With a new version of IEC 61400-11 published this year, it may be thought that wind turbine noise emission is well understood. However, wind farm developers still receive complaints from residents about 'amplitude modulation' (AM) noise, a subject not covered by the IEC standard. Amplitude modulation will therefore be one of the main topics in this session. This session will also explore different sound propagation models and the impact of environmental conditions on propagation. Another topic for this session is how to optimise wind turbines and wind farms for sites with noise restrictions.

Learning objectives

• Understand why it is important to consider noise for resource assessment
• Understand how a wind farm as a whole can be optimised to maximise performance with noise constraints
• Understand what amplitude modulation is and why it is a concern for residents near wind farms
• Understand the role that propagation modelling plays in the prediction of far field noise