Vegetation clearance at wind farms at Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina.

Abstract

Vegetation clearance is one of the most relevant environmental impacts at the construction stage of the wind farms. This report evaluated the vegetation clearance of the three wind farms located within Puerto Madryn city area. Vegetation clearance was assessed trough the use of teledetection techniques with satellite image processing. Vegetation clearance was compared against industry standards wind farm by wind farm and on an average basis and also against the total vegetation clearance caused by the city urbanization process. Results show that vegetation clearance associated to the wind farms amounts to 996 hectares representing 0,81% of the city area. Also the average total direct impact área was 1,70 hectares per MW, which is whithin industry standards.