Australian Daily Electrical Power Generation Data – Monday 23rd July 2018

Posted on Tue 07/24/2018 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.

Monday 23rd 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 – 18500MW

Daily Peak Power Consumption – 29410MW

Daily Minimum Generated Power – 19300MW

Daily Maximum Generated Power – 30300MW

Average Total Power Generation – 24700MW

Total Power Generation In GWH – 592.8GWH

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 – 14300MW

Daily Peak Coal Fired – 18200MW

Average Coal Fired Generation – 16800MW

Total Generated Power – 403.2GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 68.02%

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 – 750MW

Daily Peak – 3750MW

Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1710MW

Total Generated Power – 41.04GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 6.92%

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 – 4500MW

Daily Peak – 8500MW

Average Renewable Generation – 6190MW

Total Generated Power – 148.56GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 25.06%

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 – 1500MW

Daily Peak – 5300MW

Average Hydro Generation – 3010MW

Total Generated Power – 72.24GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 12.19%

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 – 2550MW

Daily Peak – 3250MW

Average Wind Generation – 3080MW

Total Generated Power – 73.92GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 12.47%

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 – 450MW

Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 250MW (7.30AM till 5.30PM)(Cloudy and overcast conditions at most sites after Midday)

Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 100MW

Total Generated Power – 2.4GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day– 0.40%

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 – 2150MW (7.30AM till 5.30PM)

Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 890MW

Total Generated Power – 21.36GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 3.60%

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

This was the first day of the working week, and there was a significant rise in power consumption across the day.

The minimum power consumption, that 4AM Base Load was the same as it was yesterday, but at the evening peak, the consumption was 1860MW higher at 29410MW, a rise of 6.8% over what it was yesterday.

The average for total power generation from every source showed an even greater increase, to 24700MW per hour, a rise of 1900MW on the average, and that was 8.3% higher than yesterday, and because there was that increase, power generation from all sources was higher across the board, well, except for the power generated by Solar plants, which was 30MW lower, still only generating 0.4% of the power required across the whole day.

The average for coal fired power was 300MW higher, and there are still seven of those coal fired Units off line.

The average for natural gas fired power was 360MW higher, and note that graph for natural gas. The power supplied at the evening peak was similar to that for yesterday, but note that morning peak, a definite rise compared to yesterday, where it was almost flat lining until that evening peak started to kick in. That rise in the morning saw an extra 3000MW + being generated by those gas fired plants.

The average for hydro power was also higher on the day, by 460MW, and it was higher at both peaks and in the dip between them as well.

The average for wind power was 810MW higher across the day as the wind increased across that area where there are the most number of wind plants. That average for wind power of 3080MW was at a daily operational Capacity Factor of almost 59%.

*****

I want to show you all something here, with this image at right, and I want you to compare it with the graph at the top here for today, and again, if you click on both images they will open on a new page at a larger size so you can better see the detail. These both show the Total power generation from every source, and that’s the upper line, the black one. This one at the right is the Total power graph from yesterday, Sunday, a non working day. Look at the shape of the graph between the two peaks the one in the morning and then the larger evening Peak.

Note that the morning peak is 23500MW for the Sunday, while that morning peak for the working day is 27500MW, a rise of 4000MW and the peak is around an hour earlier for the Monday, and lasts for an hour or more longer. Work places, and schools as well, ramp up early, increasing the power consumption considerably. Note that the evening peak is at around the same time, 6PM, and for yesterday, it was 28500MW, while today it was 30500MW, a rise of 2000MW, nowhere near as much as that rise in the morning, but still a significant increase.

Now, look at the dip between those two peaks. For the Sunday that low point of the dip is at 20000MW, while the low point on that dip for the working day Monday is a bit over 24000MW. That’s a rise of 4000MW and that comes in at a rise of 12%, so almost an eighth of the power is extra power required to ‘top up’ work places and schools.

So from 8AM until that evening Peak, power generation is consistently 4000MW higher than it is on weekend day. This shows the (extra) power required for work places and schools and keep in mind here that I mentioned that this is extra power, because those work places and schools to a slightly lesser degree (in the Commerce and Industrial sectors of power consumption) make up a significant portion of that 18000MW Base Load as well, so this extra during working days is on top of that. See how that added extra power required during those 12 hours is an average 4000MW per hour higher, so then, across the full 24 hours, that increases the overall 24 hour average by close to 2000MW, and the rise in that average for today was 1900MW, so all of that rise can be attributed to being a working day and school day as consumption in those areas increases significantly.

Keep in mind here that during those same hours, 8AM till 6PM, when this considerable ramping up of power consumption occurs, that is the same time that rooftop power comes into play. However, keep in mind here that rooftop power generation is (approximately) the same on both days, the Sunday weekend day, and the Monday working day, so it has no effect at all on that rise during those hours.

You only get to see something like this when you look at the daily power generation levels on that daily basis. You can look at the overall power data for the year, published around 6 Months after the year has finished, so with data almost 18 Months out of date, and just showing an overall ‘batch’ of numbers for overall total power generation from all the sources, and all the sectors of power consumption.

You only see it when you look at the daily data, and of greater importance here, those graphs for each day ….. and then compare them on that day to day basis, and in that manner, I can explain the situation with the aid of those graphs, so that you can see what I’m writing about here. It’s an easy thing to say that work places and schools use extra power during the week, but to actually show it offers proof of the words.

Note also from that second graph which compares coal fired power (the lower black line) to all fossil fuelled sources (the upper black line) that in that period of the dip, coal fired power stays high during those hours, and is closer to the line above it than it is on weekends, when it can ramp back a little during those hours.

This is just another reason why coal fired power is so important, and cannot just be made to disappear by saying that we can do without it.

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