NFF welcomes Wind Farm Commissioner reappointment

The National Farmers’ Federation welcomes Andrew Dyer as the new National Wind Farm Commissioner after an announcement was made by the Minister for Energy, the Hon. Angus Taylor.
NFF President Fiona Simson said the introduction of an independent Wind Farm Commissioner plays a key role in facilitating a range of community concerns surrounding the integration of wind farms into, particularly, the
agricultural landscape.
“The NFF had met with the Climate Change Authority as they conducted a review of the Wind Farm Commissioner and had supported both the extension of the role, the incumbent Commissioner, and the broadening of the role to include large scale solar and storage, including batteries,” Ms Simson said said.
The NFF recognises that there is a move to incorporate renewable energy options into agricultural landscapes.
“Wind and solar are the two most adopted technologies at this time.
“Farmers should be allowed to make investment decisions on their own farms but these technologies need to be adopted in a sensible and sustainable manner, while also seeking community support.
“The transition to greater reliance on renewable generation capacity continues, there will be an increased need to ensure that this capacity is able to be dispatched on demand,” Ms Simson said.
To satisfy the demand the generated energy will need to be able to be stored. While there are a number of options for this, batteries are expected to feature and they can be located close to the generation unlike other technologies such as pumped hydro. For this reason it is important that the scope of the Commissioner includes those technologies.
“Whatever the technology, it will be new, may be poorly understood and possibly viewed warily by regional communities. The role of the Commissioner is to facilitate community engagement and build understanding on these matters.
“The adoption and utilisation of renewable energy technologies is one example of how farmers are adapting to climate change,” Ms Simson said.