Since the 1990s, the use of renewable energy sources has found strong political support in Germany and other countries. To best exploit wind power, developers prefer exposed sites with plentiful wind supply, generally located in the countryside. However, since the mid 1990s, this has resulted in escalating conflicts with radar system operators.
Military and weather radars are particularly affected by these problems for the following of reasons:
1. The radar systems are located in exposed locations outside cities and residential estates
2. Military radars are very sensitive to moving objects, even at large distances
3. The interference caused by wind turbines depends on the number of turbines in a park and their spatial arrangement
The first investigations worldwide into large wind turbine arrays that took radarrelated requirements from air traffic controllers into account were apparently performed by EADS in Bremen (North Germany). To date in Germany, over 170 wind power projects – both wind parks and individual systems – have been implemented. These were investigated and optimised in order to minimise the interference that they may cause to radar systems. Resulting from the growing body of experience available to the civil and military approval authorities, the radar-related requirements for the planning of wind power plants have continuously changed since then.
To forward the document : The compatibility of wind turbines with radars