visual impact assessment -...

Old Elm Wind Farm

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Visual Impact

Assessment

November 2017

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Executive Summary

The Old Elm Wind Farm project (the Project) is being developed by Old Elm Wind Farm

Ltd. (OEWFL), owned in partnership by Boralex Inc. and the Alberta Wind Energy

Corporation (AWEC). The Project is located in Cardston County, Alberta (the County),

approximately 10km South-West of the town of Magrath.

As required for the Cardston County application for a wind farm development permit,

an analysis of the visual impact of the Project has been conducted to give a realistic

representation of how the landscape will appear with the proposed wind farm installed.

The aim of this report is to present the developed photomontages for the Project and

the associated methodology.

Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1

2 METHODOLOGY AND PARAMETERS ................................................................................................... 2

2.1 LAYOUT AND TURBINE MODEL .............................................................................................................. 2 2.2 VIEWPOINT – PICTURE LOCATIONS ...................................................................................................... 4 2.3 PICTURE INFORMATION ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.4 COMPUTER SIMULATION ..................................................................................................................... 6

2.4.1 Camera/Picture Information ................................................................................................ 7

2.4.2 Picture Calibration .............................................................................................................. 9

2.4.3 Simulation - Photomontage ................................................................................................ 9

3 FINAL PHOTOMONTAGES .................................................................................................................... 11

3.1 A – SOUTH OLD ELM COLONY........................................................................................................... 12 3.2 B – SOUTH-EAST OLD ELM COLONY.................................................................................................. 13 3.3 C – NORTH OLD ELM COLONY .......................................................................................................... 14 3.4 D – OLD ELM COLONY ENTRANCE ..................................................................................................... 15 3.5 E – BENNETS DWELLING (R18) ......................................................................................................... 16 3.6 F – BENNETS DWELLING (R19) ......................................................................................................... 17 3.7 G – FUTURE BENNETS DWELLING...................................................................................................... 18 3.8 H – LEFT OF FUTURE BENNETS DWELLING ......................................................................................... 19 3.9 I – RIGHT OF QUONSET (BENNETS LAND) ........................................................................................... 20 3.10 J – RIGHT OF QUONSET (BENNETS DWELLINGS) ................................................................................. 21 3.11 K – INTERSECTION ROAD 42 – ROAD 231 .......................................................................................... 22 3.12 L – DWELLING (R21) – ROAD 231 ..................................................................................................... 23 3.13 M – DWELLING (R25) – ROAD 231 .................................................................................................... 24 3.14 N – JENSEN RESERVOIR – RECREATIVE AREA .................................................................................... 25 3.15 O – INTERSECTION ROAD 22 – ROAD 44 ............................................................................................ 26 3.16 P – SOUTH-WEST NEW ELM COLONY ................................................................................................ 27 3.17 Q – INTERSECTION ROAD 50 – ROAD 225 .......................................................................................... 28 3.18 R – DWELLING (R26) – ROAD 62 ...................................................................................................... 29 3.19 S – INTERSECTION ROAD 42 – ROAD 233 .......................................................................................... 30

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List of Figures Figure 1: Old Elm Wind Farm - Project Location ............................................................................. 1

Figure 2: Enercon Turbines ............................................................................................................. 2

Figure 3: Enercon E-141 - Turbine Dimensions ............................................................................... 3

Figure 4: Point of view Locations .................................................................................................... 5

Figure 5: windPRO - Camera Information ....................................................................................... 8

Figure 6: windPRO - Picture Information ........................................................................................ 8

Figure 7: windPRO - Picture Calibration ......................................................................................... 9

Figure 8: windPRO - Photomontage Result .................................................................................. 10

Figure 9: windPRO - Turbine Luminosity Adjustment .................................................................. 10

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1 Introduction

The Old Elm Wind Farm project (the Project) is being developed by Old Elm Wind Farm Ltd.

(OEWFL), owned in partnership by Boralex Inc. and the Alberta Wind Energy Corporation

(AWEC). The Project is located in Cardston County, Alberta (the County), approximately 10km

South-West of the town of Magrath.

The proposed Project consists of up to 22 wind turbines. Several turbine scenarios are still

under consideration (see Figure 1).

As required for the Cardston County application for a wind farm development permit, an

analysis of the visual impact of the Project has been conducted to give a realistic representation

of how the landscape will appear with the proposed wind farm installed.

Figure 1: Old Elm Wind Farm - Project Location

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2 Methodology and Parameters

2.1 LAYOUT AND TURBINE MODEL

OEWFL has not finalized a turbine model for the Project. This analysis will demonstrate the

impact from the largest turbine model under consideration (Enercon E-141), thereby illustrating

a worst - case scenario impact on the viewscape.

The analysed layout considers the largest turbine (rotor diameter and hub height) and the

maximum number of turbine locations. Therefore, the layout represented in the

photomontages consists of 22 Enercon E-141 wind turbines at 129m hub height, 141m blade

diameter and 200m total height.

The 22 turbine Project layout has been designed considering all the natural, environmental and

regulatory setbacks. The turbines will be located to best fit in the remaining buildable area

outside of these constraints, where the wind resource is the best.

Dimensions and picture of the Enercon E-141 turbine are shown below.

Figure 2: Enercon Turbines1

1 Boralex, Niagara Region Wind Farm, 2016.

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Figure 3: Enercon E-141 - Turbine Dimensions2

2 Enercon, Weight and dimensions – E-141 EP4/BF/126/31/01 Data Sheet

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2.2 VIEWPOINT – PICTURE LOCATIONS

As per the County development permit application requirements, the aim of the visual analysis

is to realistically represent the landscape with the expected wind turbines from various visual

perspectives around the Project site. The locations of the points of view used for the

photomontages follow standards in other jurisdictions and include visual perspectives from

dwellings (permanent, semi-permanent and seasonal dwellings), main roads intersections and

recreative areas.

Generally, photographs used in a visual impact assessment are taken from an area up to 2km

from the project boundary. However, to give a larger representation of the visual impacts of

the Project, some of the photo locations used in this analysis are beyond this distance. Also,

based on the Project configuration, several visualisations have been used from the same point

of view.

The nineteen point of view locations are summarised and illustrated in the table and the figure

below:

Picture

Name

Easting (m) (UTM NAD83 Z12)

Northing (m) (UTM NAD83 Z12)

Distance to the

nearest turbine (m)

A 358347 5463581 915

B 358483 5463639 1050

C 358441 5463824 1160

D 358831 5463854 790

E 355873 5463199 880

F 355809 5463250 960

G 355900 5463164 845

H 355929 5463182 820

I 355901 5463218 865

J 355765 5463233 995

K 355493 5461639 1355

L 355428 5459247 2625

M 355615 5465857 3225

N 362193 5465599 2560

O 363753 5464650 3585

P 363689 5462034 3482

Q 358930 5468028 3726

R 365129 5458183 6081

S 352223 5461720 4450 Table 1: Point of view Locations

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Figure 4: Point of view Locations

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2.3 PICTURE INFORMATION

Each photomontage has been developed using photographs taken from the above-mentioned

locations on 18th of August, 2017, between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm.

The photograph locations were chosen based on the knowledge of the area by the developers.

Moreover, some locations were added once on site, to improve the visual assessment

coverage.

The weather on August 18th was relatively clear (with a low level of forest fire smoke) and

mostly sunny, resulting in high quality photographs with good visibility. Where possible, the

pictures have been taken with the sun in the back to avoid impacting quality.

The camera used was a Nikon D90 with adjustable focal length, which is standard to take

photographs for the analysis. To keep consistency between the photographs, a tripod with a

built-in level was used, resulting in the same photograph height and to avoid declination

deviation. The tripod height was 1.6m above the ground, which is representative of the eyes

height of a person.

A GPS, with a compass, was used to determine the exact location and direction (field of view) of

each photograph.

To help with calibration of the photomontage, wood sticks with red flags were used on-site to

represent control points. Control points are used during the simulation to help the software

locate the photographs in the space.

A “Site Picture Form” was completed by the photographer on-site for each photograph in order

to get all the pertinent information including climatic conditions, time of day, photograph

coordinates, height and direction, and other considerations for the photomontage simulation.

2.4 COMPUTER SIMULATION

The photomontages have been developed using windPRO, version 3.1 software3. This software,

developed by EMD International A/S, is specialized for this application and is a standard

software package used extensively in the wind power industry. The software consists of several

modules including one specific for the development of photomontages to be used for visual

impact assessments.

3 https://www.emd.dk/windpro/

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To realize a photomontage with windPRO, the following information and data are required:

� Original Pictures;

� Picture information (date, hour, focal length, coordinates…);

� Coordinates of the proposed wind turbines;

� Coordinates of surrounding wind turbines, if any;

� Height contour lines;

� Wind direction.

Height contour lines are necessary to calibrate the simulation. The software creates a horizon

line, which is necessary to fit with the horizon observed on the picture. Thus, precise contour

lines are preferable to do an efficient calibration. For this analysis, LIDAR15 DEM from AltaLIS

have been used, which is among the most reliable source in Alberta4.

The wind direction information is used by the software to depict the direction of the turbines in

the photomontage. The prevailing west-south-west wind direction in the area was chosen for

the simulation since it represents the situation that will occur most of the time. Based on the

meteorological tower data at the Project site, the prevailing wind direction is 253° (WSW).

The photomontage is developed using three steps, which are briefly explained below.

2.4.1 CAMERA/PICTURE INFORMATION

The first step is to enter all the information about the camera and the photograph. The

information discussed in the Section 2.3 is included here. The figures below show how the

information is included in the software.

4 http://www.altalis.com/products/terrain/lidar15_dem.html

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Figure 5: windPRO - Camera Information

Figure 6: windPRO - Picture Information

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2.4.2 PICTURE CALIBRATION

The second step is to calibrate the photograph to be sure that the software correctly identifies

the wind turbines locations and the right dimensions within the picture. As discussed

previously, the calibration of the photograph is achieved with several tools including the

horizon line (yellow line in the figure below). The following figure shows how the calibration is

done in the software.

Figure 7: windPRO - Picture Calibration

2.4.3 SIMULATION - PHOTOMONTAGE

The third step is the conducting the simulation. This creates the results of the photomontage

and allows to make minor adjustments if required. For example, it is sometimes necessary to

erase turbine parts (towers or blades) that would be masked by a building. It's also possible to

modify the weather conditions to adjust the luminosity and improve the quality of the

photomontage. The figures below show the result of the photomontage created by the

software.

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Figure 8: windPRO - Photomontage Result

Figure 9: windPRO - Turbine Luminosity Adjustment

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3 Final Photomontages

The original photographs and the final photomontages are shown in this section. The points of

view represented in the photomontage are the following:

Picture

Name Points of view Name

A South Old Elm Colony

B South-East Old Elm Colony

C North Old Elm Colony

D Old Elm Colony Entrance

E Bennets Dwelling (R18)

F Bennets Dwelling (R19)

G Future Bennets Dwelling

H Left of Future Bennets Dwelling

I Right of Quonset (Bennets Land)

J Driveway (Bennets Dwellings)

K Intersection Road 42 – Road 231

L Dwelling (R21) – Road 231

M Dwelling (R25) – Road 231

N Jensen Reservoir – Recreative Area

O Intersection Road 22 – Road 44

P South-West New Elm Colony

Q Intersection Road 50 – Road 225

R Dwelling (R26) – Road 62

S Intersection Road 42 – Road 233

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3.1 A – SOUTH OLD ELM COLONY

2017/08/18 – 15:18 Field of View: 202° Wind Direction: 253° Equi. Focal Length : 52mm

Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T19, T06, T04, T15, T03, T07.

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3.2 B – SOUTH-EAST OLD ELM COLONY


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T18, T11, T22, T12, T14.

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3.3 C – NORTH OLD ELM COLONY


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T08, T21, T09, T16.

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3.4 D – OLD ELM COLONY ENTRANCE


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T14, T12, T13, T17, T19.

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3.5 E – BENNETS DWELLING (R18)


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T11, T07, T12, T15, T01, T13, T19, T04.

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3.6 F – BENNETS DWELLING (R19)


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T07, T12, T15, T01, T13, T19, T04, T05.

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3.7 G – FUTURE BENNETS DWELLING


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T01, T19, T04.

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3.8 H – LEFT OF FUTURE BENNETS DWELLING



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3.9 I – RIGHT OF QUONSET (BENNETS LAND)


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T12, T15, T01, T19, T04, T05, T02.

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3.10 J – RIGHT OF QUONSET (BENNETS DWELLINGS)


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T09, T10, T16, T11, T07, T18, T12, T15, T01, T13.

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3.11 K – INTERSECTION ROAD 42 – ROAD 231



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3.12 L – DWELLING (R21) – ROAD 231


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T15, T20, T04, T08, T03, T09, T21, T10, T19, T11, T12, T16, T06, T13, T18, T17, T22, T14.

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3.13 M – DWELLING (R25) – ROAD 231



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3.14 N – JENSEN RESERVOIR – RECREATIVE AREA


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T22, T14, T18, T17, T16, T13, T12, T11, T06, T19, T10, T03, T21, T04, T09, T15, T02, T07, T08, T05.

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3.15 O – INTERSECTION ROAD 22 – ROAD 44


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T14, T22, T17, T18, T13, T06, T03, T19, T12, T16, T04, T11.

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3.16 P – SOUTH-WEST NEW ELM COLONY


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T14, T06, T17, T03, T13, T22, T19, T04, T02.

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3.17 Q – INTERSECTION ROAD 50 – ROAD 225


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T18, T08, T22, T09, T10, T14, T11, T12, T13, T17, T19, T15, T04, T06, T03, T07, T02, T05, T01.

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3.18 R – DWELLING (R26) – ROAD 62


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T06, T03, T02, T17, T05, T04, T19, T01, T14, T13, T15, T07, T12, T22, T11, T18, T10.

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3.19 S – INTERSECTION ROAD 42 – ROAD 233


Wind Turbines (From Left to Right): T21, T09, T01, T07, T10, T05, T11, T15, T12, T02, T04, T19, T13, T03, T06.

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