• The 5 Stages Of Wind Farm Developmentwritten by: Riza Garcia 

With current worldwide trends shifting towards more environment-friendly options, there is a rapidly growing demand for alternative sources of energy. One of the most viable alternative sources of electric energy is a wind farm, leading many would-be entrepreneurs to wonder about the process of wind farm development

• Simply put, a wind farm is a cluster of wind turbines - engines that are powered by the wind to produce electricity - located in the same area and proximate to one another. Some of the larger wind farms today are composed of hundreds of wind turbines. These wind farms can produce up to 781.5 megawatts of electricity, as is the case with the Roscoe Wind Farm in the US, which comprise the largest group of wind turbines in the world today.

Startup entrepreneurs, and even earth-loving homeowners, however, don't have to invest billions of dollars on large scale wind farms. They can have clusters of 2 to 3 wind turbines that will be enough to provide electricity to a small village.

Wind farm development can be summarized into 5 stages. These are:

• STAGE 1: Finding A Suitable Location

Perhaps the most important phase of the wind farm development process is finding the correct location for your cluster. Many wind farm projects have failed because they were situated in areas where the environmental factors are not conducive to proper electricity-generation.

The primary consideration in this stage of the developmental process is the available wind resource. Wind farms are powered by the wind, after all. But not just any kind of wind will be sufficient. The area you're considering should experience winds with a minimum average of 13 miles per hour (mph), per year. If you're planning to build a wind farm in the US, you can check out NREL.gov to study the wind maps in the country.

• Another thing to consider is the proximity of your target area to existing power lines. An area may have suitable winds, but if it is too remote and far from established transmission lines, you will have to build these to supply the electricity you'll be generating to the power purchasers. This can be very expensive. As a way to keep the cost down, you will have to choose a location that is near existing transmission lines.

The price of the land where the wind farm will be built should also play a crucial criterion in your decision. Whether you'll rent the land or buy the same, the price will eat up a portion of your capital. 

• STAGE 2: Learning The Economics Behind Wind-Generated Electricity

The main goal in wind farm development is to ultimately earn sustainable profit. The law of supply and demand comes to play. You may be able to produce enough electric supply for a significant number of households and industrial factories, but if there is no demand for such, the electricity will be wasted.

You will need to identify the power purchasers in the market beforehand and try to strike a deal with them before commencing on building your wind farm. This way, you'll be able to get guaranteed buyers for the electricity you'll be producing immediately upon generation thereof, and no energy will have to go to waste.

• STAGE 3: Establish Contact With Wind Turbine Providers And Project Developers

A big part of wind farm development is keeping the cost down, and this includes negotiating with wind turbine manufacturers as well as project developers for the best rates possible. As an alternative, you can even try to make them industrial partners, and compensation can be extended via percentage of the proceeds, or via dividends if you're operating as a company, once the wind farm becomes operational.

• STAGE 4: Financing Your Wind Farm Development

It's not cheap to build and operate a wind farm. Wind farm development, in fact, is estimated at an average of $2 million per megawatt of generating capacity. 

Finding funding sources can be a daunting task, but it is by no means impossible.

Bank loans, government grants, and hooking up with interested investors are just some of the options you can take to come up with the capital needed for the development of your wind farm.

• STAGE 5: Building Your Wind Farm

The final stage in wind farm development is the actual construction of the project. If you have partnered with developers and turbine manufacturers, as advised in one of the previous stages, then this should be the easiest phase of the process.

One more thing you will need to consider is hiring the services of a consultant who is an expert in zoning and permitting requirements when it comes to wind farm construction. This approach will save you a lot of time, and will ensure that everything is in order when it comes to the statutory mandates of the national and state governments where you will be operating from.

• Wind farm development is a novel - and noble - undertaking that will greatly help us preserve our planet. The tasks involved may be intimidating, but they can be done, and once accomplished, the feeling of fulfillment will be greater. Not only will you have a stable income source, you will also help in making electric power generation a more environment-friendly process.