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| Public private partnerships (PPPs) |
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PB role: developed wind industry best practice specification; established panel of certifying bodies; consulted with regulatory and industry stakeholders; presented at national conferences (2005–2007); acted as media spokesperson; developed suite of ISO 14001-based guidelines and tools for best practice in the planning, construction, and operation of wind farms; currently chairing the development of competency requirements for wind energy social/environmental auditors
Clean Energy Council and PB, with extensive input from regulatory and industry stakeholders, have developed an innovative approach to facilitating the social and environmental sustainability of wind power projects in Australia. Launched in July 2007, Certified Wind Farms Australia (CWFA) is a world first — an auditable social and environmental sustainability framework for the wind energy industry. CWFA provides a basis for continual assessment and improvement of best practices within the industry, and a mechanism for assessment of wind farm projects against these benchmarks, from prefeasibility through to decommissioning and rehabilitation.
Wind farm projects that meet CWFA requirements (as verified by independent audit) are certified as ‘best practice’; they are then subject to ongoing requirements to maintain their certification. Organisations can be certified to either the planning, or operational phases, or both.
The principles of CWFA are in line with world-recognised sustainability and due diligence guidelines for wind farms, and incorporate ISO 14001 requirements, applicable lending criteria for electricity generation (e.g. ‘Equator Principles’) and industry best practice.
Designed to facilitate the sensitive and appropriate further development of wind energy in Australia, this voluntary scheme could potentially be applied much more widely, including in other emerging renewable energy industries.
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