Mapping the Wind Energy Potential of Sweden: A Sociotechnical Wind Atlas

Table 5

Practical appliance and impact of the sociotechnical wind atlas.

Practical appliance	Explanation
Wind resource assessment	The socio-technical wind atlas includes a wind atlas with a spatial resolution of 500. Since the mean difference between the measured wind speeds and the wind atlas was 5.4%, the atlas is considered usable for (a) selecting regions with promising wind speeds and (b) using the high resolution to perform wind studies before installing a physical measurement device.
Logistic planning	The deployment of wind farms often includes infrastructural changes such as construction of roads. By using the socio-technical wind atlas, it is possible to utilize the existing road network, and, more importantly, to gain information about protected natural areas where approvals are required before potential deforestation.
Energy policy	The development of Swedish wind power planning is very much dependent on a decentralized energy policy with municipalities impacting the decision on whether to implement a wind project or not. By introducing the socio-technical wind atlas, municipalities and policymakers will have a tool to get an overview of the potentials in a specific region.
Industrial focus areas	The wind industry can gain insight into areas of specific interest in order to plan construction of factories, harbors, etc. This would naturally be a consequence of a national decision on specific areas for wind project development.