Wind power has been found the cheapest electricity to produce in both Germany and the UK, without government subsidies.

It was announced on Friday that former chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and a former director of a US solar concern, Andrew Dyer, will take the role for three years.

The Commonwealth has also established a scientific panel to provide advice on the science and monitoring of potential impacts of wind turbine sound on health and the environment.

Numerous international studies, including one by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council, have found no clear evidence of a link between wind farms and medical conditions.

The Australian Medical Association last year also released a statement saying the available evidence did not support so-called wind turbine syndrome.

However, the US Geological Survey said in July that wind farms placed in prime wildlife habitat in North and South Dakota were threatening several bird species whose populations were in serious decline.

Meanwhile in the UK, consulting clinical radiologist and geohydrologist Rachel Connor released a report earlier this year with British Geological Survey senior geohydrologists Steven Carroll and Brighid O’Dochartaigh which showed wind farms have contaminated water supplies in Scotland.

The Australian government agreed to put in place a commissioner and panel as part of a deal crossbench senators during negotiations surrounding the renewable energy target to secure inclusion of native forest timber under the RET.

Dyer will now refer complains about wind farms to state authorities and will ensure that they are addressed, but he will have no power to impact the construction or operation of any wind farm.

He will also identify priorities for monitoring wind farms and report to parliament once a year.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the scientific committee on wind farms that has also been established would build on the work of the NHMRC, along with advising on the monitoring of wind farms and potential impacts on health and the environment.

The committee will be chaired by acoustic researcher Professor John Davy with the support of Arup acoustic engineer Dr Kym Burgemeister, the head of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Sydney Associate Professor Simon Carlile and Perth-based sleep physician Professor David Hillman.

The committees will advise on sound measurement and standards for wind farms. It will also periodically review science on potential health impacts of wind farms over the next three years.

The appointment comes as Bloomberg New Energy Finance says wind energy is now the cheapest source of electricity generation in an advanced economy.

BNEF said that for the first time, widespread adoption of renewables is effectively lowering the capacity factor for fossil fuels.

Gas and coal plants have high and predictable capacity factors, however every watt generated needs more gas or coal pushed through the plant, while renewable generation has effectively zero generation costs post-installation.

As more renewables are installed, coal and natural gas plants are used less and the cost to use them increases, and as the cost of fossil fuel generation rises renewables look more attractive.

"Renewables are really becoming cost-competitive, and they're competing more directly with fossil fuels," BNEF analyst Luke Mills said.

"We're seeing the utilisation rate of fossil fuels wear away."

BNEF said the costs of fossil fuel generation rose considerably in the second half of 2015, while the cost of renewable developments continues to fall.

Increasing and more effective battery storage technology means renewables can now be counted on for baseload power.

Including subsidies wind power became the cheapest electricity in the US for the first time last year.

Coal is also losing ground in the US, with the Energy Information Administration finding that in July gas overlook coal as the preferred fuel for only the second time, albeit by the skinniest of margins, with gas fuelling 35% of total generation to coal's 34.9% share.

Compared to the previous July, coal-fired generation fell in every region of the country, while natural gas-fired generation rose in every region.

The spot price of electricity also moved to less than zero in Texas last month, with wind turbines spinning during the night, leaving power producers paying the state’s electricity system to take electricity off their hands.

At one point, the negative price was $US8.52 per megawatt hour.

Texas is an energy island, and is not connected to other US energy grids, so cannot not sell its spare capacity to other states.