 

Strings

40 23.3% 5979.8 22.6%

Cluster 54 31.4% 7706.6 29.1%

As illustrated in Table 4, fewer than 50% of the evaluated projects resemble a grid 

configuration, (noting that the parallel string configuration often only loosely 

approximates an ideal grid.). 

Table 5 provides the predominant land-cover classification data determined by the 

combination of the turbine locations from the FAA database and the land-cover data from 

the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) discussed in Section 3. The three different forest 

types (deciduous, mixed, and evergreen) are combined into a single category. 
17

Table 5. Land-Cover Data

Primary Land Type Projects % of 

Projects MW % of Capacity

Shrubland 38 22.1% 7,169 27.1% 

Forest 15 8.7% 1,711 6.5% 

Grasslands/Herbaceous 34 19.8% 5,324 20.1% 

Pasture/Hay 16 9.3% 1,997 7.5% 

Row Crops 54 31.4% 8,199 31.0% 

Small Grains 15 8.7% 2,063 7.8% 

Tables 6 and 7 provide the average land-use data by configuration and land-cover 

classification. It should be noted that by splitting the project data by category, we 

substantially reduced the number of plants in each category. For example, while we 

identified 67 projects having the parallel strings configuration, only 11 had temporary 

land-use data available. We also calculate the average area and standard deviation using 

all reported data, despite the fact that there are significant outliers (reflected in the large 

standard deviation). 
18

Table 6. Relationship between Configuration and Land-Use Area

Configuration 

Average Area (hectares/MW)

Direct Impact 

Area 

(Permanent) 

Direct Impact 

Area (Temp) Total Area

Parallel 

Strings 0.33 ± 0.32 0.80 ± 0.55 34.7 ± 17.0

Multiple 

Strings 0.21 ± 0.15 0.38 ± 0.33 27.7 ± 24.0

Single String 0.34 ± 0.28 1.00 ± 1.13 30.3 ± 18.3

Cluster 0.24 ± 0.24 0.78 ± 0.63 39.8 ± 22.0

Based on the data in Table 6, cluster configurations appear to have greater total area than 

other configurations, probably due to irregular turbine placement resulting in greater 

spacing between individual turbines. 

Table 7. Relationship between Land-Cover and Average Land-Use Area

Primary Land Type

Average Area (hectares/MW)

Direct 

Impact Area

(Permanent) 

Direct 

Impact Area

(Temporary) 

Total Area

Shrubland 0.22 ± 0.12 0.63 ± 0.50 26.3 ± 12.8

Forest 0.36 ± 0.22 1.11 ± 1.14 18.3 ± 12.6

Grasslands/Herbaceous 0.41 ± 0.22 0.37 ± 0.11 35.7 ± 16.7

Pasture/Hay 0.24 ± 0.15 0.59 ± 0.66 27.4 ± 15.4

Row Crops 0.24 ± 0.28 0.87 ± 0.65 47.6 ± 25.1

Small Grains 0.31 ± 0.52 0.50 ± 0.17 24.5 ± 7.7

Evaluated wind plants in forested areas have the highest temporary impact area – and 

higher than average permanent impact area – likely due to forest clearing for access 

roads, turbine pads, and a setback area around each turbine. However, these projects also 

have the lowest total reported area. Wind plants sited on land where the predominant land 

cover is row crops have the greatest total area requirements. This relationship can be 

observed in Table 8, which correlates turbine configuration with land cover and 

illustrates that cluster projects are most commonly associated with row crops. 
19

Table 8. Relationship between Land Cover and Configuration

Primary Land Type

Number of Projects

Parallel 

Strings 

Multiple 

Strings 

Single 

String Cluster

Shrubland 21 13 2 2 

Forest 1 5 6 3

Grasslands/Herbaceous 20 6 3 5 

Pasture/Hay 0 3 0 13

Row Crops 17 7 0 30

Small Grains 8 6 0 1 

We also examined the relationship between overall wind power plant capacity (MW) and 

reported land-use requirements (hectare/MW). Figures 9 and 10 relate direct impact area 

and total area as a function of project size. In Figure 9, one temporary impact point equal 

to 4.5 hectare/MW has been omitted for chart clarity. 

0

0.25

0.5

0.75

1

1.25

1.5

1.75

2

2.25

2.5

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Wind Power Plant Size (MW)

Direct Impact Area (hectare/MW)

Permanent

Temporary

Figure 9. Direct impact area requirements (hectare/MW) as a function of 

wind power plant size
20

Figure 10 illustrates the relationship between total area (measured in terms of capacity 

density) and project size. Three outliers above 12 MW/km2

 are not shown. As with 

Figure 9, there appears to be no significant trends, and very little correlation (with rvalues less than 0.05 for all relationships in the figures.)6

 

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Wind Power Plant Size (MW)

Capacity Density (MW/km2)

Figure 10. Capacity density as a function of wind power plant size

5 Alternative Area Metrics and Measurement Methods 

There are a number of limitations to the evaluation of land use in existing data sets.

Primarily, any metric that includes only area and does not include the quality of impact 

(damage function) will be unable to completely capture the land-use impacts of wind 

power plants or any electricity generation technology. However, there are additional 

“area only” metrics that could improve understanding of the land-use impacts of wind 

power plants. In this section, we suggest two additional area measurements that could be 

generally applied. The first is habitat impact area, which attempts to more directly 

measure the area of ecosystem impact. The second is a more general measure of total 

area, incorporating a standardized methodology. 

 

6 We also examined the relationship between turbine size and land use, hypothesizing that larger turbines 

would require less direct land impact area per unit of capacity. However, we found no significant 

relationship trends in the reported data.
21

5.1 Habitat Impact Area

One additional land-use metric that could be considered more generally would be a 

“habitat impact area,” which measures the area of fragmentation or decrease in habitat 

quality. (Impact on habitat is often considered and reported in individual project 

applications and environmental assessments.) Summary estimates of regional ecosystem 

impacts are provided by the National Research Council (2007) and Arnet et al. (2007). As 

an example, Robel (2002) estimates turbines placed in certain grassland areas will reduce 

the available habitat for greater prairie-chicken nesting by about 800 hectares for each 

turbine (about 530 hectares/MW, assuming a 1.5 MW turbine). Turbines placed in 

forested areas can create an “edge effect” (Jordaan et al. 2009), which results in 

disruptions that can exceed 340 meters in all directions for certain species (Wood et al. 

2006), or a habitat impact of more than 24 hectares/MW, assuming a 1.5 MW turbine. 

These examples show the limitations of the simple metrics provided in this report, as well 

as the limitation of quantifying wind power plant land use without qualifying their

impacts on a regional basis. 

5.2 Uniform Estimation of Total Area Requirements

As discussed previously, there is no uniform definition of the total area of a wind power 

plant. This paper describes the wind plant area in the United States that is reported to be 

leased or otherwise associated with a project application. As discussed previously, the 

measurement of total area varies by project developer and by state, and provides a limited 

basis to compare projects regionally or to estimate land use in future wind generation 

scenarios.

Addressing the limitations caused by using developer’s estimates of project areas would 

require developing a more uniform metric for the total area of wind power plants based 

on setbacks or other relation to turbines. Figure 11 provides an example of three potential 

measures of total area that could be generally applied based on the availability of 

individual turbine locations from the FAA database or other sources. The method is based

on the geometric concept of a “convex hull,” which can be described by visualizing a 

rubber band stretched around the perimeter of a set of points. Applying this method to 

calculate wind plant area requires establishment of several parameters. First, the setback 

from the outermost edge of the wind turbines must be standardized. Second, the amount 

of “relaxation” into the interior of the project must be established. The effect of different 

relaxations is illustrated by buffer areas 2 and 3, where some of the open space inside the 

outermost perimeter is eliminated. A final element to consider is the effect of any large 

discontinuities in the project. A complicating issue in establishing these three parameters 

is that they would probably vary depending on land-cover type. For example, setbacks 

would be greater for turbines located in forested areas. If these parameters are 

established, it should be relatively easy to determine the total land use associated with all 

wind energy production in the United States. 
22

Figure 11. Possible methodologies for assigning uniform land metrics to total area of wind 

power plants

6 Conclusions

Although there is no uniformly accepted single metric of land use for wind power plants, 

two primary indices of land use do exist – the infrastructure/direct impact area (or land 

temporarily or permanently disturbed by wind power plant development) and the total 

area (or overall area of the power plant as a whole). 

Based on the collected data, direct impact is mostly caused by road development, as 

opposed to the turbine pads and electrical support equipment. For 93 projects 

representing about 14 GW of proposed or installed capacity, the average permanent direct 

impact value reported was 0.3 ± 0.3 hectares/MW of capacity. Fewer projects (52 

representing 9 GW of capacity) provide temporary direct impact data, with an overall 

average of 0.7 ± 0.6 hectares/MW of capacity. This implies a total direct impact area 

(both temporary and permanently disturbed land) of about 1 ± 0.7 hectare/MW, but with 

a wide variation in this area. 

We also found reported total-area data for 161 projects representing about 25 GW of 

proposed or installed capacity. Excluding several outliers, the average value for the total 

project area was about 34 ± 22 hectares/MW, equal to a capacity density of 3.0 ± 1.7 
23

MW/km2. This capacity density is less than grid-based estimates used for optimizing 

energy extraction. We believe that some of this difference is due to inclusion of land that 

was set aside for future project expansion and double counting of land where projects 

overlap. The limited detailed data available for many projects, including a number of 

large projects, limits the ability to precisely identify the discrepancy between common 

estimates and reported data. However, it is clear that the ideal grid configuration used for 

some estimates is rarely used in practice, resulting in more widely spaced turbines. 

Common estimates of wind land-use requirements represent, in part, the theoretical 

potential to extract energy over a particular area. For example, estimates for wind 

resource potential assign wind project capacity to geographic areas as small as 200 m2

based on average wind resource over that grid cell. Existing projects site turbines in 

locations that maximize energy capture accounting for normal terrain variations, avoiding 

depressions, and exploiting ridges. While the theoretical approaches are often useful (as 

indicated by the fact that many projects achieve capacity densities equal to or greater than 

5 MW/km2), practical considerations tend to increase the area actually used by projects. 

Without a systematic method to define project boundaries based solely on turbine 

spacing, the total land area required for wind projects to effectively extract energy from 

the flow cannot be determined. Although this paper presents the land area reported by 

wind project developers in the United States at this time, additional methods are needed 

to systematically determine land-use requirements for energy extraction, all while 

considering continuing advances in turbine design and plant configurations. 

Total land-area metrics for wind projects are not consistently defined and provide 

information for different purposes. This paper explores the land area reportedly 

associated with U.S. wind projects based on official documents. Other approaches would 

explore turbine-specific dimensions (such as rotor diameter) to assess U.S. wind project 

area optimized for energy extraction – perhaps leading to new “rule of thumb” estimates. 

Finally, an automated methodology that defines a standard setback based on relative 

turbine locations within projects would result in a systematic approach that may reduce 

variation among projects. 
24

References 

Arnett, E.B.; Inkley, D.B; Johnson, D.H.; Larkin, R.P.; Manes, S.; Manville, A.M.; 

Mason, R.; Morrison, M.; Strickland, M.D.; Thresher, R. (September 2007). “Impacts of 

Wind Energy Facilities on Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat.” Wildlife Society Technical 

Review 07-2, 49 pp. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 

American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). (2009a). Annual Wind Industry 

Report http://www.awea.org/publications/reports/AWEA-Annual-Wind-Report-2009.pdf

AWEA. (2009b.) http://www.awea.org/projects/ Accessed June 2, 2009. 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM). (2008). Final Environmental Impact 

Statement/Environmental Impact Report for the Mountain View IV Wind Energy Project. 

Final EIR/EIS, October 

2008. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palmsprings/mtnview_windenergy.html. February 

15, 2009. 

BLM. (2005). Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Wind Energy 

Development on BLM Administered Land in the Western United 

States. http://windeis.anl.gov/documents/fpeis/index.cfm Accessed March 9, 2009. 

Canals, L. M.; Bauer, C.; Depestele, J.; Dubreuil, A.; Freiermuth Knuchel, R.; Gaillard, 

G.; Michelsen, O.; Müller-Wenk, R.; Rydgren, B. (2007). “Key elements in a framework 

for land use impact assessment in LCA.” The International Journal of Life Cycle 

Assessment 12 (1) 5–15. 

Denholm, P. (2006). “Improving the Technical, Environmental, and Social Performance 

of Wind Energy Systems Using Biomass-Based Energy Storage.” Renewable Energy. 31; 

pp. 1,355-1,370. 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2009). “Obstruction Evaluation/Airport 

Airspace Analysis.” https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/portal.jsp Accessed May 1, 2008 

– March 6, 2009. 

Fthenakis, V.; Kim, H. C. (2009). “Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle 

analysis.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 13, 1465-1474. 

Jordaan, S; Keith, D.; Stelfox, B. (2009) “Quantifying land use of oil sands production: a 

life cycle perspective.” Environmental Research Letters, 4 02004 

Koellner, T.; Scholz, R. (2008). “Assessment of land use impacts on the natural 

environment.” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 13, No. 1. pp. 

32-48. 

Manwell, J.F.; McGowan, J.G.; Rogers, A.L. (2002). Wind Energy Explained: Theory, 

Design and Application. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons. 
25

National Research Council. (2007). Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects. 

Washington, DC: NAP. http://dels.nas.edu/dels/reportDetail.php?link_id=4185. Accessed 

May 12, 2009 

PPM Energy. (April 2007) “Public Utilities Commission Site Permit Application for a 

Large Wind Energy Conversion System Moraine II Wind Project Pipestone and Murray 

Counties, MN.” Docket No: IP6632/WS-07-389. April 11, 2007. 

Robel, R.J. (2002). “Expected Impacts on Greater Prairie Chickens of Establishing a 

Wind Turbine Facility Near Rosalia, Kansas.” Report to Zilkha Renewable Energy, 

Houston, Texas, USA. 

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). (May 2008). “20% Wind Energy by 2030 – 

Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply.” DOE/GO-102008-

2567. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/pdfs/41869.pdf 

U.S. DOE. (2005). “Environmental Assessment for Spring Canyon Wind Project, Logan 

County, Colorado,” DOE/EA-1521, June 2005. 

http://gc.energy.gov/NEPA/nepa_documents/ea/ea1521/ 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). (2006). “National Center for Earth Resources 

Observation and Science, Conterminous United States Land Cover 1992 – 200-Meter 

Resolution.” http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mld/lancovi.html Accessed January 8, 2009-

May 9, 2009. 

Wood, R.B.; Bosworth, S.B.; Dettmers, R. (2006). “Curulean Warbler Abundance and 

Occurrence Relative to Large-Scale Edge and Habitat Characteristics.” Condor 108(1): 

154-165. 

Strickland, D.; Johnson, D. (2006). “Overview of What We Know About Avian/Wind 

Interaction.” Presented at the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative Wildlife 

Workgroup Research Meeting VI, November 14, San Antonio, TX. 

http://www.nationalwind.org/events/wildlife/20063/presentations/birds/strickland.pdf. 

Accessed August 1, 2009 
26

Appendix. Wind Power Plant Land-Use Data

Table A1. Land-Use Data

Name State # 

Turbines

Capacity 

MW

Total Area

(hectares) 

Total Area Per 

Unit Capacity 

(Hectares 

/MW) 

Direct 

Impact

Area

(Perm.)

(hectares) 

Direct 

Impact

Area

(Temp.) 

(hectares) 

Steel Park Wind Farm AZ 15 15 448.7 29.92

Dry Lake Wind 

Project I AZ 42 63 2430.0 38.57

Bear River Wind Power 

Project CA 35 70 4.0 12.6

Hatchet Ridge Wind 

Project CA 49 125 1193.9 9.55 29.6 55.1 

High Winds I & II CA 90 162 2430.0 15.00 42.5 

Mountain View IV CA 49 49 671.9 13.71 4.5 5.8 

Pine Tree Wind Project 

aka Wind Turbine 

Prometheus CA 80 120 3240.0 27.00 53.5 42.8

Shiloh I CA 100 150 2754.0 18.36 33.8

Shiloh II CA 88 176 2470.5 14.04 20.4 57.9

Solano Wind Project, 

Phase IIB CA 66 85 1417.5 16.68

Cedar Creek Wind 

Farm CO 274 300 15390.0 51.30 

Cedar Point Wind 

Project CO 150 300 8100.0 27.00 

Colorado Green Wind 

Project CO 108 162 4795.2 29.60

Spring Canyon CO 87 130 8931.9 68.71 27.9 62.0

Twin Buttes Wind 

Power Project CO 50 75 3645.0 48.60

Buffalo Creek Wind 

Farm IA 75 150 4455.0 29.70 

Crystal Lake IA 180 350 16848.0 48.14

Endeavor IA 40 100 1822.5 18.23

Floyd County Wind 

Farm Phase I IA 50 75 5.1

Hancock County Wind 

Farm IA 148 98 7776.0 79.35 24.3

Intrepid IA 107 161 4860.0 30.28 21.7
27

Pioneer Prairie Wind 

Farm Phase I IA 183 302 12150.0 40.24

Pomeroy Wind Project 

Phase I IA 132 198 3321.0 16.77

Story County IA 100 150 3477.7 23.18 9.7

Top of Iowa Wind Farm IA 89 80 2389.5 29.87 40.5

Whispering Willow 

Wind Farm (formerly 

Franklin County Wind 

Farm) IA 250 500 37260.0 74.52 

Cotteral Mountain ID 130 195 4657.5 23.88 82.2 147.8

Wolverine Creek ID 43 64 1247.4 19.49

Camp Grove Wind 

Farm IL 100 150 5467.5 36.45

Crescent Ridge 

Phase I IL 33 55 891.0 16.35 8.1

Grand Ridge Wind 

Energy Center IL 66 99 2430.0 24.55 16.2

Mendota Hills IL 63 50 1053.0 20.89 12.8

Providence Heights IL 36 72 1944.0 27.00 8.1

Twin 

Groves/Arrowsmith IL 240 396 8910.0 22.50 81.0

Rail Splitter Wind Farm IL 67 101 4455.0 44.33

EcoGrove I IL 67 101 2956.5 29.42 

Fowler Ridge Wind 

Farm Phase I IN 222 400 22275.0 55.69 

Orion Energy wind 

farm / Benton Wind 

Farm IN 87 130 3746.3 28.82 

Meadow Lake Wind 

Farm IN 200 10530.0 52.65 101.3

Central Plains Wind 

Farm KS 33 99 2430.0 24.55

Elk River KS 100 150 3202.3 21.35

Flat Ridge Wind Farm KS 40 100 2025.0 20.25

Gray County Wind 

Farm KS 170 112 2430.0 21.70

Meridian Way Wind 

Farm KS 79 201 8100.0 40.30

Smoky Hills Wind Farm 

Phase I KS 56 101 4050.0 40.18 24.3

Spearville KS 67 101 2025.0 20.15 27.1 

Smoky Hills Wind Farm 

Phase II KS 99 149 5670.0 38.18 85.1 
28

Allegheny Heights MD 67 101 16.6 105.3

Mars Hill WInd ME 28 42 1944.0 46.29 13.2

Stetson Mountain ME 38 57 1944.0 34.11 13.4 65.4

Kibby Mountain and 

Kibby Ridge ME 44 132 1177.7 8.92 40.5

Harvest Wind Farm MI 32 53 1296.0 24.55

Noble Thumb Wind 

Park MI 106 159 10125.0 63.68 

Chanarambie MN 53 80 2332.8 29.34 9.3 

Elm Creek Wind Farm MN 66 99 5670.0 57.27 17.8 2.0

Fenton Wind Project MN 137 206 15552.0 75.68 25.9 166.5

Grand Meadow Wind 

Farm / Wapsipinicon 

Wind Project I MN 137 206 16848.0 81.99 55.5 405.0

Mower County Wind 

Energy Center MN 43 99 3942.7 39.87 26.5 188.3

Jeffers Wind Energy 

Center MN 32 60 3369.6 56.16 6.5 6.5 

Minndakota Wind Farm 

I MN 100 150 4466.9 29.78 17.8 3.2

Moraine II MN 23 48 10931.8 226.33 8.9 1.2

Moraine Wind Power 

project MN 34 51 4050.0 79.41

Prairie Star Wind Farm MN 61 101 4050.0 40.22 32.8 67.3

Stoneray MN 70 100 6253.2 62.53 13.0 93.6

Trimont Wind MN 67 101 9072.0 90.27 16.2 

Bluegrass Ridge 

Project MO 27 57 2835.0 50.00 

Conception Wind Farm MO 24 50 2835.0 56.25 

Cow Branch MO 24 50 2835.0 56.25 

Judith Gap MT 90 135 5791.5 42.90

Valley County Wind 

Project MT 114 170 2736.2 16.10 23.9 75.2 

Glacier / McCormick 

Ranch Wind Farm 

Phase I MT 60 120 4860.0 40.50 

Langdon Wind Project ND 106 159 12312.0 77.43

North Dakota Wind I&2 ND 41 62 1215.0 19.76 10.7 17.7 

Tatanka Wind Farm 

(SD/ND) ND 120 180 5702.4 31.68 48.6 

Wilton Wind Energy 

Center ND 33 50 3240.0 65.45

Ashtabula Wind Center 

Phase II ND 133 200 19958.4 99.79
29

Ainsworth Wind Energy 

Facility NE 36 59 4455.0 75.00 44.6

Elkhorn Ridge Wind 

Energy Project NE 27 80 3383.8 42.35

Aragonne Wind LLC NM 90 90 3888.0 43.20 36.5

New Mexico Wind 

Energy Center NM 136 204 3888.0 19.06

San Juan Mesa NM 120 120 1749.6 14.58

Cohocton Wind Farm NY 36 90 2308.5 25.65 13.0 196.8

Dairy Hills Wind Farm NY 60 120 2956.5 24.64 27.5 131.5

Dutch Hill Wind Farm NY 50 125 2308.5 18.47

High Sheldon Wind 

Farm NY 86 129 2835.0 21.98 19.0 77.8

Jordanville NY 75 150 2551.5 17.01 24.3 158.4

Maple Ridge Phase I 

(2005 portion) NY 195 322 8545.5 26.56 56.7 8.9

Marble River Wind 

Farm NY 109 218 7820.6 35.87 54.3 238.3

Noble Altona NY 68 100 1678.3 16.78 39.3 21.3

Noble Bliss Wind Park NY 67 101 2053.8 20.44 37.7 26.8

Noble Chateaugay / 

Noble Bellmont NY 86 129 3491.1 27.06 18.6 82.2

Noble Clinton Wind 

Park NY 67 101 1817.2 18.08 38.8 31.1

Noble Ellenburg NY 54 81 917.3 11.33 48.6

Noble Wethersfield NY 85 128 3706.2 29.07 59.5

Blue Canyon Wind 

Power OK 129 225 6480.0 28.74

Centennial Wind Farm OK 80 120 97.2 

OK Wind Energy 

Center -- A OK 68 102 486.0 4.76

Weatherford Wind 

Energy Center OK 98 147 2106.0 14.33

Red Hills Wind Farm OK 82 123 2025.0 16.46 35.4

Arlington Wind Farm 

Phase I OR 63 104 10.9 33.2
30

Biglow Canyon Phase I OR 225 400 10125.0 25.31 71.7 159.3

Cascade Wind Project OR 40 60 2349.0 39.15 22.9 20.6 

Combine Hills 1 OR 105 105 5416.9 51.59 7.3 

Condon Wind Project OR 83 50 1701.0 34.16 15.4 42.1

Elkhorn Wind Power 

Project OR 61 101 4050.0 40.10 60.8

Klondike II OR 50 75 1782.0 23.76 178.2

Klondike III OR 124 300 7128.0 23.76 30.0 119.5

Leaning Juniper 

(Arlington) OR 133 200 3468.8 17.34 26.0 282.9

Shepherd's Flat OR 303 910 13000.5 14.29 103.1 178.9

Stateline 3 OR 279 184 8100.0 44.02 30.4 139.7

Hay Canyon OR 48 105 13.8

Allegheny Ridge Wind 

Farm I PA 40 80 16.2

Allegheny Ridge Wind 

Farm II PA 35 70 14.2

Waymart Wind Farm PA 47 60 347.5 5.79

MinnDakota Wind 

Farm II SD 36 54 1608.1 29.78 121.5

South Dakota Wind 

Energy Center SD 27 41 1012.5 25.00

Wessington Springs SD 66 99 2430.0 24.55

White Wind Farm SD 103 200 7257.6 36.29 37.7 253.5

Buffalo Ridge Wind 

Farm (SD) SD 204 306 20032.5 65.47

Brazos Wind Ranch TX 160 160 7776.0 48.60

Callahan Divide TX 76 114 2430.0 21.32

Champion Wind Farm TX 55 127 5670.0 44.82

Desert Sky TX 107 161 3888.0 24.22

Elbow Creek Wind 

Project TX 53 122 2713.5 22.26

Forest Creek Wind 

Project TX 54 124 6075.0 48.91

Goat Mountain Wind 

Ranch TX 109 150 4252.5 28.35

Horse Hollow Wind 

Energy Center TX 419 733 19035.0 25.99

King Mountain (I&II) TX 214 278 6075.0 21.84
31

Llano Estacado Wind 

Ranch at White Deer TX 80 80 2332.8 29.16

Lone Star Phase I (was 

Cross Timbers or 

Mesquite) TX 200 400 8100.0 20.25

Lone Star Phase II 

(Post Oak) TX 100 200 15460.9 77.30

Peñascal Wind Farm TX 87 202 6075.0 30.07 121.5

Red Canyon Wind 

Energy TX 56 84 3847.5 45.80 

Roscoe Wind Farm TX 627 782 28350.0 36.28

Sherbino I Wind Farm TX 50 150 4050.0 27.00

Silver Star I Wind Farm TX 24 60 3057.8 50.96

Stanton Wind Farm TX 80 120 6885.0 57.38

Sweetwater Phase IV 

(Mitsubishi portion) TX 135 135 4860.0 36.00

Sweetwater Phase IV 

(Siemens portion) TX 46 106 4860.0 45.94

Trent Mesa TX 100 150 3628.8 24.19

Wildorado Wind Ranch TX 70 161 6480.0 40.25

Woodward Mountain 

I & II TX 242 160 3785.1 23.66 

Bull Creek Wind Farm TX 180 180 24300.0 135.00 

Panther Creek Wind 

Farm TX 111 167 9315.0 55.95

Wolf Ridge Wind Farm TX 75 113 4131.0 36.72

Ocotillo TX 28 59 1012.5 17.22

Gulf Winds Project TX 118 283 3179.7 11.23

Milford Wind Corridor 

Project Phase I UT 159 300 10368.0 34.56 124.7 594.5

Big Horn WA 133 200 8541.5 42.81 34.0 95.6

Desert Claim WA 120 180 2121.0 11.78 33.4 141.1

Goodnoe Hills WA 47 94 1741.5 18.53 28.4
32

Hopkins Ridge Wind 

Project WA 83 150 4455.0 29.70 66.8 87.9

Kittitas Valley Wind 

Power Project WA 121 182 2835.0 15.62 37.7 126.0 

Maiden Wind Farm WA 330 494 5265.0 10.66 101.7 430.5 

Marengo Phase I WA 78 140 5390.6 38.39

Nine Canyon I and II WA 49 64 2073.6 32.55 19.8

Stateline 1&2 

Combined WA 454 300 65.6 89.1

White Creek Wind I WA 89 205 3847.5 18.77 25.9 34.8

Wild Horse Wind 

Power Project WA 136 204 3483.0 17.07 66.7

Windy Point Phase I WA 97 250 6031.7 24.13 62.4 126.4

Marengo Phase II WA 39 70 1741.5 24.81

Blue Sky Green Field WI 88 203 4293.0 21.20 28.4 100.0

Cedar Ridge Wind 

Farm WI 41 68 3175.2 46.94 34.4 164.0

Forward Wind Energy 

Center WI 133 200 13122.0 65.61 28.4 65.6

Beech Ridge Wind 

Farm WV 124 186 810.0 4.35 121.5

Mountaineer Wind II WV 44 66 1782.0 27.00 79.4 298.1

Mt. Storm Phase I WV 200 300 3240.0 10.80 97.2 

Foote Creek 1 WY 69 41 846.5 20.45 10.8 

Glenrock Wind Energy 

Project WY 66 99 5670.0 57.27 

Seven Mile 

Hill/Campbell Hill Wind 

Project WY 66 99 4050.0 40.91
33

Table A2. Configuration, Land Cover, Status, and Data Source

Name State Configuration Primary 

Land Type % Secondary Land Type % Development Status

Source 

Type

Steel Park Wind 

Farm AZ parallel strings Shrubland 73%

Evergreen 

forest 20% Proposed Developer

Dry Lake Wind 

Project I AZ parallel strings Shrubland 88%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 8% Under Const Third Party

Bear River Wind 

Power Project CA single string

Grasslands/

herbaceous 100% Proposed Application

Hatchet Ridge Wind 

Project CA single string

Evergreen 

forest 92% Shrubland 8% Proposed Application

High Winds I & II CA 

multiple 

strings Shrubland 55% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 45% Completed Developer 

Mountain View IV CA parallel strings Shrubland 100% Proposed Application

Pine Tree Wind 

Project aka Wind 

Turbine 

Prometheus CA

multiple 

strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 69% Shrubland 28% Under Const Application

Shiloh I CA

multiple 

strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 64% Pasture/hay 36% Completed Developer

Shiloh II CA

multiple 

strings Pasture/hay 51%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 49% Completed Application

Solano Wind 

Project, Phase IIB CA

multiple 

strings Pasture/hay 98%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 2% Completed Application

Cedar Creek Wind 

Farm CO parallel strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 76% Fallow 12% Completed Developer 

Cedar Point Wind 

Project CO parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 44%

Small 

grains 29% Under Const Developer

Colorado Green 

Wind Project CO parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 92%

Small 

grains 8% Completed Developer

Spring Canyon CO single string

Grasslands/

herbaceous 78% Fallow 20% Completed Application

Twin Buttes Wind 

Power Project CO parallel strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 98% 

Small 

grains 2% Completed Developer 

Buffalo Creek Wind 

Farm IA parallel strings Row crops 88% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 10% Proposed Third Party

Crystal Lake IA parallel strings Row crops 93% Pasture/hay 7% Completed Application

Endeavor IA 

multiple 

strings Row crops 86% Pasture/hay 9% Completed Developer 

Floyd County Wind 

Farm Phase I IA parallel strings Row crops 98% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 2% Completed Third Party

Hancock County 

Wind Farm IA cluster Row crops 91% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 3% Completed Developer 

Intrepid IA 

multiple 

strings Row crops 92% Pasture/hay 6% Completed Developer 

Pioneer Prairie 

Wind Farm Phase I IA parallel strings Row crops 94% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 2% Completed Third Party

Pomeroy Wind 

Project Phase I IA cluster Row crops 94% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 2% Completed Developer 
34

Story County IA parallel strings Row crops 97%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 3% Completed Application

Top of Iowa Wind 

Farm IA parallel strings Row crops 85% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 11% Completed Application 

Whispering Willow 

Wind Farm 

(formerly Franklin 

County Wind Farm) IA cluster Row crops 95% Pasture/hay 2% Under Const Developer

Cotteral Mountain ID single string Shrubland 100% Proposed Application

Wolverine Creek ID cluster Pasture/hay 44% Shrubland 33% Completed Developer 

Camp Grove Wind 

Farm IL cluster Row crops 99% Pasture/hay 1% Completed Developer 

Crescent Ridge 

Phase I IL cluster Row crops 91% Pasture/hay 9% Completed Third Party

Grand Ridge Wind

Energy Center IL cluster Row crops 91% Pasture/hay 9% Completed Third Party

Mendota Hills IL cluster Row crops 89% Pasture/hay 10% Completed Third Party

Providence Heights IL cluster Row crops 98%

Deciduous 

forest 2% Completed Developer

Twin 

Groves/Arrowsmith IL cluster Row crops 100% Completed Developer

Rail Splitter Wind 

Farm IL cluster Row crops 88% Pasture/hay 8% Under Const Third Party

EcoGrove I IL parallel strings Row crops 83% Pasture/hay 15% Under Const Third Party

Fowler Ridge Wind 

Farm Phase I IN cluster Row crops 95% Pasture/hay 4% Completed Developer

Orion Energy wind 

farm / Benton Wind 

Farm IN cluster Row crops 79% Pasture/hay 15% Completed Developer

Meadow Lake Wind 

Farm IN parallel strings Row crops 82% Pasture/hay 17% Under Const Developer 

Central Plains Wind 

Farm KS parallel strings

Small 

grains 48%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 33% Completed Developer

Elk River KS parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 79% Pasture/hay 14% Completed Developer

Flat Ridge Wind 

Farm KS parallel strings

Small 

grains 52%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 32% Completed Developer

Gray County Wind 

Farm KS parallel strings

Small 

grains 64%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 30% Completed Developer

Meridian Way Wind 

Farm KS cluster

Grasslands/

herbaceous 71%

Small 

grains 15% Completed Third Party

Smoky Hills Wind 

Farm Phase I KS cluster

Grasslands/

herbaceous 88% Pasture/hay 5% Completed Developer

Spearville KS parallel strings

Small 

grains 60%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 28% Completed Third Party

Smoky Hills Wind 

Farm Phase II KS

multiple 

strings

grasslands/

herbaceous 81% Pasture/hay 7% Completed Developer

Allegheny Heights MD single string 

Deciduous 

forest 100% Proposed Application 
35

Mars Hill WInd ME single string

Deciduous 

forest 83%

Mixed 

forest 17% Completed Application

Stetson Mountain ME single string 

Deciduous 

forest 92% 

Mixed 

forest 8% Completed Application 

Kibby Mountain and 

Kibby Ridge ME

multiple 

strings 

Evergreen 

forest 57% 

Mixed 

forest 32% Under Const Third Party

Harvest Wind Farm MI cluster Row crops 97% Pasture/hay 3% Completed Third Party

Noble Thumb Wind 

Park MI cluster Row crops 90%

Deciduous 

forest 4% Completed Developer

Chanarambie MN cluster Row crops 91% Pasture/hay 9% Completed Application

Elm Creek Wind 

Farm MN parallel strings Row crops 100% Completed Application

Fenton Wind 

Project MN cluster Row crops 88% Pasture/hay 10% Completed Application

Grand Meadow 

Wind Farm / 

Wapsipinicon Wind 

Project I MN cluster Row crops 97% Pasture/hay 2% Completed Application

Mower County 

Wind Energy 

Center MN

multiple 

strings Row crops 97% Pasture/hay 3% Completed Application

Jeffers Wind 

Energy Center MN cluster Row crops 90% Pasture/hay 10% Completed Application

Minndakota Wind 

Farm I MN cluster Row crops 79% Pasture/hay 19% Completed Application 

Moraine II MN

multiple 

strings Row crops 79% Pasture/hay 21% Proposed Application 

Moraine Wind 

Power project MN parallel strings Row crops 56% Pasture/hay 44% Completed Third Party

Prairie Star Wind 

Farm MN cluster Row crops 97% Pasture/hay 3% Completed Application 

Stoneray MN cluster Row crops 91% Pasture/hay 9% Proposed Application

Trimont Wind MN cluster Row crops 95% Pasture/hay 3% Completed Application

Bluegrass Ridge 

Project MO cluster Row crops 48% Pasture/hay 40% Completed Third Party

Conception Wind 

Farm MO cluster Pasture/hay 50% Row crops 32% Completed Developer

Cow Branch MO cluster Row crops 79% Pasture/hay 21% Completed Developer

Judith Gap MT

multiple 

strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 43%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 33% Completed Third Party

Valley County Wind 

Project MT

multiple 

strings Shrubland 100% Proposed Application

Glacier / 

McCormick Ranch 

Wind Farm Phase I MT parallel strings

Small 

grains 47% Fallow 41% Completed Third Party

Langdon Wind 

Project ND

multiple 

strings Row crops 69%

Small 

grains 21% Completed Unverified

North Dakota Wind 

I&2 ND cluster Row crops 100% Completed Application

Tatanka Wind Farm 

(SD/ND) ND parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 88% Row crops 7% Completed Developer

Wilton Wind Energy 

Center ND parallel strings Row crops 82%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 15% Completed Developer
36

Ashtabula Wind 

Center Phase II ND parallel strings Row crops 82% Pasture/hay 9% Completed Third Party

Ainsworth Wind 

Energy Facility NE parallel strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 97% 

Emergent 

herbaceous 

wetlands 3% Completed Developer 

Elkhorn Ridge Wind 

Energy Project NE

multiple 

strings Row crops 78% Pasture/hay 22% Completed Third Party

Aragonne Wind 

LLC NM parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 94% Shrubland 5% Completed Developer

New Mexico Wind 

Energy Center NM

multiple 

strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 100% Completed Developer

San Juan Mesa NM parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 91% Shrubland 9% Completed Developer

Cohocton Wind 

Farm NY cluster Pasture/hay 37% Row crops 27% Completed Application 

Dairy Hills Wind 

Farm NY cluster Row crops 100% Proposed Application 

Dutch Hill Wind 

Farm NY cluster Pasture/hay 35% Row crops 33% Completed Third Party

High Sheldon Wind 

Farm NY

multiple 

strings Pasture/hay 51% 

Mixed 

forest 25% Proposed Application 

Jordanville NY cluster Pasture/hay 53%

Deciduous 

forest 27% Proposed Application

Maple Ridge Phase 

I (2005 portion) NY cluster Pasture/hay 47% 

Deciduous 

forest 39% Completed Application 

Marble River Wind 

Farm NY cluster

Deciduous 

forest 39% Pasture/hay 28% Proposed Application

Noble Altona NY cluster

Deciduous 

forest 82% Row crops 4% Completed Application

Noble Bliss Wind 

Park NY cluster Pasture/hay 38% 

Mixed 

forest 30% Completed Application 

Noble Chateaugay / 

Noble Bellmont NY cluster Pasture/hay 47%

Deciduous 

forest 38% Completed Application

Noble Clinton Wind 

Park NY cluster Pasture/hay 38% Pasture/hay 38% Completed Application

Noble Ellenburg NY cluster Pasture/hay 46% 

Deciduous 

forest 28% Completed Developer 

Noble Wethersfield NY cluster Pasture/hay 51% 

Mixed 

forest 24% Completed Application 

Blue Canyon Wind 

Power OK single string

Grasslands/

herbaceous 87% Shrubland 11% Completed Developer

Centennial Wind 

Farm OK parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 86% Shrubland 12% Completed Third Party

OK Wind Energy 

Center -- A OK parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 100% Completed Developer

Weatherford Wind 

Energy Center OK

multiple 

strings

Small 

grains 80% Pasture/hay 8% Completed Developer

Red Hills Wind 

Farm OK parallel strings

grasslands/

herbaceous 84% Shrubland 14% Completed Third Party
37

Arlington Wind 

Farm Phase I OR

multiple 

strings Shrubland 51%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 28% Completed Application

Biglow Canyon 

Phase I OR

multiple 

strings

Small 

grains 52% Fallow 40% Completed Application

Cascade Wind 

Project OR

multiple 

strings

Deciduous 

forest 100% Proposed Application

Combine Hills 1 OR

multiple 

strings Shrubland 100% Completed Third Party

Condon Wind 

Project OR

multiple 

strings 

Small 

grains 55% Shrubland 27% Completed Application 

Elkhorn Wind 

Power Project OR parallel strings Shrubland 95% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 5% Completed Developer 

Klondike II OR parallel strings 

Small 

grains 65% Fallow 35% Completed Developer 

Klondike III OR parallel strings 

Small 

grains 49% 

Small 

grains 39% Completed Application 

Leaning Juniper 

(Arlington) OR parallel strings Shrubland 44% Fallow 27% Completed Application 

Shepherd's Flat OR

multiple 

strings Shrubland 54% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 31% Proposed Application 

Stateline 3 OR parallel strings Shrubland 66% Fallow 16% Completed Application 

Hay Canyon OR

multiple 

strings 

Small 

grains 33% Fallow 33% Completed Application 

Allegheny Ridge 

Wind Farm I PA cluster 

Deciduous 

forest 83% 

Mixed 

forest 18% Completed Developer 

Allegheny Ridge 

Wind Farm II PA

multiple 

strings 

Deciduous 

forest 54% 

Mixed 

forest 40% Proposed Developer 

Waymart Wind 

Farm PA single string 

Deciduous 

forest 88% 

Mixed 

forest 12% Completed Third Party

MinnDakota Wind 

Farm II SD cluster Row crops 81% Pasture/hay 19% Completed Developer 

South Dakota Wind 

Energy Center SD

multiple 

strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 70% 

Small 

grains 11% Completed Developer 

Wessington Springs SD parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 63% Pasture/hay 31% Under Const Developer

White Wind Farm SD cluster Row crops 52% Pasture/hay 48% Proposed Application

Buffalo Ridge Wind 

Farm (SD) SD parallel strings Row crops 67% Pasture/hay 31% Under Const Application

Brazos Wind Ranch TX parallel strings Row crops 42%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 38% Completed Developer

Callahan Divide TX

multiple 

strings

Evergreen 

forest 38% Shrubland 30% Completed Developer

Champion Wind 

Farm TX parallel strings Row crops 78% Shrubland 7% Completed Developer

Desert Sky TX

multiple 

strings Shrubland 89% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 11% Completed Third Party

Elbow Creek Wind 

Project TX cluster Shrubland 81%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 17% Completed Developer

Forest Creek Wind 

Project TX parallel strings Shrubland 89%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 11% Completed Third Party

Goat Mountain 

Wind Ranch TX parallel strings Shrubland 100% Completed Third Party
38

Horse Hollow Wind 

Energy Center TX parallel strings Shrubland 78%

Evergreen 

forest 10% Completed Developer

King Mountain (I&II) TX parallel strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 51% Shrubland 46% Completed Developer 

Llano Estacado 

Wind Ranch at 

White Deer TX parallel strings Row crops 48%

Small 

grains 25% Completed Developer

Lone Star Phase I 

(was Cross Timbers 

or Mesquite) TX cluster

Grasslands/

herbaceous 74% Shrubland 18% Completed Developer

Lone Star Phase II 

(Post Oak) TX cluster

Grasslands/

herbaceous 74% Shrubland 18% Completed Developer

Peñascal Wind 

Farm TX

Parallel 

Strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 88% Shrubland 7% Under Const Third Party

Red Canyon Wind 

Energy TX cluster Row crops 42% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 38% Completed Developer 

Roscoe Wind Farm TX parallel strings Row crops 85% Shrubland 5% Completed Developer 

Sherbino I Wind 

Farm TX parallel strings Shrubland 82% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 18% Completed Developer 

Silver Star I Wind 

Farm TX parallel strings 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 45% Shrubland 31% Completed Developer 

Stanton Wind Farm TX

multiple 

strings Shrubland 59% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 21% Completed Developer 

Sweetwater Phase 

IV (Mitsubishi 

portion) TX parallel strings Shrubland 90%

Evergreen 

forest 7% Completed Developer

Sweetwater Phase 

IV (Siemens 

portion) TX parallel strings Shrubland 80%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 20% Completed Developer

Trent Mesa TX parallel strings Shrubland 52%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 33% Completed Developer

Wildorado Wind 

Ranch TX parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 79% Shrubland 17% Completed Third Party

Woodward 

Mountain I & II TX

multiple 

strings Shrubland 100% Completed Developer

Bull Creek Wind 

Farm TX parallel strings

grasslands/

herbaceous 80% Shrubland 17% Completed Third Party

Panther Creek 

Wind Farm TX

multiple 

strings Shrubland 88%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 12% Completed Third Party

Wolf Ridge Wind 

Farm TX cluster

grasslands/

herbaceous 41% Pasture/hay 31% Completed Third Party

Ocotillo TX

multiple 

strings Shrubland 89% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 11% Completed Developer 

Gulf Winds Project TX parallel strings 

grasslands/

herbaceous 70% Shrubland 13% Under Const Third Party

Milford Wind 

Corridor Project 

Phase I UT parallel strings Shrubland 68%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 21% Under Const Application

Big Horn WA parallel strings Shrubland 62%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 19% Completed Application
39

Desert Claim WA cluster

Small 

grains 100% Proposed Application

Goodnoe Hills WA cluster Shrubland 55% 

Grasslands/

herbaceous 19% Completed Application 

Hopkins Ridge 

Wind Project WA parallel strings Shrubland 100% Completed Application 

Kittitas Valley Wind 

Power Project WA parallel strings Shrubland 100% Proposed Application

Maiden Wind Farm WA parallel strings Shrubland 100% Proposed Application 

Marengo Phase I WA

multiple 

strings

Small 

grains 51%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 27% Completed Third Party

Nine Canyon I and 

II WA parallel strings

Small 

grains 50%

Small 

grains 42% Completed Developer

Stateline 1&2 

Combined WA parallel strings Shrubland 66% Fallow 16% Completed Application

White Creek Wind I WA

multiple 

strings Shrubland 76%

Small 

grains 13% Completed Developer

Wild Horse Wind 

Power Project WA parallel strings Shrubland 100% Completed Application

Windy Point 

Phase I WA

multiple 

strings Shrubland 49%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 34% Completed Application

Marengo Phase II WA

multiple 

strings

Small 

grains 95% Fallow 5% Completed Third Party

Blue Sky Green 

Field WI cluster Row crops 56% Pasture/hay 33% Completed Application

Cedar Ridge Wind 

Farm WI cluster Pasture/hay 51% Row crops 40% Completed Application

Forward Wind 

Energy Center WI cluster Pasture/hay 52% Row crops 43% Completed Application

Beech Ridge Wind 

Farm WV

multiple 

strings

Deciduous 

forest 95%

Quarries/str

ip 

mines/grav

el pits 4% Under Const Developer

Mountaineer Wind II WV single string

Mixed 

forest 36%

Deciduous 

forest 27% Completed Application

Mt. Storm Phase I WV parallel strings

Deciduous 

forest 80%

Mixed 

forest 11% Completed Developer

Foote Creek 1 WY parallel strings

Grasslands/

herbaceous 92% Shrubland 8% Completed Application

Glenrock Wind 

Energy Project WY

multiple 

strings Shrubland 77%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 23% Completed Third Party

Seven Mile 

Hill/Campbell Hill 

Wind Project WY

Parallel 

Strings Shrubland 87%

Grasslands/

herbaceous 13% Completed Third Party
F1147-E(10/2008)

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved

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PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ORGANIZATION.

1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

August 2009

2. REPORT TYPE

Technical Report 

3. DATES COVERED (From - To)

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Land-Use Requirements of Modern Wind Power Plants in the United 

States

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

DE-AC36-08-GO28308

5b. GRANT NUMBER

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

6. AUTHOR(S)

P. Denholm; M. Hand; M. Jackson; and S. Ong 

5d. PROJECT NUMBER

NREL/TP-6A2-45834

5e. TASK NUMBER

WER9.3550

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Blvd.

Golden, CO 80401-3393

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

NREL/TP-6A2-45834

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NREL

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13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words)

This report provides data and analysis of the land use associated with modern, large wind power plants (defined as 

greater than 20 megawatts (MW) and constructed after 2000). The analysis discusses standard land-use metrics as 

established in the life-cycle assessment literature, and then discusses their applicability to wind power plants. The report 

identifies two major “classes” of wind plant land use: 1) direct impact (i.e., disturbed land due to physical infrastructure 

development), and 2) total area (i.e., land associated with the complete wind plant project). The analysis also provides 

data for each of these classes, derived from project applications, environmental impact statements, and other sources. It 

attempts to identify relationships among land use, wind plant configuration, and geography. The analysts evaluated 172 

existing or proposed projects, which represents more than 26 GW of capacity. In addition to providing land-use data and 

summary statistics, they identify several limitations to the existing wind project area data sets, and suggest additional 

analysis that could aid in evaluating actual land use and impacts associated with deployment of wind energy. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

NREL; life-cycle assessment; wind power; wind energy; wind power plants; land use; wind capacity; wind project; 

United States; land impact; Paul Denhom; Maureen Hand; Maddalena Jackson; Sean Ong 

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