Certified Wind Farms Australia (CWFA) has been developed over the last 2 years with Auswind (now the Clean Energy Council) and key industry stakeholders in response to the need for sound environmental and social management in the wind energy industry. The scheme represents a global world 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 ISO14001, 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 Clean Energy Council Best Practice Guidelines.

Clean Energy Council wins national planning award

On April 14 the Clean Energy Council was presented with the Planning Institute of Australia’s National Award for Environmental Planning or Conservation. This award was given for the National Assessment Framework for Landscape Values and Wind Farms developed by Auswind in partnership with the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT).

The Clean Energy Council also accepted the Minister’s Award judged by the awards panel, on behalf of the Planning Minister of Australia. We were heralded as the overall winner of the National Awards for Planning Excellence. The panel recognised the assessment framework as being applicable across Australia with climate change emerging as a national priority.