Two of the most common questions that wind farm developers face during community consultation are 'what will the wind farm look like' and 'what noise will it make?' A lot of work has been undertaken recently to develop 'visualisations' or 'photomontages' to answer the first question. However, there has not been an equivalent tool available to enable local communities to understand what a wind farm actually sounds like. Arup and Hydro Tasmania have jointly developed a tool that will accurately and effectively communicate what a wind farm sounds like under different wind conditions and from a range of distances and orientations. This auralisation tool provides a practical and affordable means for the industry to effectively communicate what a wind farm will sound like to the community. This paper looks at how auralisation techniques used in other sectors (such as transport and aviation) have been adapted for the renewable wind energy sector and serve as a valuable tool for increasing transparency, minimising risk and building trust within local communities early in the wind farm development process. It shows how a comprehensive field measurement program at Studland Bay Wind Farm, Tasmania has enabled a wind turbine sound library to be developed for future use in wind farm acoustic models and how calibrated auralisations can be presented at community settings.
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