Australian Daily Electrical Power Generation Data – Saturday 19th May 2018

Posted on Sun 05/20/2018 by

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By Anton Lang ~

This Post details the daily power consumption data for the AEMO coverage area in Australia. For the background information, refer to the Introductory Post at this link.

Each image is shown here at a smaller size to fit on the page alongside the data for that day. If you click on each image, it will open on a new page and at a larger size so you can better see the detail.

Note also the scale change for some of the images. That scale (the total power shown on the left hand axis) has been changed to show the graph at a larger size.

Saturday 19th May 2018

Total Power Generation All Sources

Here, the black line is the total power generation from every source. This is also the same as for total power consumption, which is slightly lower after minor grid losses are taken into account.

The Blue line is all fossil fuelled power generation. The orange line is hydro power generation. The purple line is wind power generation, and the red line is for solar power generation.

Both of those (exact) figures for total power consumption for the daily minimum and the daily Peak are taken directly from the AEMO site, adding up the totals for each of the five States in this coverage area.

Note the slight difference between Total Consumed Power and Total Generated Power. That indicates some of the losses in the grid system.

Daily Minimum Power Consumption – 18210MW

Daily Peak Power Consumption – 24940MW

Daily Minimum Generated Power – 18500MW

Daily Maximum Generated Power – 25500MW

Average Total Power Generation – 21500MW

Total Power Generation In GWH – 516GWH

All Fossil Fuels Total – Coal Fired and Natural Gas Fired Power Generation

Here, the upper black line is the total from all fossil fuels, and this is the same as the blue line in the image directly above.

The black line just under that top black line is the Sub Total just for coal fired power. Note here how closely that coal fired line follows the shape of the upper Load Curve, and this indicates that coal fired power can be ramped up and down to follow actual power consumption.

Daily Minimum Coal Fired – 15800MW

Daily Peak Coal Fired – 8000MW

Average Coal Fired Generation – 17100MW

Total Generated Power – 410.4GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 79.5%

Natural Gas Fired Power Generation

This image for Natural Gas Fired Power Generation shows the gap between the total for all Fossil Fuelled Sources of power generation and Coal Fired Power Generation in the image directly above.

Note here how closely the shape follows the total power generation Load Curve in the top image, indicating how these natural gas fired plants are used to smooth out the load curve to match actual power consumption.

Note also that while coal fired power provides the bulk of the power, these natural gas fired plants are used to add more power to the system during those time periods during the day when consumption rises for the morning peak, and the main evening Peak

Daily Minimum – 1300MW

Daily Peak – 3200MW

Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1850MW

Total Generated Power – 44.4GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 8.6%

All Renewable Power Generation Versus Total Power Generation

This Image shows just the gap between total power generation from every source and the total power from renewable sources only. It is the same image as the first image at the top here, only with the fossil fuelled total (the blue line) removed from the graph, As in that top image, it shows Hydro Power, (orange line) wind power, (purple line) and solar power. (red line) What I have then done is added the black line just above those coloured lines and this indicates the Sub Total of power from those three renewable sources only. This is to highlight the gap between the total power generation and the total from renewable sources alone.

All Renewable Power Generation (Does not include rooftop solar generation)

This image is the same as for the one directly above for all renewable power, only with the total from all sources removed from the graph. As the scale of the left hand vertical axis has now changed, you can better see the detail of all renewable power. Again, the orange line is for hydro, the purple line is for wind, and the red line is for solar, and the black line is the Sub total for all renewable power. The other colour just showing indicates smaller plants, mostly using biofuels as their fuel source, tiny plants adding up to a very small total and for a short time duration.

Daily Minimum – 1500MW

Daily Peak – 4500MW

Average Renewable Generation – 2550MW

Total Generated Power – 61.2GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 11.9%

Hydro Power Generation

This image shows all Hydro power generation. It is the same as the orange line in the top image for power generation from all sources.

Again, note here that the shape of this load curve follows the shape of the main load curve for all power generation, in that it has similar peaks in the morning and for the man evening Peak. The coloured lines at the bottom of this graph indicate the power generation from each of the hydro plants in this coverage area.

Daily Minimum – 1200MW

Daily Peak – 3200MW

Average Hydro Generation – 1720MW

Total Generated Power – 41.28GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 8%

Wind Power Generation

This image shows the total power generated by every wind plant in this vast coverage area. It is the same as for the purple coloured line in the image at the top showing generation from all sources.

The total Nameplate for all these wind plants is just under 5000MW.

Note that the shape of this load curve does not follow the shape of the main load curve for total power generation. Wind power generates its power only when the wind is blowing, hence it does not follow actual power consumption levels.

Daily Minimum – 200MW

Daily Peak – 1750MW

Average Wind Generation – 750MW

Total Generated Power – 18GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 3.49%

Solar Power Plant Generation

This image shows the total power generated from all the solar power plants in this coverage area. This is the same as for the red coloured line you can just see in that top image.

The total Nameplate for all these 16 solar plants is just lower than 1000MW.

Daily Minimum – Zero

Daily Peak – 380MW

Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 180MW (7AM till 5.30PM)

Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 80MW

Total Generated Power – 1.92GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day– 0.37%

Rooftop Solar Power Generation

As this source of power generation is classed as ‘behind the meter’, it is not included in the total power generation. Note here that the State of Queensland (QLD on the legend under the graph) is broken down into four separate areas as this is the largest State with the largest number of installations.

While the total Nameplate changes often, the latest information is that the total is now 7800MW, and that is a large total. However, that total equates to 1.8 Million homes with panels on their roof. That equates to an average sized installation of 4.3KW. Most of the power is consumed by the homes with the panels, and what is fed back to the grid, while seemingly still high is spread across that huge number of installations across the whole of this coverage area.

Daily Minimum – Zero

Daily Peak – 3400MW

Average For Hours of Generation – 2100MW (7AM till 5.30PM)

Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 880MW

Total Generated Power – 21.12GWH4

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 4.1%

Notes

The total percentages for coal fired power, natural gas fired power and all renewables adds up to 100%.

The total percentages for Hydro, Wind, and Solar adds up to the total percentage for all Renewables.

For both solar power averages, I have used the average for a Sine Wave which is 0.637 of the Peak value.

For total power in GWH, multiply the average daily power by 24.

Comments For This Day

I have actually been waiting for this first Saturday to show you something here.

Electrical power consumption is always lowest on the weekends, and this Saturday is no different from any other Saturday, and tomorrow will be the same. That can be seen by comparing the total power consumption at the evening peak, and also the average across the day, and keep in mind here that power consumption is just that tiny amount lower than actual power generation because of the losses in any grid system, especially across one as vast as Australia’s grid system is.

Peak Power Generation on Friday was 26600MW and on Saturday it was 25500MW, so Saturday was 1100MW lower.

Average Power Generation for Friday was 22800MW and on Saturday, it was 21500MW, so Saturday was 1300MW lower.

However, look at the figures for Coal Fired Power, and here I have included the image at right for Fossil Fuels from yesterday, that working day Friday, and compare it with the image above second from the top. Here, again, you can click on the image to open it in a new window at a larger size.

The average coal fired power generation for Friday was 16700MW and for Saturday the average was 17100MW, so it was 400MW higher when overall power generation was lower.

That lowering of power generation was in the next two largest generating sources Natural Gas, where the average for Saturday was 700MW lower, and the average for Hydro was 800MW lower.

So, even on days when there is an overall lowering of consumption, hence power generation, coal fired power just delivers what it always does, hardly changing at all. This emphasises, and quite obviously I might add, that when it comes to power generation, coal fired power is the cheapest, because where they make the savings is by generating less from other sources. Keep in mind here also that there were still 7 of the 48 Units in total off line, so they were getting slightly more power than the day before from the same number of Units, also emphasising that coal fired power can ramp up and down to meet the requirement for electrical power.

Also of note for Saturday (as with any other Saturday or Sunday) is the slightly larger effect Rooftop Solar Power has on the generation of power from the other sources when rooftop solar is at its Peak at around Midday. On this Saturday, it was generating almost 3400MW at its Peak. Now, being a Saturday, nearly all of that is being consumed by the homes themselves, as more people are actually at home than are at work. Here you can again compare the top images from today and yesterday. At the time of maximum power generation from rooftop solar power, Midday, total power generation was 2000MW lower on the Saturday than it was on the Friday working day. So, less is being fed back to the grid, and more is consumed (behind the meter, so not showing up on the AEMO data) by the homes themselves than in the wider areas of power consumption.

And all the while, no matter what is happening with other sources, any of them, coal fired power just goes on delivering what it always does, huge amounts of power to cater for the needs across ALL areas of power consumption.

Sometimes, quoting just the numbers from the actual data can be a good thing, but when you actually see it in the graphs of the actual Load Curves themselves, then it shows it in a so much better a manner.

Anton Lang uses the screen name of TonyfromOz, and he writes at this site, PA Pundits International on topics related to electrical power generation, from all sources, concentrating mainly on Renewable Power, and how the two most favoured methods of renewable power generation, Wind Power and all versions of Solar Power, fail comprehensively to deliver levels of power required to replace traditional power generation. His Bio is at this link.

OzPowerGenerationTFO

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Posted in: Australia, Climate Change, Coal Fired Power, Electrical Power Generation, Hydro Electric Power, Natural Gas Fired Power, Politics, Public Opinion, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Wind Power