Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines - July 2010

G.2.2 Project feasibility
Wind monitoring (PF1)
Wind monitoring of a high priority site is necessary in order to confirm the reliability of the
wind resource. Once landowner consent has been negotiated, one or more wind
monitoring towers will be installed on the site. These towers should be of a height
comparable to the hub height (i.e. height without blades) of the turbines likely to be
deployed at the site, with anemometers installed at varying levels to measure wind speed
and direction. Monitoring usually occurs over a 12 month period before a commercial
decision can be made to pursue development at the site, although this period may be
shorter or longer depending on the proponent’s financing requirements. If the project is to
proceed further, the monitoring towers will remain on site to further confirm the available
wind resource.
It should be noted that the installation of monitoring towers does not mean that a wind
farm will necessarily be developed or that a final site layout exists — it merely means that
the initial site selection has identified this site as possibly suitable for development and a
high-level risk assessment has not excluded the site from consideration.
As some planning processes do not require a consent/permit for the erection of wind
monitoring towers, unless removal of vegetation is required, proponents should satisfy
themselves as to the local planning scheme or development plan provisions in their
particular circumstance. The proponent should also satisfy themselves that the monitoring
tower will not impact other areas of the environment that may trigger other permit
requirements.
Establishing a dialogue with identified stakeholders should be a key milestone at this stage,
in accordance with the Project Communication and Consultation Plan. Stakeholders,
including local community members and organisations, should be provided information on
the proposed site, wind monitoring progress and the proposed development stages.
This stage will determine what approvals and consents are required, their
interdependencies, the responsible authorities, the level of information required for the
applications and the likely timeframe necessary for the collection of data and assessment.
The scope of the documentation should cover approvals and consents needed for not
only the development itself (e.g.: land use permit) but those for specific aspects (e.g.:
vegetation clearance) or related matters (e.g.: road works).
Input into the studies for a number of technical areas should be sought from a range of
stakeholders, including local planning authorities, landowners hosting wind turbines and
neighbouring landowners.
Preliminary technical studies (PF2)
The preliminary technical studies establish baseline conditions and are primarily used for
data collection to inform the preliminary wind farm layout. This layout will be revised
through iterations as more data becomes available and community needs are identified.
Page 186 Draft National Wind Farm Development Guidelines – 2 July 2010