Wind Turbines, United States (2017)

This dataset provides locations and technical specifications of wind turbines in the United States, almost all of which are utility-scale. Utility-scale turbines are ones that generate power and feed it into the grid, supplying a utility with energy. They are usually much larger than turbines that would feed a homeowner or business. The regularly updated database has wind turbine records that have been collected, digitized, and locationally verified. Turbine data were gathered from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Digital Obstacle File (DOF) and Obstruction Evaluation Airport Airspace Analysis (OE-AAA), the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and were merged and collapsed into a single data set. Verification of the turbine positions was done by visual interpretation using high-resolution aerial imagery in ESRI ArcGIS Desktop. A locational error of plus or minus 10 meters for turbine locations was tolerated. Technical specifications for turbines were assigned based on the wind turbine make and models as provided by manufacturers and project developers directly, and via FAA datasets, information on the wind project developer or turbine manufacturer websites, or other online sources. Some facility and turbine information on make and model did not exist or was difficult to obtain. Thus, uncertainty may exist for certain turbine specifications. Similarly, some turbines were not yet built, not built at all, or for other reasons cannot be verified visually. Location and turbine specifications data quality are rated and a confidence is recorded for both. None of the data are field verified.