Wind farms and landscape visual overload

The process of wind turbine allocation which has already started in Croatia is currently based on the legislative regulatory system that lacks a basic national strategy plan for the integration of wind turbines into landscape. The result of this kind of ‘case to case’ approach to development is the uncertainty regarding the potential consequences of these actions on landscape. One of the possible consequences of interpolating a greater number of wind turbines in a rural landscape is its complete visual transformation into a landscape of technical character and, as a result, the loss of its former natural and cultural values. Rural coastal areas are potentially the most affected due to their great potential for the development of wind turbines. The main dilemma in this paper is the issue of a potential visual overload of sensitive rural areas in Croatia. Thus, a projection of visual exposure of all the existing and planned wind farms was made for this purpose. Such projection could be useful for any future cumulative visual impact assessment of wind turbines on the existing landscape, as well as for the development of an appropriate strategy plan for wind power exploitation