Minimising Community Opposition to Wind Farm Developments in New Zealand: Opportunities in Renewable Energy Planning

10.26686/wgtn.16900492 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Christian Berg

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Community Involvement ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Public Involvement ◽

Planning Process ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Community Consultation ◽

Consultation Process ◽

Public Opposition

The erection of wind turbines, depending on their location, could significantly interfere with appreciated landscape values of a community, and consequently lead to its objection to a proposed wind energy project. This study explores possible options, which can be applied within the community consultation process to reduce the likelihood of substantial public opposition to wind farm developments in New Zealand. The research topic was chosen to support wind farm planners and decision makers in the consultation process for wind farm developments in order to increase public acceptance of a proposed project, to evaluate possibilities of benefit sharing and public involvement, to select the most appropriate level of community participation in the planning process and consequently to enhance the ability in gaining resource consent under the Resource Management Act 1991. The investigation covers the sequential development of public attitudes towards wind farms, the wider spectrum of public opposition, including vocalised reasons and hidden arguments, community consultation approaches and the different levels of public involvement. The applied methodology for this research comprises a case study approach concerning a New Zealand wind farm including an analysis of submissions made into the resource consent process, follow-up interviews with affected stakeholders, an interview with a wind farm developer, and a comprehensive text analysis. There are various opportunities to increase acceptance of wind farms including aesthetical design, sensitive siting, a pro-active approach, stakeholder analysis, participation and community ownership schemes. The results also demonstrate that increased community involvement may potentially satisfy consulted stakeholders, but could jeopardise obtaining resource consent under the current planning regime.

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Minimising Community Opposition to Wind Farm Developments in New Zealand: Opportunities in Renewable Energy Planning

10.26686/wgtn.16900492.v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Christian Berg

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Community Involvement ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Public Involvement ◽

Planning Process ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Community Consultation ◽

Consultation Process ◽

Public Opposition

The erection of wind turbines, depending on their location, could significantly interfere with appreciated landscape values of a community, and consequently lead to its objection to a proposed wind energy project. This study explores possible options, which can be applied within the community consultation process to reduce the likelihood of substantial public opposition to wind farm developments in New Zealand. The research topic was chosen to support wind farm planners and decision makers in the consultation process for wind farm developments in order to increase public acceptance of a proposed project, to evaluate possibilities of benefit sharing and public involvement, to select the most appropriate level of community participation in the planning process and consequently to enhance the ability in gaining resource consent under the Resource Management Act 1991. The investigation covers the sequential development of public attitudes towards wind farms, the wider spectrum of public opposition, including vocalised reasons and hidden arguments, community consultation approaches and the different levels of public involvement. The applied methodology for this research comprises a case study approach concerning a New Zealand wind farm including an analysis of submissions made into the resource consent process, follow-up interviews with affected stakeholders, an interview with a wind farm developer, and a comprehensive text analysis. There are various opportunities to increase acceptance of wind farms including aesthetical design, sensitive siting, a pro-active approach, stakeholder analysis, participation and community ownership schemes. The results also demonstrate that increased community involvement may potentially satisfy consulted stakeholders, but could jeopardise obtaining resource consent under the current planning regime.

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Evaluating Community Engagement and Benefit-Sharing Practices in Australian Wind Farm Development

Case Studies in the Environment ◽

10.1525/cse.2017.000521 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nina Lansbury Hall ◽

Jarra Hicks ◽

Taryn Lane ◽

Emily Wood

Keyword(s):

Community Engagement ◽

Community Involvement ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Social Acceptance ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Delphi Panel ◽

Government Organizations

The wind industry is positioned to contribute significantly to a clean energy future, yet the level of community opposition has at times led to unviable projects. Social acceptance is crucial and can be improved in part through better practice community engagement and benefit-sharing. This case study provides a “snapshot” of current community engagement and benefit-sharing practices for Australian wind farms, with a particular emphasis on practices found to be enhancing positive social outcomes in communities. Five methods were used to gather views on effective engagement and benefit-sharing: a literature review, interviews and a survey of the wind industry, a Delphi panel, and a review of community engagement plans. The overarching finding was that each community engagement and benefit-sharing initiative should be tailored to a community’s context, needs and expectations as informed by community involvement. This requires moving away from a “one size fits all” approach. This case study is relevant to wind developers, energy regulators, local communities and renewable energy-focused non-government organizations. It is applicable beyond Australia to all contexts where wind farm development has encountered conflicted societal acceptance responses.

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Regional Variability in New Zealand’s Wind Resource Linked to Synoptic-Scale Circulation: Implications for Generation Reliability

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology ◽

10.1175/jamc-d-14-0273.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 54 (5) ◽

pp. 944-958 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Peter B. Gibson ◽

Nicolas J. Cullen

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Synoptic Climatology ◽

Synoptic Scale ◽

Regional Variability ◽

Zero Generation ◽

Wind Resources ◽

Selection Of ◽

Supply Reliability

AbstractEven in locations endowed with excellent wind resources, the intermittent nature of wind is perceived as a barrier to reliable generation. However, recent studies have demonstrated that electrically interconnecting wind farms in a meteorologically oriented network can reduce supply variability and the observed frequency of zero-generation conditions. In this study a 5-yr synthetic dataset of 15 wind farms is utilized to investigate the benefits to supply reliability from wind farm interconnection in New Zealand. An examination is carried out primarily through a synoptic climatology framework, hypothesizing that benefits to reliability are primarily related to the degree to which wind farms are influenced differently by the synoptic-scale circulation. Using a weather-typing approach and composite analysis, regionality is observed in the linkages between synoptic-scale circulation and wind resources, particularly between wind farms located in the far northern and far southern regions of the country. Subsequently, and as compared with all other possible combinations, supply reliability is observed to be optimized in a network that includes wind farms connected between far northern and far southern regions, under which the frequency of hours with zero generation is almost eliminated. It is likely that the frequency of hours with zero generation could be further reduced on the basis of a more extensive meteorologically based selection of wind data from a greater number of locations. It is suggested that these findings should be taken into consideration in future planning and site selection of wind farm projects in New Zealand.

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Creating Synthetic Wind Speed Time Series for 15 New Zealand Wind Farms

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology ◽

10.1175/2011jamc2668.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 50 (12) ◽

pp. 2394-2409 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Richard Turner ◽

Xiaogu Zheng ◽

Neil Gordon ◽

Michael Uddstrom ◽

Greg Pearson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Series ◽

New Zealand ◽

Wind Speed ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Central Government ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Practical Method ◽

Wind Data ◽

Regulatory Oversight ◽

Short Period

AbstractWind data at time scales from 10 min to 1 h are an important input for modeling the performance of wind farms and their impact on many countries’ national electricity systems. Planners need long-term realistic (i.e., meteorologically spatially and temporally consistent) wind-farm data for projects studying how best to integrate wind power into the national electricity grid. In New Zealand, wind data recorded at wind farms are confidential for commercial reasons, however, and publicly available wind data records are for sites that are often not representative of or are distant from wind farms. In general, too, the public sites are at much lower terrain elevations than hilltop wind farms and have anemometers located at 10 m above the ground, which is much lower than turbine hub height. In addition, when available, the mast records from wind-farm sites are only for a short period. In this paper, the authors describe a novel and practical method to create a multiyear 10-min synthetic wind speed time series for 15 wind-farm sites throughout the country for the New Zealand Electricity Commission. The Electricity Commission (known as the Electricity Authority since 1 October 2010) is the agency that has regulatory oversight of the electricity industry and that provides advice to central government. The dataset was constructed in such a way as to preserve meteorological realism both spatially and temporally and also to respect the commercial secrecy of the wind data provided by power-generation companies.

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Strategic Environmental Assessment in the Application of Preventive Protection for Wind Farm Noise—Case Study: Maestrale Ring Wind Farm

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14196174 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (19) ◽

pp. 6174

Author(s):

Boško D. Josimović ◽

Aleksandar Cvjetić ◽

Božidar Manić

Keyword(s):

Impact Assessment ◽

Wind Turbines ◽

Environmental Assessment ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Planning Process ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Development Stage ◽

Strategic Environmental Assessment

Determining the spatial position of wind turbines is the initial and most important phase in the development of a wind farm project. In this sensitive phase, all potential problems that may arise in the later stages of project development should be prevented by means of spatial and urban planning instruments. This makes it possible to achieve maximum use of the potential of wind in a particular space and, thus, fulfil the technical and economic requirements of the project while respecting the goals of environmental protection in that same area, through preventive protection. Therefore, it is essential, even at the earliest planning and development stage of a wind farm project, for the requirements that are important for optimal spatial solutions to be balanced. In this process, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a support to the planning process and an invaluable instrument for finding optimal spatial solutions for the possible key spatial impacts of wind power with regard to noise, shadow flicker, ornithofauna and chiropterofauna. The weakness of SEA can be seen in its predominant application of expert qualitative methods that bring with them subjectivity, since they depend on expert knowledge and skills. This paper presents the aspect of noise impact assessment and its inclusion in the SEA for the Maestrale Ring wind farm in Serbia. The results of the research indicate how it is possible to achieve the principle of objectivity in the process of multicriteria expert evaluation by including the results of a partial impact assessment of the noise from wind farms, using results obtained from software modeling of the spatial dispersion of wind turbine noise in the SoundPlan 8.1 software package in the SEA process. These quantitative results predicting the noise level were used in a semi-quantitative method of multicriteria evaluation in the SEA through the definition of criteria to determine the ranking of impacts, which is elaborated in the paper. The results also show the significant of the contribution of applying a methodological approach based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods in SEA. These methods positively affect the application of the principle of preventive protection through the optimal selection of the number and position of wind turbines on one hand and the objectivity of drawing conclusions based on which strategic decisions are made in the final phase of the SEA process, on the other.

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Obstacles and Obligations: Wind Energy and Migratory Bird Protection in New Zealand

10.26686/wgtn.16993456.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Symone Krimowa

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Resource Management ◽

Environmental Effects ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Bird Species ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Migratory Bird ◽

International Obligations ◽

Biodiversity Convention

Wind farms create unique risks to birds because of the danger of the turbine blades, which can be up to 150 meters tall. Placement of wind farms in the wrong areas can have a detrimental impact on bird species. New Zealand’s commitment to renewable energy is shared with its obligations to protect biodiversity, which are reflected in the ratification of international conventions such as the Convention on Migratory Species and the Biodiversity Convention. Domestic legislation, such as the Resource Management Act 1991, seeks to enhance the development of alternative sources of energy with the intention of reducing the effects of climate change on the environment and conserving indigenous biodiversity. Migratory bird protection in the wind farm context in New Zealand relies upon environmental impact assessment under Schedule 4 of the Resource Management Act 1991. International obligations include protecting or endeavouring to protect 37 migratory bird species along their complete flight paths. The Resource Management Act 1991 does not meet international obligations to protect migratory birds in the wind farm consent process because (1) the assessment of environmental effects process fails to adequately identify effects on migratory birds; and (2) even if the assessment of environmental effects process adequately identifies effects on migratory birds, the RMA fails to give priority weight to effects on birds when it balances those effects with other factors in deciding to approve the wind farm application. Other countries provide guidance on the next steps for New Zealand to take to comply with its international obligations to migratory birds.

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Ethics Committee Experience with Emergency Exception from Informed Consent Protocols

Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics ◽

10.1525/jer.2007.2.3.23 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 23-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Nicole M. DeIorio ◽

Katie B. McClure ◽

Maria Nelson ◽

K. John McConnell ◽

Terri A. Schmidt

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Public Opinion ◽

Informed Consent ◽

Community Involvement ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Public Disclosure ◽

Federal Regulations ◽

Community Consultation ◽

Consultation Process

Since 1996, U.S. federal regulations allow research without informed consent to study emergency conditions, if there is currently no satisfactory treatment for the condition, no time to obtain advance consent from the patient or representative, and if there is community involvement through a public disclosure and community consultation process. REB experiences since then are unknown. We surveyed REB chairpersons at the 126 United States medical schools to quantify reviewed protocols and identify attitudes about the rule, to better understand the rule's impact on REBs. Sixty-nine surveys were returned (55%). Fifty-two respondents reviewing human research had heard of the Rule. Forty-eight percent (25/52) had reviewed such a study; 40% of those had rejected at least one. Seventy-eight percent believe the rule protects human subjects, and 88% feel prepared to implement them. REB views differed from public opinion on how best to enact notification and consultation.

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Incorporating Public Participation in Offshore Wind Farm Siting in Greece

Wind ◽

10.3390/wind2010001 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Eva Loukogeorgaki ◽

Dimitra G. Vagiona ◽

Areti Lioliou

Keyword(s):

Wind Farm ◽

Public Involvement ◽

Social Process ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Offshore Wind ◽

Public Confidence ◽

Site Location ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Offshore Wind Farms

The public acceptance of Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) is an important issue that is expected to depend highly on their site location. Public involvement in decision-making processes is recommended as it may contribute to the mitigation of opposing, delaying and even blocking OWF projects, as well as increasing future public confidence and support. The aim of this study is to identify the most suitable sites for OWFs deployment in Greece based on citizens’ preferences and judgments. The methodology consists of three phases: (i) identification of Eligible Marine Areas (EMAs) for OWF siting by deploying ten exclusion criteria, (ii) prioritization of six evaluation criteria and ranking of EMAs according to citizens’ judgments through an Online Questionnaire Survey (OQS) and (iii) overall prioritization of EMAs. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), supported by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the OQS are used for the analysis. The results illustrate the priority ranking of thirteen EMAs for OWFs deployment in the Greek marine environment under five different scenarios. The most suitable sites are located in the South-West zone offshore of Rhodes in all the examined scenarios. Sustainable development is a challenging social process, and the different preferences of the society should be integrated in planning processes.

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Obstacles and Obligations: Wind Energy and Migratory Bird Protection in New Zealand

10.26686/wgtn.16993456 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Symone Krimowa

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Resource Management ◽

Environmental Effects ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Bird Species ◽

Wind Farms ◽

Migratory Bird ◽

International Obligations ◽

Biodiversity Convention

Wind farms create unique risks to birds because of the danger of the turbine blades, which can be up to 150 meters tall. Placement of wind farms in the wrong areas can have a detrimental impact on bird species. New Zealand’s commitment to renewable energy is shared with its obligations to protect biodiversity, which are reflected in the ratification of international conventions such as the Convention on Migratory Species and the Biodiversity Convention. Domestic legislation, such as the Resource Management Act 1991, seeks to enhance the development of alternative sources of energy with the intention of reducing the effects of climate change on the environment and conserving indigenous biodiversity. Migratory bird protection in the wind farm context in New Zealand relies upon environmental impact assessment under Schedule 4 of the Resource Management Act 1991. International obligations include protecting or endeavouring to protect 37 migratory bird species along their complete flight paths. The Resource Management Act 1991 does not meet international obligations to protect migratory birds in the wind farm consent process because (1) the assessment of environmental effects process fails to adequately identify effects on migratory birds; and (2) even if the assessment of environmental effects process adequately identifies effects on migratory birds, the RMA fails to give priority weight to effects on birds when it balances those effects with other factors in deciding to approve the wind farm application. Other countries provide guidance on the next steps for New Zealand to take to comply with its international obligations to migratory birds.

Download Full-text