Australian Daily Electrical Power Generation Data – Tuesday 17th July 2018

Posted on Wed 07/18/2018 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.

Tuesday 17th July 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 – 19000MW

Daily Peak Power Consumption – 28490MW

Daily Minimum Generated Power – 20000MW

Daily Maximum Generated Power – 29200MW

Average Total Power Generation – 24400MW

Total Power Generation In GWH – 585.6GWH

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 – 14700MW

Daily Peak Coal Fired – 18800MW

Average Coal Fired Generation – 17300MW

Total Generated Power – 415.2GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 70.9%

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 – 550MW

Daily Peak – 3450MW

Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1400MW

Total Generated Power – 33.6GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 5.74%

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 – 5000MW

Daily Peak – 7600MW

Average Renewable Generation – 5700MW

Total Generated Power – 136.8GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 23.36%

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 – 1450MW

Daily Peak – 4350MW

Average Hydro Generation – 2310MW

Total Generated Power – 55.44GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 9.47%

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 5225MW.

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 – 2500MW

Daily Peak – 3500MW

Average Wind Generation – 3270MW

Total Generated Power – 78.48GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 13.4%

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 – 510MW

Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 300MW (7.30AM till 5.30PM)

Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 120MW

Total Generated Power – 2.88GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day– 0.49%

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 – 4200MW

Average For Hours of Generation – 2650MW (7.30AM till 5.30PM)

Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 1100MW

Total Generated Power – 26.4GWH

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

Notes

  1. Finding Averages – On each graph there are 9 time points. Add the total at each time point together, and divide by 9. For coal fired power, I do this on a State by State basis (for the 3 States with coal fired power) and then add the total for each State together.
  2. For both solar power averages, I have used the average for a (half) Sine Wave which is 0.637 of the Peak value.
  3. For total power in GWH, multiply the average daily power by 24, and then divide by 1000.
  4. The total percentages for coal fired power, natural gas fired power and all renewables adds up to 100%.
  5. The total percentages for Hydro, Wind, and Solar adds up to the total percentage for all Renewables.
  6. Total Generated Power is expressed here as GWH (GigaWattHours) and a GWH is a MWH (MegaWattHour) multiplied by 1000

Comments For This Day

Overall, nearly all the figures for power consumption and generation dropped on this day.

The minimum power consumption at that 4AM Base Load time rose slightly by 190MW, and at the evening peak, power consumption was 1420MW lower.

The average power generation from all sources was 700MW lower at an average of 24400MW per hour across the day, with the peak at 28490MW.

The average for coal fired power, at an average of 17300MW per hour was 400MW lower on average across the day, with five Units still off line.

The average for natural gas fired power was lower by 380MW, as was the average for hydro power, also 380MW lower.

The average for wind power was up on the day, odd eh, when on a day when overall power generation falls, wind power is up. It showed a rise of 470MW to an average of 3270MW an hour, and was relatively stable across the day. This average had wind power with an operational Capacity Factor for the day of a very high 62.6%, more than double the year round average. However, even with wind power so high, the percentage of power delivered at the peak power consumption period was still only 11.5% of all the power required, and that was also the same total for wind and all solar power, as at that time, the Sun had set. Note again, that when wind power is up, it is natural gas fired power and hydro power which is lower.

Even with coal fired power down, it was still delivering 70% of the power required for the Country during the day. Coal fired power is important, and even with wind power so high, coal fired power still delivered more than three times the total for wind power.

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