Flood risk assessment for renewable energy development

Identifying flood hazard at the start

Flooding is a significant concern for renewable energy projects, and often a hidden hazard due to gaps in existing publicly available flood data. Wind farms sited in low-lying, flood-prone areas risk structural damage to the turbines’ concrete foundations, for example. Solar projects can encounter drainage problems and, as drainage systems can be altered during construction, this must be taken into consideration from the outset. Access is another major issue – roads must stay usable so operations teams can reach the sites at all times.

Having experienced costly flooding at some of its projects in the past, EDF power solutions is working to ensure flood risk is identified as early as possible. The EDF power solutions team begins the process with greenfielding – analyzing a multitude of potential sites and identifying which ones are feasible and which ones could present challenges, such as flooding. 

Quick flood assessment at this stage means the team can not only identify suitable sites, but also any areas within a selected site that might present problems. 

To analyze flood risk across multiple project sites, EDF power solutions utilizes FEMA floodplain maps, the National Wetlands Inventory and the National Hydrologic Dataset, as well as in-house elevation analysis. However, these datasets do not offer consistent coverage of North America and bespoke analysis across multiple sites can be slow and expensive. 

What EDF power solutions needed was reliable, nationwide flood risk data to identify “hidden hazards” in project sites early, before commissioning costly site-specific hydrological studies.

Nationwide flood data with local-scale precision

To support these preliminary analyses, EDF power solutions licensed Fathom’s US Flood Map; inland pluvial and fluvial, 10m resolution flood data for multiple return periods (intensity & frequency). 

To ensure the data was fit for purpose, the team carried out an extensive evaluation. They first compared Fathom’s data against the results of their own detailed site-specific hydrological studies and then conducted an in-depth review of Fathom’s methodology.

“Our confidence in the data came not only from seeing the results compared to our hydro studies, but also from being able to access and understand the methodology.”

Rachel Clement, Director of GIS at EDF power solutions North America

The GIS and engineering teams worked together to identify which datasets best supported their requirements and then set depth thresholds (e.g. >3 ft). The datasets were then integrated into EDF power solutions’ GIS platform along with FEMA and other data. The team was then able to exclude any unsuitable sites and develop a nationwide “buildable land” dataset.

Seamless integration for faster renewable energy site-screening

Fathom’s data was seamlessly incorporated into EDF power solutions’ existing GIS workflow to provide a centralized, single source of truth that can be used by multiple teams to collaboratively analyze flood risks.

It provides a trusted, holistic view of flood risk in an ‘off-the-shelf’ capacity, helping to speed up site-screening and reduce wasted time and budget on high-risk sites. 

By screening out higher-risk sites early, the team could focus on the other challenges and risks that can arise across projects, and EDF power solutions is now exploring new ways to leverage Fathom’s data within other areas of the business.

“Fathom’s flood depth data has empowered EDF power solutions’ greenfielding teams to make more informed, data-driven decisions regarding site selection, land acquisition, and constraints analysis for early-stage projects. This valuable dataset not only accelerates our decision-making process but also improves the outcomes by driving us to pursue project areas with lower risk.”

Rachel Clement, Director of GIS, EDF Power Solutions, North America