Wind power in South Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wind power in South Australia is a significant energy source for the state and South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

is well suited to wind farm

Wind farm

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...

s due to its proximity to the Roaring forties

Roaring Forties

The Roaring Forties is the name given to strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40 and 49 degrees. Air displaced from the Equator towards the South Pole, which travels close to the surface between the latitudes of 30 and 60 degrees south, combines...

.

South Australia has half of the nation's installed wind power capacity. As of December 2010, South Australia has thirteen operational wind farms, with an installed capacity of 1,018 megawatts (MW). A further 184 MW of projects are under construction.

Wind farms do not emit greenhouse gases in the generation of electricity, and so wind power is considered a highly desirable form of renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

which assists in the reduction of the State’s reliance on coal and gas fired electricity generation

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...

Technical considerations

Wind turbine

A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...

s convert the energy of wind movement (kinetic energy

Kinetic energy

The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...

) into mechanical energy

Mechanical energy

In physics, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy present in the components of a mechanical system. It is the energy associated with the motion and position of an object. The law of conservation of energy states that in an isolated system that is only subject to...

. This mechanical energy is then converted into electricity.

There are three principles governing the amount of energy available from the wind: (1) the power available to the turbine is proportional to the wind speed cubed; (2) the power available is directly proportional to the swept area of the blades and (3) Betz' law

Betz' law

Betz's law is a theory about the maximum possible energy to be derived from a "hydraulic wind engine", or a wind turbine such as the Éolienne Bollée , the Eclipse Windmill , and the Aermotor...

determines the maximum theoretical efficiency of wind generators is 59%.

The load factor (or capacity factor

Capacity factor

The net capacity factor or load factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its potential output if it had operated at full nameplate capacity the entire time...

) for South Australian wind farms is usually in the range 32-38%. This means that a wind farm could typically produce between 32 and 38% of its nameplate capacity averaged over a year.

Wind farm overview

In 2003 the only large wind turbine in South Australia was a 0.15 MW unit at Coober Pedy and by early 2004 there was 34 MW of installed wind power capacity.

As of December 2010, South Australia has thirteen operational wind farms, with an installed capacity of 1,018 MW. South Australia has half of the nation's installed wind capacity, despite only making up 8% of Australia's population. A further 184 MW of projects are under construction. It is estimated that wind power provided 14% of South Australia's energy demand in 2008/09.

**Operational wind farms in South Australia: December 2010**
Installed capacity (MW)	Wind farm	Developer	Generating since...
159	Lake Bonney Stage 2 Lake Bonney Wind Farm Lake Bonney Wind Farm, in South Australia, was built in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of 46 turbines each having a rated capacity of 1.75 MW and was finished in March 2005. Construction of Stage 2 began in November 2006 and was finished around April 2008. Stage 2 consisted of 53 turbines of 3 MW...	Infigen Energy	September 2008
111	Waterloo Wind Farm Waterloo Wind Farm The Waterloo Wind Farm is located in South Australia. The 111 megawatt wind farm project was completed in 2010 at an estimated cost of $300 million.-See also:Wind power in South AustraliaList of wind farms in South Australia...	Roaring 40s Roaring 40s Roaring 40s is an electricity generator formed in partnership between Hydro Tasmania and China Light & Power . Since the beginning in 2005, Roaring 40s’ has 13 sites in operation or in planning in Australia, India, Hong Kong and mainland China. Cathedral Rocks, Woolnorth, Waterloo Wind Farm and...	2010
99	Snowtown 1 Wind Farm Snowtown wind farm The Snowtown wind farm is a located on the Barunga and Hummocks ranges west of Snowtown in the Mid North of South Australia, around north of the state capital, Adelaide. It is owned by TrustPower.-History:...	TrustPower TrustPower TrustPower Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation and electricity retailing company, listed on the New Zealand stock exchange.TrustPower is New Zealand's fifth largest electricity generator and the fourth largest electricity retailer , serving 260,000 customers throughout New Zealand...	2008
95	Hallett 1 Wind Farm	AGL Energy AGL Energy AGL Energy is the largest Australian gas and electricity retailer, with over six million customers. It has large investments in the supply of gas and electricity, and has recently invested in sustainable energy businesses such as wind farms and a hydroelectric power station in Victoria’s High...	March 2007
91	Wattle Point Wind Farm Wattle Point Wind Farm Wattle Point Wind Farm is a wind farm near Edithburgh on the coast of South Australia, which has been operating since April 2005. When it was officially opened in June of that year it was Australia's largest wind farm at 91 megawatts. The installation consists of 55 wind turbines covering and was...	AGL Hydro	June 2005
80	Lake Bonney Stage 1 Lake Bonney Wind Farm Lake Bonney Wind Farm, in South Australia, was built in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of 46 turbines each having a rated capacity of 1.75 MW and was finished in March 2005. Construction of Stage 2 began in November 2006 and was finished around April 2008. Stage 2 consisted of 53 turbines of 3 MW...	Infigen Energy	March 2005
71	Hallett 2 Wind Farm	AGL Energy
70	Mount Millar Wind Farm	Transfield Services Transfield Services Transfield Services Limited is an Australian publicly listed corporation providing operations and maintenance, asset management, project and capital management outsourcing and infrastructure development services to the resources and industrial, infrastructure services and property and facilities...	February 2006
66	Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm	Roaring 40s	Late 2005
56	Clements Gap Wind Farm Clements Gap Wind Farm Clements Gap Wind Farm is presently under construction and is located in the Barunga Range, South Australia near Clements Gap, some 20 minutes south of Port Pirie. The wind farm will consist of up to 45 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 57 MW. It will provide enough electricity for...	Pacific Hydro
46	Canunda Wind Farm	International Power	March 2005
39	Lake Bonney Stage 3 Lake Bonney Wind Farm Lake Bonney Wind Farm, in South Australia, was built in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of 46 turbines each having a rated capacity of 1.75 MW and was finished in March 2005. Construction of Stage 2 began in November 2006 and was finished around April 2008. Stage 2 consisted of 53 turbines of 3 MW...	Infigen	2010
34	Starfish Hill Wind Farm	Transfield Services	July 2003

**Wind farms under construction and committed**
Proposed capacity (MW)	Wind farm	Status	Developer	Expected completion
205	Snowtown 2 Wind Farm Snowtown wind farm The Snowtown wind farm is a located on the Barunga and Hummocks ranges west of Snowtown in the Mid North of South Australia, around north of the state capital, Adelaide. It is owned by TrustPower.-History:...	Committed	Trust Power	2011
132	Hallett 4 Wind Farm	Under construction	AGL Energy	2011
52	Hallett 3 Wind Farm	Under construction	AGL Energy	2011

South Australia has provided regulatory certainty for wind farms, and the government has implemented land use planning policies which represent national best practice for accommodating wind farms. On 2 June 2009, Premier Mike Rann

Mike Rann

Michael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...

announced plans to increase South Australia's renewable energy

Renewable energy

production target to 33% by 2020, well above the national target of 20% by 2020.

Lake Bonney Wind Farm (278.5 MW)

Lake Bonney Wind Farm

Lake Bonney Wind Farm, in South Australia, was built in two stages. Stage 1 consisted of 46 turbines each having a rated capacity of 1.75 MW and was finished in March 2005. Construction of Stage 2 began in November 2006 and was finished around April 2008. Stage 2 consisted of 53 turbines of 3 MW...

was built in three stages. Stage 1 consisted of 46 turbines each having a rated capacity of 1.75 MW (total 80.5 MW) and was finished in March 2005. Construction of Stage 2 began in November 2006 and was finished around April 2008. Stage 2 consisted of 53 turbines of 3 MW (total 159 MW). Stage 3 consists of 13 turbines of 3 MW (total 39 MW). The combined capacity of the three stages are 278.5 MW making it the biggest wind farm in Australia at the time of completion.

Hallett Wind Farm (166 MW)

Hallett 1 wind farm, consists of 45 Suzlon

Suzlon Energy

Suzlon Energy is a global wind power company based in India. In terms of market share, the company is the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer in Asia...

S88 turbines each of a rated 2.1 megawatt (MW) for a total of around 95 MW. It is in the Mid-North of South Australia adjacent to an existing 180 MW gas fired peaking power plant. The wind farm construction was carried out by Suzlon Energy Australia Pty. Ltd. Hallett 2 is also complete.

Waterloo Wind Farm (111 MW)

The Waterloo Wind Farm

Waterloo Wind Farm

The Waterloo Wind Farm is located in South Australia. The 111 megawatt wind farm project was completed in 2010 at an estimated cost of $300 million.-See also:*Wind power in South Australia*List of wind farms in South Australia...

is a 111 MW wind farm which was completed in 2010 at an estimated cost of $300 million. Thirty-seven Vestas

Vestas

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...

V90 3 MW turbines stretch over the 18 km wind farm site and are connected through a 33 kilovolt (kV) internal reticulation network to the wind farm substation. The wind farm is approximately 30 kilometres south-east of the township of Clare and 100 km north of Adelaide.

Snowtown Wind Farm (99 MW)

The first stage of the Snowtown wind farm

Snowtown wind farm

The Snowtown wind farm is a located on the Barunga and Hummocks ranges west of Snowtown in the Mid North of South Australia, around north of the state capital, Adelaide. It is owned by TrustPower.-History:...

, was substantially completed by October 2008. First power went to the grid in December 2007. The official opening took place on 2 November^nd, 2008. It is located on the Barunga Range of hills west of Snowtown in the Mid-North of South Australia and around 150 km north of the state capital, Adelaide.

Wattle Point Wind Farm (91 MW)

Wattle Point Wind Farm

Wattle Point Wind Farm is a wind farm near Edithburgh on the coast of South Australia, which has been operating since April 2005. When it was officially opened in June of that year it was Australia's largest wind farm at 91 megawatts. The installation consists of 55 wind turbines covering and was...

is near Edithburgh

Edithburgh, South Australia

Edithburgh is a small town on the south-east corner of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Edithburgh is about west of Adelaide across Gulf St Vincent, but away by road...

on the coast of South Australia. When it was officially opened in June 2005 it was Australia's largest wind farm at 91 MW. The installation consists of 55 wind turbine

Wind turbine

s and was built at a cost of 165 million Australian dollars. In April 2007, Alinta

Alinta

Alinta is an Australian energy infrastructure company. It has grown from a small, Western Australia based gas distributor and retailer to the largest energy infrastructure company in Australia. It was bought in 2007 by a consortium including Singapore Power and various now defunct Babcock & Brown...

sold Wattle Point Wind Farm to a wholly owned subsidiary of the ANZ, Energy Infrastructure Trust, for 225 million Australian dollars.

The District Council of Yorke Peninsula approved a second wind farm near Wattle Point, but the development has not proceeded due to insufficient capacity in the main power transmission line.

Mount Millar Wind Farm (70 MW)

Mount Millar Wind Farm (previously called Yabmana) is situated on an escarpment between the towns of Cowell and Cleve located 100 kilometres southwest of Whyalla

Whyalla, South Australia

-Demographics:According to the 2006 Census the population of the Whyalla census area was 21,122 people, making it the second largest urban area in the state outside of Adelaide...

. The 35 wind turbines are positioned on the elongated Mount Millar site (about 7 kilometres in length) to maximise wind exposure. The wind farm can generate up to 70 megawatts of electricity and will provide enough energy to meet the needs of about 36,000 typical households.

The Mount Millar Wind Farm is different to other SA wind farms in that the turbines do not have gear boxes and this is why the nacelle of these turbines has a larger diameter than most.
The wind farm connects to ElectraNet

Electranet

Electranet is a proposed smart electric grid which would allow people to sell electricity into the grid without any artificial caps. It was proposed in an op-ed article Al Gore wrote in a "My Turn" column for Newsweek in 2006....

’s existing transmission network at Yadnarie Substation, via a new 33 km 132kV overhead transmission line and substation.

Construction of this wind farm started in late 2004 and was completed in December 2005. Power production started in February 2006.
The $130 million project was developed by Tarong Energy

Tarong Energy

Tarong Energy is an electricity generation company in Australia. It was fully owned by the Queensland Government, and had a portfolio of generating sites using thermal coal and hydroelectric power in Queensland. Following a review by the Treasurer of Queensland of the state’s electricity sector in...

Corporation Ltd.

Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm (66 MW)

Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm is in a remote coastal area located near the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...

in South Australia, about 30 km south west of Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln, South Australia

- Transport :Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway.There is also a subsidiary port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic. The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. Port...

. The site covers an area of about 29 km², with a coastal exposure of nearly 11 km and is private farming land. Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm has 33 wind turbines, with a combined generating capacity of 66 MW of electricity. The wind farm was commissioned in September 2005.

Before the wind farm was built, extensive environmental and cultural studies were conducted. Surveys undertaken included the assessment of potential impacts to Aboriginal and European cultural heritage, flora, visual amenity, noise levels, birds and other animals. Construction of the wind farm was undertaken with consideration for the environment.

Clements Gap Wind Farm (56 MW)

In February 2010, Pacific Hydro

Pacific Hydro

Pacific Hydro is an Australian company that specialises in electricity generation using renewable energy. Its focus is on hydroelectricity and windpower. It was a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange until July 2005. It was subject to a successful takeover offer by a subsidiary of...

opened the 56.7 MW Clements Gap Wind Farm

Clements Gap Wind Farm

Clements Gap Wind Farm is presently under construction and is located in the Barunga Range, South Australia near Clements Gap, some 20 minutes south of Port Pirie. The wind farm will consist of up to 45 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 57 MW. It will provide enough electricity for...

. The opening ceremony was overseen by South Australian Premier Mike Rann

Mike Rann

.

The wind farm is located in South Australia’s mid-north. The project has 27 x 2.1 MW Suzlon wind turbines, which generate enough electricity for 30,000 homes.

Canunda Wind Farm (46 MW)

Canunda Wind Farm is a $92.5 million, 46 MW wind power

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

project located on grazing land approximately 16 kilometres south of Millicent. The wind farm is made up of 23 Vestas 2.0 MW wind turbines, together with an underground electrical cable network, access tracks, crane hardstandings, wind monitoring masts and a 33kV double-circuit distribution line. Each turbine consists of a 67 metre high tower and 40 metre long blades, and so are 107 metres in height to the tip of the blade. These wind turbines rotate at speeds between 9 rpm and 19 rpm, depending on the wind speed. The Canunda Wind Farm was opened by the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann

Mike Rann

, on 31 March 2005.

The Canunda Wind Farm provides a number of benefits to the local and wider community, including clean electricity generation, enhanced agricultural viability of the farms involved and increased diversity of electricity supply for South Australia and the south east in particular. There has also been widespread community interest in the project and site tours have commenced.

Starfish Hill Wind Farm (34.5 MW)

Starfish Hill Wind Farm is near Cape Jervis

Cape Jervis, South Australia

Cape Jervis is a town at the southwestern tip of Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, approximately 108 km south of Adelaide. The population is approximately 300 people and growing rapidly, with a new estate situated behind the main town...

on the Fleurieu Peninsula

Fleurieu Peninsula

The Fleurieu Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It was named after the French explorer and hydrographer Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as he mapped the south coast of Australia in 1802.Towns of interest in the...

. It comprises 23 turbines of 1.5 MW each, with 8 turbines on Starfish Hill and 15 on the nearby Salt Creek Hill, with a combined generating capacity of 34.5 MW of electricity. Starfish Hill Wind Farm was commissioned in September 2003.

Starfish Hill Wind Farm provides enough energy to meet the needs of about 18,000 households, representing 2% of South Australia’s residential customers, and adds about 1% to the available generation capacity in South Australia. The Project was developed by Starfish Hill Wind Farm Pty Ltd, recently sold by Tarong Energy

Tarong Energy

2011 Renewable Energy Plan

Following several court cases about wind farm developments, the South Australian government announced in October 2011, a renewable energy plan which will keep wind farm developments away from populated areas, and provide more certainty for industry. On presenting the plan, Premier Mike Rann said “with South Australia having more than half of Australia's wind farm investment, the state had a national responsibility to take the lead on policies that protected the interests of both the industry and local communities”. Under the plan, no wind turbines will be allowed within one kilometre of any home, unless both the home owner and the developer agree to a shorter distance. Local councils “will also become the key authority for assessing planning applications for new wind farms”.

External links

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