We are developing wind farm proposals in New South Wales and Victoria. The New South Wales projects are located near Crookwell in the Upper Lachlan Shire, and at Paling Yards in the Oberon Shire. The Crookwell II project has received a permit to commence construction from the NSW Government.

The Victorian projects are located at Ryan Corner, Tarrone, Hawkesdale and Darlington in the Moyne Shire, and at Berrybank on the border between Moyne Shire and Golden Plains Shire. The Ryan Corner, Hawkesdale and Berrybank projects have received conditional approvals from the Victorian Government.

Developing a wind farm requires a great deal of preparation, testing, and site assessment. Selecting a site that experiences a fair amount of wind is only the first step in that assessment process, and further consideration is given to its proximity to the national electricity grid, the protection that should be given to the natural environment at the site, and to the local community.

A wind farm must be within close proximity to the national electricity grid, because technical constraints prohibit the viable connection of a remote wind farm to the grid. The electricity grid operators in Australia are responsible for maintaining and extending the grid, and they have the power to grant the rights to connect to the grid. UFWA does not have the right to build an extension to the grid.

A wind farm site must also be developed within the rules of the State planning scheme. The planning schemes impose strict standards to ensure the protection of the landscape and the natural environment. These schemes also ensure that local communities have an adequate opportunity to voice their concerns about a wind farm proposal.

Union Fenosa Wind Australia first selects a suitable site and tests the wind resource using anemometers on masts at the site. When the wind resource has been proven we commence a process of community consultation, and we prepare a series of expert studies to satisfy the rules prescribed by the planning scheme. When the consultation process and the expert studies have been completed we ask the government to make a decision about the merits of our wind farm proposal at the site.

Project proposals in Australia are typically sited in barren areas where there are no natural windshelters like forests or bushland. An ideal location for a wind farm is where winds rise from lower areas to higher altitudes, for instance along a flat smooth hill, or in mountainous areas where the wind is tunnelled between mountain peaks and valleys.

Wind farms are sited in rural areas where there is a low level of ambient or background noise. Wind turbines have unique noise-generating characteristics, and there are environmental noise guidelines that specifically relate to environmental noise impacts from wind farms. Union Fenosa Wind Australia understands that it is important to balance the advantages of developing wind energy projects in Australia while maintaining the amenity of the surrounding community.

The noise from each wind turbine increases as the wind speed at the site increases. As the wind speed increases the wind itself also causes noise, so at high wind speeds the noise of the wind itself masks the wind turbine noise. At lower wind speeds the noise of a wind turbine is barely audible, as the blades of the wind turbine are turning slowly. At a medium wind speed there may be an audible 'swoosh' sound from the wind turbine which may be heard above the noise of the wind. The distance that this noise travels depends on the topography of the site and the surrounding area, weather patterns, and also on the temperature.

The State planning scheme rules set acceptable maximum noise levels, which are measured in decibels. If nuisance noise rises above the accepted maximum level then the State planning authority may issue a notice to secure compliance with the rules relating to noise. These notices are issued after the planning authority has given consideration to natural variations in background noise throughout the year, where different prevailing wind directions, atmospheric conditions or changes to local conditions may affect compliance with decibel levels. Ultimately Union Fenosa Wind Australia would be required to manage noise nuisance in a reasonable and practical manner.

Union Fenosa Wind Australia takes its responsibility to the local community seriously, and we consult with the community at an early stage to ensure that we design the best possible project to minimise the risk of nuisance noise.

The State planning schemes have rules relating to wind farms and the flickering effect that the rotating blades can cause on the ground. We need to comply with those rules, because the flickering effect has been demonstrated to be a nuisance that can make some people feel ill. We address this issue by siting the towers in places that won't cause this nuisance.

Some people claim without justification that noise from wind farms can make people sick. Modern wind turbines generate noise across the frequency range of human hearing, and unjustified claims are made that infrasound – inaudible 'noise' in the low frequency range of 20 Hz down to 0.001 Hz that the human ear does not pick up – is responsible for causing sickness to people that live in the vicinity of a wind farm.

There is no scientifically-valid proof to suggest that the levels of low frequency infrasound emitted by wind turbines make people sick. Independent research has not shown any negative health effects caused by the noise produced by operational wind turbines. For example, scientifically-valid research conducted by the British Wind Energy Association (2005) on modern wind turbines has shown that the levels of low frequency noise and infrasound are well-below accepted thresholds.

There is enormous evidence demonstrating that noise from wind farms has no effects on human health. After decades of successful operation in Europe there has been ample opportunity for any negative effects to be identified and proven, but there is no such evidence. Research from Europe – where people have had extensive exposure to wind turbines for more than 20 years – does not identify any causative link between wind turbine noise and human sickness.

Noise is measured using sophisticated equipment that measures sound according to accepted standards, such as the New Zealand Standard NZ 6808:1998 Acoustic.

The wind turbines do not have any demonstrated effect on animals (see the related previous discussion about infrasound), but if animals are subjected to stresses associated with the noise and activity of the construction phase during periods when their health is delicate (for instance during lambing or calving seasons) then there have been credible reports that some animals do not cope well with stress during this delicate period. We avoid or mitigate this risk by planning our construction schedule to minimise activity during those periods.

Landowners with topographically-favourable land that would suit the installation of a wind farm can receive substantial annual payments for leasing parts of their land for the development of a wind farm. The value of the payment varies depending on the quality of the wind resource and the location of the farm. Our agreements with landowners always provide for a 'market review' of payments at regular intervals, so if the landowner should receive higher payments than they originally contracted, then the market will increase those payments.

The land required by the foundations of each tower can depend on the size and weight of the turbine tower. Each turbine model is different, and the heavier, more-powerful models are usually mounted on higher 110m towers. For example, the turbine models we are examining for our Victorian projects on 80m towers might need a reinforced concrete base that has a diameter between 14m and 17m.

As a general rule of thumb, once the access tracks are taken into consideration, a wind farm project will take about 1.5% of allocated land for all of the project infrastructure. Each turbine needs 'clear air' in which to operate, and so 1 turbine can be sited per 50 acres (approximately).

When you enter into an agreement to site turbines on your land then you are agreeing to an ongoing obligation to permit the wind farm operator to operate and maintain the project. The obligations in your agreement will be passed on to the next owner of your land, and one of those obligations in the agreement includes a promise to ask the wind farm operator for consent when you want to sell the land. There is no reason why an operator would not give their consent if the new landowner is happy to continue with the wind farm and receive the rental payments associated with the infrastructure.

The construction period will depend on the size of the project, particularly the type of substation that will be built to connect to the electricity grid and the number of turbines to be erected on towers. For example, our initial assessment of the construction period required for a 60 tower project is between 15 months and 18 months. The majority of this activity occurs at the substation site.

During the construction period there will be an increase of heavy traffic on local roads, which we manage using a mandatory Traffic Management Plan to minimise the impact on residents in the district. Our government approvals often require us to ensure that the local roads are left in good condition once the project construction is completed.

The productive value of land near a wind farm would not be affected by that proximity. However, many people are now living in rural areas for lifestyle purposes rather than productive purposes. If you own a lifestyle property, where the prime determinant of your land value is its lifestyle amenity, then it is certainly true that any prospective purchaser of your land that is strongly-opposed to wind farms would not enter a market to purchase your property.

There have been numerous studies completed in relation to wind farms and surrounding land values in Australia and overseas. The NSW Valuer General, in an August 2009 report, concluded that wind farms do not appear to affect rural property values (or residential properties in nearby towns with views of the wind farm) in most cases. Historical results for lifestyle properties were mixed and inconclusive, and difficult to correlate with the fact of a nearby wind farm given the multiple factors that influence the price of non-productive land.

Wind energy is one of the cheapest renewable energy sources, and it involves the generation of electricity from the power of the wind. This power is captured within the area swept by their blades, and the blades drive an electrical generator to produce power for export to the grid.

Wind energy electricity generation in 2010 saved Australia an estimated 5.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions (which is equivalent to the removal of 1,133,000 cars from our roads), and thereby helped reduce carbon pollution levels in the atmosphere. Moreover, Australia has some of the world's best wind resources, and this enormous potential has led to over 9000 megawatts (MW) of large-scale wind farm energy projects being proposed around the country. Many of these projects, including several Union Fenosa Wind Australia projects, have received planning permissions. Union Fenosa Wind Australia will invest $2.4 billion in capital plant and construction services in our Australian projects, and we will create 114 permanent well-paid employment opportunities for workers in regional centres during the operational phases of the projects.

Wind turbines are a proven technology with a demonstrable 25-year track record of reliable operation in Europe.

The State planning schemes require that we complete a Community Engagement consultation process in order to receive a Planning Approval, and this consultation always provides useful feedback to help us design the project.

When a project has been approved for construction we then start another Community Engagement process. The purpose of Community Engagement is to describe the construction phase to the community, and gather information from the community, so that we can plan for mitigating or limiting the inconvenience that construction will cause to the local community. It is also a forum for receiving useful ideas and constructive criticism from the community.

Our Community Engagement is guided by a different strategy for each project, and our strategies are made available for you to read on this site. You can also contact us directly using the Contact Us menu. The purpose of each strategy is to encourage the community to engage with us directly, freely, and constructively.