How we calculate potential wind capacity across the UK
Raster resolution: ~50m x 50m pixels (resampled from wind speed data)
Power density assumption: 20 MW/km²
The wind tradeoffs tool shows the maximum possible land where onshore wind could be deployed, based on geotechnical and safety constraints. This results in the headline total capacity number for each region.
These constraints are always applied and form the baseline available land:
| Constraint | Rule |
|---|---|
| Wind speed | Any pixel with wind speed less than 6 m/s at 100m height excluded |
| Slope | Any pixel with slope greater than 15 degrees excluded |
| Airports | Any pixel within 2km of an airport excluded |
| Roads | Any pixel within 200m of a road excluded |
| Railways | Any pixel within 200m of a railway excluded |
| Overhead power lines | Any pixel within 200m of an overhead power line excluded |
| Waterways | All waterways excluded |
| Forest | All forest excluded, plus 50m buffer |
| Public green spaces | All public green spaces excluded |
Users can toggle these constraints on or off:
Users can select from several levels, where higher levels provide more protection:
Level 1: No protections
Level 2: National Parks protected
Level 3: National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty protected
Level 4: Green Belt also protected
Level 1: 500m setback from listed buildings
Level 2: 1000m setback from listed buildings
Level 3: 1500m setback from listed buildings
Slider with levels: 250m, 500m, 750m, 1000m, 1250m
A final constraint removes any parcel of land smaller than 50,000 m² (5 hectares). This ensures only viable development sites are counted.