Cumulative Impact of Wind Farm Noise

Abstract

Although wind farms have an undeniable beneficial impact on the environment, certain negative environmental implications do appear as a consequence of their operation. One of them is the production of noise. The wind farm noise values decrease with distance, so that at a certain point they are within the legally prescribed limits. This is the case for individual wind farms noise impact assessments. However, with two or more wind farms in the same area, there is a superposition of noise and a consequential change in the noise value. The focus of the paper is on the results of modeling noise propagation in space in the case of the cumulative impact of two neighboring wind farms. The results are modeled during the process of strategically assessing the environment so as to determine territorial impacts and make informed decisions about future development. The paper presents the strategic answer to the model of the spatial propagation of noise in cases of cumulative impact with a view to including the preventive protection principle in the planning of several adjacent wind farms.