The scheme represents a global first for wind energy, and includes an auditable framework for managing the environmental, stakeholder consultation, and amenity aspects of wind farms. The aim of the scheme is to promote the sensitive and responsible uptake of wind energy in Australia by ensuring that the development and operation of wind farm projects is consistent with best practice standards.
CWFA provides participating organisations with access to a suite of environmental and stakeholder management resources that will be continually improved throughout the life of the scheme. These resources are based on ISO 14001, the internationally recognised framework for environmental management, but are specific to wind energy developments.
Participants will be audited, allowing an independent assessment of their wind farm planning processes or operations against best practice, as defined by the CWFA specification and Auswind Best Practice Guidelines.
CWFA has been developed with a steering committee comprised of Auswind board members and industry stakeholders representing the legal, planning, construction and operations aspects of wind farms. Wide consultation has been undertaken with planning authorities, communities, developers and operators of wind farms, and key contractors.
The road to the CWFA scheme began in October 2005 when a presentation was held at the Auswind Wind Energy Conference in Sydney, October 2005 to raise initial awareness and seek feedback on the concept of the scheme. The scheme was officially launched on 11 July 2007.
The benefits of the CWFA are considerable, and applicable to each key stakeholder group involved in wind farm developments, including developers, community, regulatory authorities and wind industry representatives.
Key advantages include:
- Assurance for developers that all legal requirements are being met.
- Increased certainty for communities over the quality of development proposals and projects.
- Improved understanding of the environmental impacts of wind farms.
- Independent verification of performance against best practice at any stage of a wind project.
- Increased confidence in wind developers and operators development proposals and site operations.
For the wind industry as a whole it provides a benchmark for measuring performance, recognises best-practice in wind projects, and encourages knowledge sharing.
