WA government to update noise regulations for wind farm boom

The state government is working to update noise regulations which wind farm proponents say are impacting development and community relations. 

The issue arose during a planning meeting about Moonies Hill New Energy’s proposed $750 million Kojonup Wind Farm project, due to start construction next year.

KWF comprises 33 wind turbines generating 204MW of power and has attracted concern from surrounding farmers about potential noise impacts to their properties.

Speaking on behalf of KWF, Herring Storer Acoustics director George Watts said WA’s industrial noise regulations were designed before wind farms became part of the economy.

“The WA regulations are deficient in defining stakeholders, that is the whole issue in a nutshell,” he said.

“This is the big bugbear of the whole problem and a reason we keep banging our head against the wall. 

“The WA regulation, on the basis of the government bureaucracy’s interpretation, does not recognise a stakeholder associated with a wind farm that doesn’t host infrastructure.

“You may have a nonsense scenario where Joe Bloggs Trust one owns property A and is hosting a turbine, Joe Bloggs Trust two – same person – isn’t a hosting a turbine and the DWER noise branch expects the regulations to apply to Joe Bloggs that doesn’t host a turbine even though they are very clearly a stakeholder.”

Mr Watts said in KWF’s case the proponent had to resort to writing “word salad” to land on satisfactory noise monitoring conditions.

The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation governs the rules which dictate on what properties noise monitoring needs to be undertaken, and what acceptable limits are for different properties.

A WA government spokesperson said several departments were updating regulations to smooth the development pathway for wind farms.

“The state government is committed to supporting the responsible rollout of renewable energy infrastructure as part of its transition to a cleaner, reliable and affordable energy system,” they said.

“As more wind farm projects are proposed across Western Australia, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is progressing reforms to update how noise from wind farms is managed while ensuring the regulatory framework remains clear, consistent and effective.

“In addition to the changes proposed in the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage’s draft Renewable Energy Code, DWER is developing complementary amendments to the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997.”

The point came up as one of two debated amendments to the KWF project put to a development assessment panel on Thursday.

Those were the removal of a requirement for radar-activated lighting and alteration of noise monitoring stipulations.

In its amendment KWF pointed to South Australian noise regulations which better defined stakeholders.

RDAP presiding member Dale Page accepted the amendment to noise monitoring but rejected the bid to remove lighting.

“I haven’t received a compelling reason why there should be no lighting,” she said.

An amendment was passed to ensure radar activated or aircraft detection activated lighting would be installed on certain turbines in consultation with the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority.