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.
Thursday 6th December 2018
Total Power Generation All Sources
Here, the black line across the top of the graph shows the total power generation from every source. This is also similar to the total power consumption, which is slightly lower after minor grid losses are taken into account.
The dark grey colour is for the black coal fired power generation. The yellowish colour is for the brown coal fired power generation. The purple colour is for natural gas fired power generation. The blue colour is for Hydro (water) power generation. The green colour is for wind power generation. The red colour in the dip between the two peaks is for solar power plant generation. Rooftop solar power is not included on this graph, as this shows just the power generation from all power plants only.
In the data below, 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. Also, 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 – 17800MW
Daily Peak Power Consumption – 27300MW
Daily Minimum Generated Power – 18100MW
Daily Maximum Generated Power – 27700MW
Average Total Power Generation – 23500MW
Total Power Generation In GWH – 564GWH
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 – 14440MW
Daily Peak Coal Fired – 18320MW
Average Coal Fired Generation – 16960MW
Total Generated Power – 407.04GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 72.17%
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 – 870MW
Daily Peak – 4330MW
Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1900MW
Total Generated Power – 45.6GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 8.09%
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 grey, yellow and purple colours) removed from the graph, As in that top image, it shows Hydro Power, (blue colour) wind power, (green colour) and solar power. (red colour) This image is used here 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 blue colour is for hydro, the green colour is for wind, and the red colour is for solar. The other colours you can just make out 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. For this data, I have added the times for the daily minimum, and the daily maximum, to show how they do not correlate with the actual times of minimum power consumption (4AM) and maximum power consumption. (around 6/6.30PM)
Daily Minimum – 2600MW
Daily Peak – 5700MW
Average Renewable Generation – 4080MW
Total Generated Power – 97.92GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 17.36%
Generation From Other Sources
This image shows the power being generated from the seven smaller sources other than the major sources of power generation. These include Natural Gas/Diesel, Natural gas/Fuel Oil, Coal Seam Methane, Diesel, Kerosene, Waste Coal Mine Gas and Bagasse. All of these are fossil Fuels, excepting Bagasse which is sugar cane waste mostly used to provide main and auxilliary power at sugar mills.
Note the scale change here, as these are smaller producers of power, and the scale is changed so they can be more easily shown on the graph.
For the data here, I have just added the average generation across the day, the total generated power from all these sources, and the percentage of the total.
Average Generation – 560MW
Total Generated Power – 13.44GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 2.38%
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 – 670MW
Daily Peak – 3780MW
Average Hydro Generation – 1910MW
Total Generated Power – 45.84GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 8.13%
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 5452MW.
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.
For this data, I have added the times for the daily minimum, and the daily maximum, to show how they do not correlate with the actual times of minimum power consumption (4AM) and maximum power consumption. (around 6/6.30PM)
Daily Minimum – 1050MW (5.20PM)
Daily Peak – 2475MW (6.45AM)
Average Wind Generation – 1710MW
Total Generated Power – 41.04GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 7.27%
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 29 solar plants is 2021MW.
Daily Minimum – Zero
Daily Peak – 1310MW
Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 790MW (5.30AM till 7.30PM)
Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 460MW
Total Generated Power – 11.04GWH
Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 1.96%
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 – 4260MW
Average For Hours of Generation – 2320MW (5.00AM till 7.30PM)
Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 1400MW
Total Generated Power – 33.6GWH
Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 5.96%
Notes
- Finding Averages – On each (non solar) graph, there are 25 hourly time points, starting with midnight and finishing with midnight. I have added the total at each time point together, and divided by 25.
- For both solar power averages, I have used the same addition of hourly time points and then divided by the same number of those time points of actual generation. Every so often, as the days get longer (or shorter after Summer) I change the hours of generation as those hours change.
- For total power in GWH, multiply the average daily power by 24, and then divide by 1000.
- The total percentages for coal fired power, natural gas fired power, all renewables, and those other smaller sources add up to 100%.
- The total percentages for Hydro, Wind, and Solar adds up to the total percentage for all Renewables.
- Total Generated Power is expressed here as GWH (GigaWattHours) and a GWH is a MWH (MegaWattHour) multiplied by 1000
Comments For This Day
After so many days and weeks with the benign and mild weather of the Spring Months, the real heat of Summer started on this day with a substantial rise in power consumption, and from that, overall power consumption rose considerably to cover that rise in consumption.
There is something worth pointing out here in respect of that rise in power consumption. The Peak power consumption on this day was higher in just two of the States, those two Southern States, Victoria and South Australia. The power consumption in those other three States, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland was basically similar to what it was the day before this. There was a heat wave which came across those two Southern States here, and that is what caused the spike in power consumption.
From that it’s also worth explaining what then happened with power generation, and highlight what happened in those two States where the Summer kicked in in such a big way. That overall rise in the average power generation saw it rise by a large 1600MW an hour when averaged across the day, an overall 7.3% rise, but at the Peak power consumption time around 6PM to 7PM, it was considerably higher than for the previous day, in fact 2800MW higher at 27700MW. The rise at peak time in Victoria saw it higher by 2080MW, (Plus 36% at that Peak over yesterday) and in South Australia, higher by 590MW, (Plus 32% at that peak over yesterday) and there’s 2670MW of that 2800MW overall rise. You can also note from the graphs that the rise started earlier in the day than it usually does.
To cover that rise in just those two States, because of the way generated power is transmitted across distance, then those rise in those two States had to be covered locally, within the two States in question, and luckily these two States are joined by two Interconnectors. South Australia has no coal fired power and Victoria only has 10 Units at two coal fired plants, Loy Yang A and B and the Yallourn W plants. Of those Units in Victoria, two of them are already off line, and the remaining eight of them have been generating power at their maximum for the last number of weeks. So, there was going to be no extra power coming from coal fired power, and even though the average for coal fired power did rise, it was not to cover the rises in both of those Southern States, as the power would be exhausted before it actually got as far South as the Victorian border.
In South Australia, they would have had more power coming from those Interconnectors with Victoria, and they would also have used more power from their range of natural gas fired power. Victoria also fired up more of its natural gas fired plants, and both States would have had their range of smaller diesel units in operation as well, so the lights stayed on in both States, because political backlash with power cuts would have been something both States political leadership desperately wanted to avoid, so those smaller units would have been running during this peak power time.
Also of note here is that Hydro power also contributed for Victoria as well, and here, it is also worth noting that South Australia has no hydro plants at all. So, with reference to natural gas fired power, you can see the large rise from those plants shown in the graph for natural gas, as it started to rise earlier, and also reached a much higher peak. With reference to the rise in Hydro, you can also see that from the graph for hydro. Note the green line in among, and showing well above those other coloured lines of those other hydro Units in operation at that time, those coloured lines at the bottom of the graph below the black line showing the total. That green line is for the huge Murray One hydro plant on the Murray River, part of the vast Snowy Hydro Scheme. That hydro plant started to raise its power generation just after Midday, and was delivering close to its maximum power for the next eight to nine hours, delivering around 1350MW for that time, and on earlier days, it has been delivering nowhere near that at all. In times of need, and there is no coal fired power, or in this case of Victoria, no extra coal fired power to call on, it sure comes in handy to have something of this capability to fall back on.
It’s worth noting here that wind power has its largest concentration in both of these States, and at the same time as this huge peak kicked in in both States that wind power was at its lowest point of the day, and was only delivering 3.2% of the power required States.
On the overall power generation for the day for the whole Country, that overall was higher by that figure of 1600MW per hour and that’s a rise of 7.3% to an average of 23500MW per hour across the whole day.
The average for coal fired power was higher by 590MW to 16960MW per hour and a range from low to high that was over 4000MW.
The average for natural gas fired power was higher by 380MW to 1990MW. The average from those smaller Other sources, due mainly to those two States usage of them was also up on the day by a substantial 200MW per hour, a big rise, considering it is such a small contributor overall. The average for hydro power, due, nearly all of it to Murray One was higher by 150MW per hour across the whole Country. The power delivered from those Solar plants was lower on the day by 50MW.
The average for wind power was actually higher across the day, up by 330MW to an hourly average of 1710MW, giving it a daily operational Capacity Factor of 32.3%, just a little above that year round average, but again it’s worth noting that when it was required most, something other sources actually can handle, wind power was at its lowest for the day, and across the whole of the Country, wind power only contributed 3.8% to the power needed at that evening peak.
Even on a day when overall power generation rose substantially, it is still worth noting that coal fired power still delivered more than 72% of the total power requirements across the whole day.
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.
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Posted on Fri 12/07/2018 by TonyfromOz
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