Macarthur wind farm operating ‘well within’ noise limits

On the same day that a powerful pro-wind alliance has petitioned Premier Denis Napthine to amend Victoria’s prohibitive wind farm planning laws, the owners of the state’s newest and largest wind farm have confirmed it has successfully passed strict noise compliance conditions since its opening on April 12.

AGL Energy and New Zealand’s Meridian announced today that the 420MW Macarthur wind farm – the largest in Australia and the southern hemisphere – was successfully operating within the noise limits set in its State Planning Permit, according to an independent assessment produced by AECOM.

“We appreciate some community members have been concerned about wind farm noise levels so we wanted to make sure it was operating correctly from the start and give the community a greater level of comfort,” said AGL’s Group General Manager Power Development, Scott Thomas. “Over 40,000 hours of noise monitoring has been conducted at Macarthur, which is well beyond the amount of noise monitoring required in the Planning Permit.”

The testing also monitored for special audible characteristics (clearly audible tones, impulses, or modulation of sound levels), none of which were determined to be present at any of the noise monitoring locations.

The full report can be found here.