Strategic environmental assessment for wind farm sites

Using strategic environmental assessment, the current paper strives to assemble a site selection process for wind farms in order that suitable locations can be identified in a coherent and logical manner. Such a course of action is seen as preferable to the existing process where wind farm proposals are treated as one-off applications, with each subject to a lengthy decision process which may result in an unsuccessful outcome for one of the parties to the appraisal. Strategic environmental assessment is seen as providing a comprehensive framework for this process, enabling the decision to be made in a more efficient and environmentally sustainable manner, aiding the system by which wind farms can be sited in the least ecologically sensitive locations possible. The application of strategic environmental assessment to the siting of wind farms within County Cavan in Ireland is used to illustrate the operation of such a proposed assessment process.