Australian Daily Electrical Power Generation Data – Monday 10th December 2018

Posted on Tue 12/11/2018 by

3


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 10th 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 – 17600MW

Daily Peak Power Consumption – 24900MW

Daily Minimum Generated Power – 17800MW

Daily Maximum Generated Power – 25500MW

Average Total Power Generation – 22500MW

Total Power Generation In GWH – 540GWH

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 – 14080MW

Daily Peak Coal Fired – 17720MW

Average Coal Fired Generation – 16650MW

Total Generated Power – 399.6GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 74%

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 – 960MW

Daily Peak – 3130MW

Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1710MW

Total Generated Power – 41.04GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 7.60%

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 – 2300MW

Daily Peak – 4800MW

Average Renewable Generation – 3680MW

Total Generated Power – 88.32GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 16.36%

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 – 460MW

Total Generated Power – 11.04GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 2.04%

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 – 1250MW

Daily Peak – 2670MW

Average Hydro Generation – 1780MW

Total Generated Power – 42.72GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 7.91%

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 – 760MW (12.20AM)

Daily Peak – 2340MW (8.40PM)

Average Wind Generation – 1560MW

Total Generated Power – 37.44GWH

Average Percentage Of Total – 6.94%

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 – 1020MW

Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 580MW (5.30AM till 7.30PM)

Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 340MW

Total Generated Power – 8.16GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 1.51%

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 – 4020MW

Average For Hours of Generation – 2130MW (5.00AM till 7.30PM)

Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 1280MW

Total Generated Power – 30.72GWH

Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 5.69%

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  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, all renewables, and those other smaller sources add 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

I was asked a question in a Comment at yesterday’s Post about doing a comparison with just wind and solar power compared to the total generated power. That comment is at this link, and scroll to the bottom of the Post to see that comment. So, here, for this day’s data, I have included the images for just that. There are three images below, and in the text under each image I will explain what is being shown. As with all images at these Posts, if you click on the image, it will open on a new page and at a larger size so you can better see the detail.

This first image above shows just the totals for both wind power and solar power combined on the one graph, just those two totals across the day for the power sources so favoured by the green supporters, and two sources that they say we should be moving towards incorporating as just our sole sources of power generation. Here, wind power is shown as the green colour, and solar power is shown as the red colour. This solar power is just for the power generated from solar power plants, and does not include rooftop solar power, as that is an individual source for each home with the panels, while this solar plant power is what is available at the grid. As you can see, wind power varies across the day, and solar power is only being generated during the hours of daylight. When it is shown like this, it seems to be quite a reasonable total, but that is due to sizing the graph to best fit the page. The total Nameplate for wind power is 5452MW, and the total Nameplate for solar plant power is 2021MW, so, all up that total comes in at 7473MW. Now, note the total power generated, and that is shown on that left vertical axis, so the total there is just higher than 2GW, which is 2000MW, out of a total Nameplate of 7473MW. From the data above, you can see that the total wind power across the day average out at 1560MW, and the average for solar plant power was 340MW. Those totals for this day are not on the low side in any effort on my part to attempt to make wind and solar look bad, as that average for wind power is just a touch lower than the year round average for wind power, and that average for solar plant power is also close to the year round average, so what is shown here is what it might look like given those year round averages.

This second image (above) is the same as for the one above it, only now, I have added the total power generation across this same coverage area, and that total generation is the black line near the top of the graph. What this now shows is just how little power is being generated by wind and solar power when compared to that total. Here, I have also added the time and respective totals for when wind and solar power combined were at their highest for the day. That was at 9.50AM, when the combined total for wind and solar was 2300MW, shown by the red arrow at the left of the graph, which indicates the total, 2.3GW, (2300MW) and the amount contributed by solar power, 1GW. (1000MW) Right at the top, along the total generated power, you can see that the total generated power at that same time was 22800MW, shown on that black arrow at the left of the graph. (22.8GW) So, at that time when wind and solar combined were generating their maximum power, they were contributing only 10% of what was required at the grid for overall power consumption at that time.

This third image above is the same again, only now I have added the time and generation figures for the Peak power consumption time for this day, and that was at 5PM. (17.00)

Note on the top black line, the total generated power at that daily Peak at 5PM was 25500MW, shown on that black arrow at the left of the graph, which shows 25.5GW.

Now look at the total for wind and solar combined at that same time, 2200MW, shown on the red arrow at the left of the graph there, (2.2GW) with solar power contributing just 400MW of the total at that time.

So, at the time when the most power was required, wind and solar power delivered just 8.6% of that power, and again, keep in mind here that this is an average day for both wind and solar power.

For the sake of comparison, the graph below shows the power delivery from coal fired power, with that same day’s total, the black line indicating the total, the grey colour those black coal fired power plants in New South Wales and Queensland and the yellowish colour the brown coal fired power plants in Victoria.

The total power delivered by wind and solar power on this day averaged out to 8.45% of all required power. Coal fired power in total delivered what wind and solar delivered, multiplied by 8.7, so coal fired power delivered almost nine times what wind and solar delivered.

On this day, the first day of the working week, as expected, power consumption rose, and from that power generation was also higher at 22500MW, in fact up by 2000MW on average per hour than for the Sunday, a rise of 9.7%.

The average for coal fired power was higher by 500MW to 16650MW per hour. That Unit in Victoria which went off line late on Friday was back up on line at 9AM, and was back at maximum power delivery at 5PM, just as the evening Peak arrived. Unit One at this same Yallourn W plant looks to have had a problem and went off line at 7AM, winding back to zero at 9AM. It came back on line later in the day at 6PM, but went down again at 9PM. In Queensland Unit One at the Tarong power plant went off line at Midday, winding back to zero output by 4PM. There are now 10 of those coal fired Units off line, ans still coal fired power was able to supply 17720MW at peak power consumption time in the evening.

As that overall power generation rose, then every source contributed on this day by rising.

The average for natural gas fired power was higher by 720MW. The average for those smaller Other sources was higher by 180MW. The average for hydro power was up by 250MW and the average for soalr plant power was up by a small 10MW.

The average for wind power on the day was higher by 340MW to an average of 1560MW which gave wind power a daily operational Capacity Factor of 28.5%, just a little lower than the year round average.

On a typical working week day when overall power generation rises to meet increased power consumption, coal fired power delivered 74% of the total power required across the 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.

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