DOCSLIB.ORG

Wind Farm Noise and Human Perception a Review

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wind Farm Noise and Human Perception a Review Wind Farm Noise and Human Perception A Review CONTROL PAGE NOISE MEASUREMENT SERVICES PTY LTD 18 Lade Street Enoggera Qld 4051 Telephone: (7) 3355 9707 PO Box 2127 Facsimile: (7) 3355 7210 Brookside Centre, QLD 4053 E-mail: [email protected] ABN 70 084 648 023 Revision No Issue Date Revision Description Checked By Issued By 1 4 April 2013 Review update Review Team BT Approved for Release Bob Thorne Editor DISCLAIMER This Review presents only the information that the Editor believes, in his professional opinion, is relevant and necessary to describe the issues involved. While the Review is prepared with care, the chapters contain general information and do not profess to offer legal, professional or commercial advice. The Editor and Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd accepts no liability for any decisions or actions taken on the basis of this document. Persons should satisfy themselves independently and by consulting their own professional advisors before embarking on any proposed course of action. This Review is peer-reviewed. Critique from persons having researched conclusions different from the author will be considered when such critique is supported by evidence researched by the person presenting the critique and supported by a statement of qualifications and experience. Copyright 2013 © All rights reserved . Copyright of the Review and the physical devices or software described belong to Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd. The intellectual property rights of the document in total remains with Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd. 2 Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd Wind Farm Noise Review April 2013 PREAMBLE There is significant body of peer-reviewed research readily available in the public forum to substantiate the potential for serious to moderate adverse health effects to individuals due to wind farm activity noise while living in their residences and while working on their farms near large-scale wind farms or large turbines. Adverse health effects can arise from extreme psychological stress from environmental noise, particularly low frequency noise with symptoms of sleep disturbance, headache, tinnitus, ear pressure, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, tachycardia, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, and panic attack episodes associated with such sensations when awake or asleep. The hypothesis from this Review is that serious harm to health occurs when a susceptible individual is so beset by the noise in question that he or she suffers recurring sleep disturbance, anxiety and stress. Research for the Review suggests that 5% to 10% of the individuals living in the vicinity of a large wind farm will experience serious harm to their health. The observed markers for serious health effects are (a) wind farm noise level of LAeq 32 dB or more outside the residence and (b) wind farm noise is heard or is perceptible (felt) at levels above the individual’s threshold of hearing inside the home Meteorological conditions, wind turbine spacing and associated wake and turbulence effects, vortex effects, wind shear, turbine synchronicity, tower height, blade length, and power settings all contribute to sound levels heard or perceived at residences. Wind farms are unique sound sources and exhibit special audible characteristics that can be described as modulating sound or as a tonal complex. Current noise prediction models are simplistic, have a high degree of uncertainty, and do not make allowance for these significant variables. Compliance monitoring must therefore include continuous real-time measurement of characteristics such as modulating sound in order to determine the perceptible effects of audible sound and inaudible infrasound. The Review contains references to the NMS research, measurements, and observations at different wind farms in New Zealand and Australia. All NMS research including the study methodologies are peer- reviewed. Such work is commercial-in-confdence to NMS and of a confidential nature to the participants. No datasets, apart from those presented in this Review, are disclosed or publicly available. Keywords: wind farms, health effects, human perception, noise prediction, noise management 3 Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd Wind Farm Noise Review April 2013 CONTENTS PART I - INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 6 Inappropriate Land-use Planning ......................................................................................................... 6 The Problems with Wind Farm Noise and Its Perception .................................................................... 6 Ineffective Compliance Approvals ........................................................................................................ 7 PART II - A CASE STUDY ...................................................................................................................... 8 A Rural Wind Farm ............................................................................................................................... 8 Prediction of Wind Farm Sound Levels ................................................................................................ 9 Predictions and assessments – An example with a Waubra residence .............................................. 9 Background sound levels ................................................................................................................... 11 The Effects of Weather ........................................................................................................................ 13 Audible sound character ..................................................................................................................... 13 Sound character at residence and near locale ................................................................................... 15 Conclusions from Waubra Case Study .............................................................................................. 25 PART III - WIND FARMS AND HEALTH EFFECTS .............................................................................. 26 PART IV - WIND TURBINE SOUND ...................................................................................................... 37 Basic Measures ................................................................................................................................... 37 Wind Farm Noise ................................................................................................................................. 38 Low frequency sound and Infrasound ................................................................................................ 44 Heightened Noise Zones ..................................................................................................................... 47 PART V - PREDICTION OF SOUND LEVELS – APPROACHES AND LIMITATIONS........................... 53 Consideration of Variable Wind Conditions ....................................................................................... 55 Consideration of ‘Stand-Off distances between Turbines and Residents’. ...................................... 58 Wind Farm Noise` Standards .............................................................................................................. 62 PART VI - RESPONSES OF RESIDENTS NEAR WIND FARMS .......................................................... 64 Community and Individual Noise Exposure ....................................................................................... 64 4 Noise Measurement Services Pty Ltd Wind Farm Noise Review April 2013 The Effects on People near the Waubra Wind Farm, Victoria............................................................ 65 The Effects on People near the “West Wind’ wind farm, New Zealand ........................................... 105 The Effects on People near the ‘Te Rere Hau’ Wind Farm, New Zealand........................................ 112 Real-world noise compliance problem at a wind farm ..................................................................... 116 The Effects on People near the proposed Turitea Wind Farm, New Zealand ................................. 117 PART VII - INDIVIDUALS’ PERCEPTION OF WIND FARM SOUNDS ................................................ 119 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 119 The Manawatu – Brisbane Pilot Study .............................................................................................. 119 A Study of Noise Sensitivity vs. Specific Sounds ............................................................................ 122 Noise Annoyance .............................................................................................................................. 123 Makara and Waubra studies into adverse health effects ................................................................. 125 Community perception and acceptance of wind farms ................................................................... 126 PART VIII - ANNOYANCE, AUDIBILITY, LOW AND INFRASOUND PERCEPTION ........................... 127 Amenity and costs imposed by rural wind farms ............................................................................ 129 Sound Perception .............................................................................................................................. 130 Annoyance
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Renewable Energy Grid Integration in New Zealand, Tokyo, Japan
    APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Renewable Energy Grid Integration in New Zealand Workshop on Grid Interconnection Issues for Renewable Energy 12 October, 2010 Tokyo, Japan RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Coverage Electricity Generation in New Zealand, The Electricity Market, Grid Connection Issues, Technical Solutions, Market Solutions, Problems Encountered Key Points. RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Electricity in New Zealand 7 Major Generators, 1 Transmission Grid owner – the System Operator, 29 Distributors, 610 km HVDC link between North and South Islands, Installed Capacity 8,911 MW, System Generation Peak about 7,000 MW, Electricity Generated 42,000 GWh, Electricity Consumed, 2009, 38,875 GWh, Losses, 2009, 346 GWh, 8.9% Annual Demand growth of 2.4% since 1974 RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Installed Electricity Capacity, 2009 (MW) Renew able Hydro 5,378 60.4% Generation Geothermal 627 7.0% Wind 496 5.6% Wood 18 0.2% Biogas 9 0.1% Total 6,528 73.3% Non-Renew able Gas 1,228 13.8% Generation Coal 1,000 11.2% Diesel 155 1.7% Total 2,383 26.7% Total Generation 8,91 1 100.0% RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Electricity Generation, 2009 (GWh) Renew able Hydro 23,962 57.0% Generation Geothermal 4,542 10.8% Wind 1,456 3.5% Wood 323 0.8% Biogas 195 0.5% Total 30,478 72.6% Non-Renew able Gas 8,385 20.0% Generation Coal 3,079 7.3% Oil 8 0.0% Waste Heat 58 0.1% Total 11,530 27.4% Total Generation 42,008 1 00.0% RDL APEC EGNRET Grid Integration Workshop, 2010 Electricity from Renewable Energy New Zealand has a high usage of Renewable Energy • Penetration 67% , • Market Share 64% Renewable Energy Penetration Profile is Changing, • Hydroelectricity 57% (decreasing but seasonal), • Geothermal 11% (increasing), • 3.5% Wind Power (increasing).
    [Show full text]
  • Landscape & Visual Impact Part 5
    Perception and Public Consultation SECTION 14 14.1 Perception People’s perception of wind farms is an important issue to consider as the attitude or opinion of individuals adds significant weight to the level of potential visual impact. The opinions and perception of individuals from the local community and broader area were sought and provided through a range of consultation activities. These included: • Community Open House Events; • Community Engagement Research (Telephone Survey); and • Individual stakeholder meetings. The attitudes or opinions of individuals toward wind farms can be shaped or formed through a multitude of complex social and cultural values. Whilst some people would accept and support wind farms in response to global or local environmental issues, others would find the concept of wind farms completely unacceptable. Some would support the environmental ideals of wind farm development as part of a broader renewable energy strategy but do not consider them appropriate for their regional or local area. It is unlikely that wind farm projects would ever conform or be acceptable to all points of view; however, research within Australia as well as overseas consistently suggests that the majority of people who have been canvassed do support the development of wind farms. Wind farms are generally easy to recognise in the landscape and to take advantage of available wind resources are more often located in elevated and exposed locations. The geometrical form of a wind turbine is a relatively simple one and can be visible for some distance beyond a wind farm, and the level of visibility can be accentuated by the repetitive or repeating pattern of multiple wind turbines within a local area.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Meeting Summary
    Turitea wind farm Community Liaison Group 10 February 2021 MARGARET KOUVELIS welcomed everyone to the meeting, noting it was being held at a new time (5pm) and the intention to hold meeting to one hour. She noted that everyone should have signed in using the Golf Club’s QR poster downstairs, and handed over to Dennis Radich. Present from Mercury: Dennis Radich (Project Director), John Campbell (Project Manager), Duncan Annandale (Property Manager), Mark Henry (Environmental Resources Manager), Katy Scoullar (Communications Manager). From Vestas: Kenn Wood (Project Manager) HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THESE MEETINGS? We’ve been looking at what these meetings are for, and whether we achieve that • Length of meetings • What we use the time to talk about • Room hire and catering 2 MEETING FORMAT RE-SET DENNIS said that it is now a logical time to review this meeting format as in May it will be 2 years since our first meeting, and major construction work on the transmission line is largely complete. We wanted to know how we could improve the way we hold these meetings to make them more useful and valuable. Attendance from people in the community has dwindled. Take away the project and contrator teams and there’s actually a very small number who attend. We used our email mailing list to seek feedback on the meeting format, along with the other ways we share information with the community. Our conclusions are that these meetings are too long, we hire a room too big for what we need and because the meetings are so long we need sustenance.
    [Show full text]
  • Hydroelectricity Or Wild Rivers? Climate Change Versus Natural Heritage
    1 Hydroelectricity or wild rivers? Climate change versus natural heritage May 2012 2 Acknowledgements The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment would like to express her gratitude to those who assisted with the research and preparation of this report, with special thanks to her staff who worked so tirelessly to bring it to completion. Photography Cover: Mike Walen - Aratiatia Rapids This document may be copied provided that the source is acknowledged. This report and other publications by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment are available at: www.pce.parliament.nz 3 Contents Contents 2 1 Introduction 7 3 1.1 The purpose of this report 8 1.2 Structure of report 9 1.3 What this report does not cover 9 2 Harnessing the power of water – hydroelectricity in New Zealand 11 2.1 Early hydroelectricity 13 2.2 The big dam era 15 2.3 Hydroelectricity in the twenty-first century 21 3 Wild and scenic rivers - a short history 23 3.1 Rivers were first protected in national parks 24 3.2 Legislation to protect wild and scenic rivers 25 3.3 Developing a national inventory 26 3.4 Water bodies of national importance 28 4 How wild and scenic rivers are protected 29 4.1 Protecting rivers using water conservation orders 29 4.2 Protecting rivers through conservation land 37 5 The electricity or the river – how the choice is made 43 5.1 Obtaining resource consents 44 5.2 Getting agreement to build on conservation land 47 6 Environment versus environment 49 6.1 What are the environmental benefits? 49 6.2 Comparing the two – a different approach
    [Show full text]
  • Case Study: Feasibility Analysis of Renewable Energy Supply Systems in a Small Grid Connected Resort
    UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2009 Case study: Feasibility analysis of renewable energy supply systems in a small grid connected resort Jody Robins University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Hospitality Administration and Management Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Sustainability Commons, and the Technology and Innovation Commons Repository Citation Robins, Jody, "Case study: Feasibility analysis of renewable energy supply systems in a small grid connected resort" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 633. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1754532 This Professional Paper is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Professional Paper in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Professional Paper has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Case Study Feasibility Analysis of Renewable Energy Supply Systems in a Small Grid Connected Resort By Jody Robins Master of Science in Hotel Administration University of Nevada Las Vegas 2009 Master of Science in Hotel Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2009 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents ...................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Puketoi Wind Farm
    1 PUKETOI WIND FARM RESOURCE CONSENT APPLICATIONS AND ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS 2 August 2011 2 VOLUME 1 PART A: RESOURCE CONSENT APPLICATIONS 3 APPLICATION FOR RESOURCE CONSENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 88 OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991 FORM 9 To: Manawatu-Wanganui (Horizons) Regional Council Regional House 11-15 Victoria Street Private Bag 11 025 Manawatu Mail Centre PALMERSTON NORTH MIGHTY RIVER POWER LIMITED (‘Mighty River Power’) hereby applies for the following resource consents pursuant to the Resource Management Act 1991 (‘RMA’): Resource Consents Sought 1. Mighty River Power proposes to construct, operate and maintain a Wind Farm containing up to 53 wind turbines and an associated transmission line (‘the Proposal’) as more fully discussed and described within the Assessment of Environmental Effects (‘AEE’), which follows as Part B of this document. 2. Mighty River Power applies for all necessary resource consents to construct, operate and maintain the Proposal as detailed in the AEE, including but not limited to: Land and Water Regional Plan a. Land Use Consents – for earthworks and vegetation removal associated with the construction of the Proposal, including access roads, turbine and transmission tower foundations and for ancillary buildings; b. Discharge Permits – for the discharge of stormwater to land, including stormwater from the substation, switchyard, concrete batching plants, workshop, staff ablutions building and fuel storage areas. Manawatu Catchment Water Quality Plan c. Discharge Permit – for discharge of stormwater from the substation, switchyards, concrete batching plants, workshop, staff ablutions building and fuel storage areas; Regional Plan for the Beds of Rivers and Lakes and Associated Activities d.
    [Show full text]
  • Decision No. 2013 Nzenvc 59 of Resource Consent. Applications
    BEFORE THE ENVIRONMENT COURT Decision No. 2013 NZEnvC 59 of resource consent. applications IN THE MATTER directly referred to the Court under Section 8.7C(1) of the Resource Management Act 1991 MERIDIAN ENERGY LIMITED BY (ENV -2011-CHC-000090) Applicant Hearing dates: 27, 28 August, 2012; 3-7, 10- 14, 24-28 September, 2012; 1-5, 15-17, 23 October, 2012. Site visits: 29 August, 19 September (Te Uku), 14 & 24 October, 2012 Court: Judge M Harland Commissioner MP Oliver Deputy Commissioner B Gollop Date: 15 Apri12013 INTERIM DECISION A. The applications for resource consent are granted subject to amended conditions. B. We record for the ·avoidance of doubt, that this decision is final in respect of the confirmation of the grant of the resource consents (on amended conditions) but is interim in respect of the precise wording of the conditions, and in particular the details relating to the Community Fund condition(s). C. We direct the Hurunui District Council and the Canterbury Regional Council to submit to the Court amended conditions of consent giving effect to this decision by 17 May 2013. In preparing the amended conditions the Councils are to consult with the other parties, particularly in relation to the condition(s) relating to the Community Fund. D. If any party wishes to make submissions in relation to the Community Fund conditions, these are to be filed by 17 May 2013. E. Costs are reserved. Hurunui District Council Respondent Canterbury Regional Council Respondent Appearances: Mr A Beatson, Ms N Garvan and Ms E Taffs for Meridian
    [Show full text]
  • Vattenfall Offshore Wind Portfolio
    Chapter 9: Renewables 1. BWK: Erneuerbare Energien – Stand 2013 (Auszug) (2014) 2. Scientific American: A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030 (2009) 3. Vattenfall: Wind Energy in Europe (2011) 4. NREL: 2010 Cost of Wind Energy Review – Synopsis (2012) 5. Alstom Wind Turbines for Onshore and Offshore Operation (2014) 6. Analysis of the Conversion of Ocean Wind Power into Hydrogen (2013) 7. Design and Experimental Characterization of a Pumping Kite Power System 8. MPC for airborne wind energy generation (2013) 9. Laddermill sail – a new concept in sailing (2007) 10. BWK: Effizienter Strom aus der Sonne (2011) 11. Concentrated Solar Power Solutions by Alstom 12. Design and implementation of an innovative 190ºC solar ORC pilot plant at the PSA (2011) 13. Tidal Power Solutions by Alstom 14. Performance Analysis of OTEC Plants With Multilevel Organic Rankine Cycle and Solar Hybridization (2013) 15. Wege zur nachhaltigen Energieversorgung – Herausforderungen an Speicher und thermische Kraftwerke (2012) 16. BWK: Energiespeicher (2015) 17. Wasserstoff – Das Speichermedium für erneuerbare Energien (2012) 18. Neuer Entwicklungsansatz bei Druckluftspeichern (2013) 19. Druckluftspeicherkraftwerk mit Dampfkreislauf (2016) 20. Wirtschaftliche Bewertung von Stromspeichertechnologien (2012) ENERGY A PATH TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY BY 2030 Wind, water and n December leaders from around the world for at least a decade, analyzing various pieces of will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree on the challenge. Most recently, a 2009 Stanford solar technologies Icutting back greenhouse gas emissions for University study ranked energy systems accord- can provide decades to come. The most effective step to im- ing to their impacts on global warming, pollu- 100 percent of the plement that goal would be a massive shift away tion, water supply, land use, wildlife and other from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy concerns.
    [Show full text]
  • Next Generation of Wind Turbines & Future of New Zealand's Wind Energy
    Next generation of wind turbines & the future of New Zealand wind energy Peter Cowling Head of Vestas Australia and New Zealand New large-scale generation since 2014 3 Table of contents Wind turbine technology update 4-15 Future of New Zealand’ wind energy 16-20 2 Next generation of wind turbines and future of NZ wind energy Classification: Public Turitea: new large scale generation since 2014 Vestas to strengthen Mercury’s renewable portfolio by delivering its first wind asset, Turitea Wind Farm. The Wind Farm is the country’s first large-scale generation capacity addition since 2014, after 15 years in the development pipeline. Customer: Mercury Location: Turitea, near Palmerston North Wind turbine: 33 X V112-3.6 MW Hub height: 69 meters Total installed capacity: 119MW Service contract: 25-year AOM 5000 3 Next generation of wind turbines and future of NZ wind energy Classification: Public Wind turbine technology update Versatile solutions for any wind energy project Ongoing innovation from the undisputed global wind leader 2 MW Platform 4 MW Platform EnVentus™ Platform PRODUCT- V90-2.0 V100- V110- V116 V120 V105- V112- V117- V117- V126- V136- V136- V150- V150- V162- 4.2 MW™ CAPACITY MW® 2.0 MW® 2.0 MW® 2.1 MW™ 2.2 MW™ 3.45 MW™ 3.45 MW ® ** 3.45 MW ® 4.2 MW™ 3.45 MW ® 3.45 MW ® 4.2 MW™ 5.6 MW™ 5.6 MW™ YEAR OF PROTOTYPE 2004 2009 2014 2017 2018 2014 2013 2013 2018 2013 2016 2018 2018 2019 2020 Installed* Installed** 43 GW 23 GW * As of 31 December 2018, including V80-1.8/2.0 MW™ and V90-1.8 MW™ ** As of 31 December 2018, Including V112-3.0
    [Show full text]
  • Bird Collisions at Wind Turbines in a Mountainous Area Related to Bird Movement Intensities Measured by Radar
    Biological Conservation 220 (2018) 228–236 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon Bird collisions at wind turbines in a mountainous area related to bird T movement intensities measured by radar ⁎ Janine Aschwanden , Herbert Stark, Dieter Peter, Thomas Steuri, Baptiste Schmid, Felix Liechti Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, 6204 Sempach, Switzerland ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Bird collisions at wind turbines are perceived to be an important conservation issue. To determine mitigation Carcass search actions such as temporary shutdown of wind turbines when bird movement intensities are high, knowledge of Bird radar the relationship between the number of birds crossing an area and the number of collisions is essential. Our aim fi Echo classi cation was to combine radar data on bird movement intensities with collision data from a systematic carcass search. Nocturnal migration We used a dedicated bird radar, located near a wind farm in a mountainous area, to continuously record bird Avoidance movement intensities from February to mid-November 2015. In addition, we searched the ground below three Mitigation wind turbines (Enercon E-82) for carcasses on 85 dates and considered three established correction factors to extrapolate the number of collisions. The extrapolated number of collisions was 20.7 birds/wind turbine (CI-95%: 14.3–29.6) for 8.5 months. Nocturnally migrating passerines, especially kinglets (Regulus sp.), represented 55% of the fatalities. 2.1% of the birds theoretically exposed to a collision (measured by radar at the height of the wind turbines) were effectively colliding. Collisions mainly occurred during migration and affected primarily nocturnal migrants.
    [Show full text]
  • TEI Times May 2019
    THE ENERGY INDUSTRY May 2019 • Volume 12 • No 3 • Published monthly • ISSN 1757-7365 www.teitimes.com TIMES Sleepless nights? Getting closer Final Word Energy storage and digitalisation are Europe’s Clean Energy Package We live in a rebellious two areas that are keeping energy should bring markets closer together climate, says Junior Isles. executives awake at night. but some of its provisions need further Page 16 Page 13 clarification. Page 14 News In Brief Wind to become “truly global market” in five years National Plans The Global Wind Energy Council forecasts that 300 GW of new wind capacity will be added globally by 2024. Page 2 will not deliver Opportunity Zones offer tax breaks A tax break offered to investors in so-called ‘Opportunity Zones’ may provide extra capital for renewable energy developers in the USA renewables as other support mechanisms are phased out. Page 4 Coal still part of balanced energy mix target The Philippines still sees coal as an important part of its future energy mix, as developers continue to outline plans for future coal fired WindEurope’s Giles Dickson says none of the power plants. plans properly spell out policy measures Page 6 Ofgem addresses supplier The EU has concluded negotiations on its Clean Energy Package but recent research shows that rules A series of company collapses in the National Plans might not deliver the previously agreed 32 per cent renewables target. Junior Isles UK’s energy retail sector has forced Europe’s draft National Energy and this. But none of the Plans properly simplifying rules on planning and per- Another issue the Plans need to ad- the regulator to revise the rules for Climate Plans are insufficient to de- spell out the policy measures by which mitting, such as common sense re- dress is how to get more renewables new entrants.
    [Show full text]
  • Energy Freedom for a Changing World
    ENERGY FREEDOM FOR A CHANGING WORLD. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT // MERCURY NZ LIMITED MENU. ABOUT THIS MENU 1. ENERGY FREEDOM TODAY. 2. OUR WORLD OF ENERGY FREEDOM. REPORT. 04 WHO WE ARE 14 THE WORLD AROUND US 05 OUR DIRECTION 18 ENGAGING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS Mercury is committed to providing transparent disclosures in 06 OUR BUSINESS MODEL 20 THE RISKS WE FACE easily understood, comparable and engaging ways so that we meet the expectations of our many stakeholders. 09 CHAIR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE 21 PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER UPDATE 22 CREATING VALUE IN FY20 This report follows the Integrated Reporting <IR> framework. We describe Our Business Model, including inputs, outputs and the outcomes of our strategic approach across five pillars, taking a long-term view of value creation. We also include a specific Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards index and our climate change section follows the Task Force on Climate- ABOUT THIS REPORT 3. LIVING ENERGY FREEDOM. related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). OUR PILLAR STORIES We have grouped our reporting into five sections to help you find areas of particular interest, but note that they are all part of who we are, what we do and why. Across all this, we seek to report openly and honestly on our performance in a way that shows the integrated approach CUSTOMER PARTNERSHIPS KAITIAKITANGA PEOPLE COMMERCIAL we take. If you have any comments about this report, including things 24 27 30 36 39 we could do better, please email [email protected] STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS PREPARING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE The directors are pleased to present Mercury NZ Limited’s 33 integrated Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2020.
    [Show full text]