ABSTRACT

Although in all over the world Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECSs) are becoming very successful power plant many problems go on interfering with their development. These problems are mainly joined in land planning and use and, together with obstacles represented by planning regulations, building permits, constraints and other ones. Other questions are relevant to environmental impact, in fact the most windy sites are also of interest to landscape and nature. At the present time, in Italy, wind farms are developing in mountainous sites as at Acqua Spruzza (Frosolone, Molise) or at Collarmele (Abruzzo) too. In these areas visual and environmental impact may largely minimized by using some designing criteria. Also the economical and social impact can result positive. For the case of new ENEL wind power plant at Collarmele, an investigation about environmental and social-economical impact has been carried out by use of three different indirect methods, based on the estimate of the “kWh value” from wind source.