Cohabitation between wind farms and radars

Cohabitation between wind farms
and radars :
The French regulation
Office franco-allemand pour les énergies renouvelables,
29 septembre 2015
Claire Sauron,
Chargée de mission Éolien
Direction générale de la prévention des risques, MEDDE
Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie
www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr
The French context
 Connected wind power in march 2015 : 9 482 MW
 And a lot of radars
27 Weather radars
Maritime and port radars
Civil aviation radars and VOR
Military radars
BL
Dammartin
Roissy
Orly
Strasbourg
Bâle
Mulhouse
BRSG
PN
GB
AV CDG
PS CH
RY
TR
NE
Lyon
Bordeaux
LI
.
Toulouse
Nice
Vitrolles
Couverture radars primaires civils française
PSHGR
BD TLS MO.
BZ AU
MV
GS
MN
ML
The French regulation

Authorizations needed to operate a wind farm
 Several authorizations depending of different regulations are needed to operate a
wind farm
 Building permit (Planning Code)
 Operating permit (Environment Code)
 Authorisations in case of forest clearing (Forest code), impact on protected
species (Environment Code)…
 Since 2014 an experimentation in seven regions aims at delivering a single
permit covering all these authorisations
 After the 1st November 2015, the « single permit » will concern all French regions

Rules concerning radars
 Rules concerning radars and wind farms are set in the legislation on classified
installations (Ministerial order of 26 august 2011) and examined in the operating
permit application
Arrêté modifié du 26 août 2011 relatif aux installations de production d'électricité utilisant
l'énergie mécanique du vent au sein d'une installation soumise à autorisation au titre de la
rubrique 2980 de la législation des installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement
The French regulation
 Ministerial order of 26 august 2011
 Aim of this regulation : Make sure that wind farms don’t disturb the security
missions of radars
 Rules concerning weather radars, military radars, civil aviation radars, maritime
and port radars
 Modified in 2014, in order to precise rules concerning weather radars and give
more visibility to wind farms operators
 The French energy transition for green growth law : a regulation will
precise the requirements concerning the building of wind farms near
radars
What is the regulation ?
 Civil aviation, maritime and port radars :
Type of radar
Civil Aviation
Maritime and river port
Coordination distance (km)
Primary radar
30
Secondary radar
16
VOR (Visual Omni Range)
15
Port radar
20
Radar in Regional Rescue and Surveillance
Operational Centers
10
No agreement of the
radar operator in the
coordination distance
=
Non compliance
with the ministerial
order
=
Refusal
What is the regulation ?
 Military radars :
Agreement
of the military authority
required all over the country
 When an agreement from the radar operator is required
 The agreement can be asked by the applicant and submitted with
the authorization request
 OR by the administration
(No answer from the radar operator within 2 months = agreement)
What is the regulation ?
 Weather radars :
Protection distance
(km)
Coordination distance
(km)
5
20
S-band
10
30
X-band
4
10
Type of radar
C-band
Weather radar
De
Dp
Weather
radar
Radar
météorologique
De
distance
De :: Coordination
Distance d'éloignement
Dp
distance
Dp :: Protection
Distance de
protection
Wind farms forbidden
except if Meteo-France
agrees with the project
Impacts of the wind
farms shall be
analyzed
What is the regulation ?
 Weather radars :
In the orange area (Dp < D < De) :
 Solution 1 : use of a modeling method validated by the ministry + compliance
with distance criteria
 Solution 2 : Consultation of Météo-France (a third-party expertise can be
required)
Distance dedistance
protection
Dp : Protection
L ≤ 10km
Distance d'éloignement
De : Coordination
distance
Radar météorologique
Weather
radar
Wind turbine
Impact area
De
Dp
the maximum occultation of
the radar beam by wind
turbines must not exceed 10%
What is the regulation ?
 Weather radars :
Procedure of the validation of a modeling method :

Submission by the applicant of :
 Details of the modeling method
 References of the society and justification of its ability to use the modeling
method
 Comparison between the modeling results and Meteo-France observations
for a wind farm chosen with the ministry

Consultation of Meteo-France

Validation by ministerial decision

Two applicants have submitted a modeling method. They are currently being
assessed.
MERCI
DANKE
Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement durable et de l’Énergie
www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr