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 all of the images, and that even though they look similar in size of generation, that scale (the total power shown on the left hand vertical axis) has been changed to show the graph at a larger size to better fit the image for that graph.
Sunday 22nd September 2019
Total Power Generation All Sources
Here, the total power generation from every power plant source is the top of the load curve, with each colour indicating a source of power generation. 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. The other colours mixed in with the rest of them are from those smaller Other sources. 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 – 16450MW (4.00AM)
Daily Peak Power Consumption – 23610MW (6.40PM)
Daily Minimum Generated Power – 16900MW (4.00AM)
Daily Maximum Generated Power – 24300MW (6.40PM)
Average Total Power Generation – 19600MW
Total Power Generation In GWH – 470.4GWH
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 for all three colours, the grey, dark yellow and purple colours combined in the image directly above.
The black line just under that top black line is the Sub Total just for coal fired power, and that is the same as the combined colours of the grey and dark yellow on the image above. 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 – 10670MW
Daily Peak Coal Fired – 16210MW
Average Coal Fired Generation – 13420MW
Total Generated Power – 322.08GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 68.47%
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 – 640MW
Daily Peak – 3320MW
Average Natural Gas Fired Generation – 1700MW
Total Generated Power – 40.8GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 8.67%
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 the three 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) and those smaller Other sources 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 (that black line, which also includes RTS as well) 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 – 2500MW
Daily Peak – 5800MW
Average Renewable Generation – 4030MW
Total Generated Power – 96.72GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 20.56%
Generation From Other Sources
This image shows the power being generated from the 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 – 450MW
Total Generated Power – 10.8GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 2.30%
Hydro Power Generation
This image shows all Hydro power generation. It is the same as the blue colour 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 main 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 – 960MW
Daily Peak – 2920MW
Average Hydro Generation – 1400MW
Total Generated Power – 33.6GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 7.14%
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 green coloured line in the image at the top showing generation from all sources.
The total Nameplate for all these wind plants is 6702MW, from a total of 55 wind plants.
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 in Winter and earlier during the Summer Months.)
Daily Minimum – 1470MW (8.30AM)
Daily Peak – 2880MW (3.25PM)
Average Wind Generation – 2030MW
Total Generated Power – 48.72GWH
Average Percentage Of Total – 10.36%
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 area you can just see in that top image.
The total Nameplate for all these 41 solar plants is 3075MW.
Daily Minimum – Zero
Daily Peak – 2090MW
Average Solar Plant Generation for hours of generation – 1210MW (6.00AM till 6.00PM)
Average Solar Plant Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 600MW
Total Generated Power – 14.4GWH
Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 3.06%
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 8000MW and higher, and that is a large total. However, that total equates to almost 2 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 is only consumed in the local residential areas. While seemingly still high this total is spread across that huge number of installations across the whole of this coverage area.
Daily Minimum – Zero
Daily Peak – 4500MW
Average For Hours of Generation – 2230MW (6.00AM till 6.00PM)
Average Rooftop Solar Generation across the whole 24 hour day – 1120MW
Total Generated Power – 26.88GWH
Average Percentage Of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 5.71%
Wind And Solar Power Generation Versus Total Power Generation
This image shows the total power generated from all the wind plants, and all the solar power plants in this coverage area, combined in the one image, and compares it to the overall total generated power, the black line at the top of the graph, which also includes RTS as well. Wind power is the green coloured area, and solar plant power is the red coloured area, and these are the same as shown in those other coloured images at the top of the Post.
I have also added the data below for the total generated power for both wind and solar plant power combined, and the percentage of the overall total below for the maximum power from both sources with respect to the overall total, both at the maximum for both, and then for the total for both at the daily peak Power time.
Daily Peak for Wind and Solar Plant Power – 4600MW
Average Across the whole day – 2630MW
Total Generated Power – 63.12GWH
Average Percentage of Total across the whole 24 hour day – 13.42%
Total Generated power at the daily maximum for both wind and solar plant power, the time of that maximum, and percentage of the total at that daily maximum – 4600MW – 3.30PM – 24.60%
Total Generated power for wind and solar plant power at Peak Power Consumption time for the day, and percentage of total at that daily Peak Power time – 2100MW – 6.40PM – 8.64%
Overall Total With Rooftop Solar Power Added
This image shows the overall total generated power with Rooftop Solar Power (RTS) added to the total from all of the power plants. RTS is shown here as that orange colour added near the top of the graph in the middle, during daylight hours, and is indicated on the legend below the graph as Rooftop PV (PhotoVoltaics). The new overall total is that black line along the top of the Load Curve. Note here that with this RTS total added, the shape of the full load curve, the black line now looks almost exactly as Summer load curves used to look prior to the advent of RTS, and all those panels on roofs of private dwellings.
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
As usual for any Sunday, power consumption was lower than on any other day, down 4% on the low of the day before even, and the total power generation for the day came in at 470.4GWH, at an hourly average of 19600MW, and that was 800MW lower than for the Saturday.
The early AM Base Load figure was the lowest it has been for a long time now, down by 400MW to 16900MW, well below that year round average of 18000MW/ The evening peak however, was higher than it was on the day before, up by 1000MW to 24300MW. Across the five States with their individual peaks at differing times, the peak in New South Wales (NSW) was 160MW higher. In Queensland, it was 350MW higher, and in Victoria, it was 400MW higher. In the two States with the lowest power consumption, the peak in South Australia was 100MW higher, and in Tasmania, the peak there was 200MW higher, and that’s a substantial increase considering this is the State with the lowest power consumption.
The average for coal fired power was higher, but only by the smallest measurable amount, up by 10MW to an hourly average of 13420MW. The range between the low for the day and the high was quite large, 5540MW, mainly because coal fired power ramped back to just 10670MW in that dip between the two peaks for the day, although as is the case for most Sunday’s, that morning peak is almost non existent at this time of the year, as you can see on that top image. On this day coal fired power generated a maximum of 16210MW. In Victoria, Unit3 at the Loy Yang A plant came back on line at 1.30PM, and by 4PM, it was back at its full power generation. In Queensland, that recently overhauled and upgraded Unit 1 at the Stanwell plant came back on line at 10.30AM, and by 3PM, it also was back at its full power generation. There are still ten of those coal fired Units off line, four each in NSW and Victoria, an two in Queensland.
The average for natural gas fired power was 370MW lower on the day. The average for those smaller Other sources was 20MW lower on the day, and the average for hydro power 40MW higher on the day. The average for those solar power plants was higher on the day, up by 140MW.
The average for wind power was lower on the day, down by a solid 600MW to an hourly average of 2030MW, and that gave wind power a daily operational Capacity Factor of 30.29, and that’s the year round average for this source of power generation.
On a day when the overall was typically the lowest for the week, coal fired power delivered 68.47% of all the generated power on the day.
*****
WEEKLY DATA For Week Fifty One.
Notes For Weekly and Rolling Totals
- Here, the Overall is 100%, so Coal + Natural Gas (NG) + Other + Renewable adds up to that 100%
- Hydro, Wind and Solar add up to the total for Renewable.
- For the first Rolling Total, Rooftop Solar Power (which is behind the meter) is a percentage of the overall total and on top of that total.
- For the second Rolling Total, Rooftop Solar Power is added to the total overall power generation, and new percentages are calculated from that new overall total.
- Total Generated Power is expressed here as GWH (GigaWattHours) and a GWH is a MWH (MegaWattHour) multiplied by 1000.
WEEKLY TOTALS (In GWH)
Week Total Coal NG Other Renew Hydro Wind Solar Rooftop Solar
51 3600 2347.92 397.68 83.52 770.88 272.4 408.96 89.52 184.8
Percent of total 65.22% 11.05% 2.32% 21.41% 7.56% 11.36% 2.49% 5.13%.
COMMENTS for this week.
As we leave the cold of Winter, and are now almost one Month into the benign Spring Months when power consumption falls, this week saw a small reduction again in power consumption, lower by 2.6%, and that total power generation for this week of 3600GWH was at an hourly average of 21428MW.
Coal fired power was slightly lower, mainly because, typical for this time of year, there are a lot of Units off line undergoing maintenance, so they will be ready for the high power consumption times during the upcoming Summer.
As you can see by comparing the figures for this week with the Rolling Totals below, you can see that most power generation sources were around their year round average for generation.
As is normal also for this time of year, both versions of solar power are rising, but this week, they marked time in overcast conditions on some days.
That total power generated from wind power sources of 408.96GWH for the week gave wind power a weekly operational Capacity Factor of 36.32%, and that’s higher than the year round average for this source of 30%.
Coal fired power has been trending lower these last two Months now, and that weekly average of 65% of the total is the lowest it has been for a while, and even saying that, it’s still almost two thirds of every watt of power being consumed across the Country.
*****
ROLLING TOTALS After Week Fifty One (In GWH) (Just power generation from power plants with rooftop solar behind the meter)
For these totals, Coal + NG + Other + Renewable = 100%. Hydro + Wind + Solar = Renewable Percentage
Week Total Coal NG Other Renew Hydro Wind Solar Rooftop Solar
51 194485.2 139531.92 17346 4441.2 33166.08 13800.72 15678.24 3687.12 8707.92
Percent of total 71.74% 8.92% 2.28% 17.06% 7.10% 8.06% 1.90% 4.48%
ROLLING TOTALS After Week Fifty One (In GWH) (With rooftop solar added to the renewable total, and the overall total, and new percentages calculated from that new overall total)
For these totals, Coal + NG + Other + Renewable = 100%. Hydro + Wind + Solar + Rooftop Solar = Renewable Percentage
Week Total Coal NG Other Renew Hydro Wind Solar Rooftop Solar
51 203193.12 139531.92 17346 4441.2 41874 13800.72 15678.24 3687.12 8707.92
Percent of total 68.67% 8.54% 2.18% 20.61% 6.79% 7.72% 1.81% 4.29%
COMMENTS for this week.
The Totals now are virtually the same each wee as I close in on 52 weeks of data, a full year’s numbers for all sources of power generation.
See that total power generated there of 203193.12GWH, well, that’s at an hourly average of 23715MW per hour of generation, and that is virtually the same as total power consumption.
There is some irony in the Capacity Factor for wind power. For the whole year now, I have used the year round average of 30%, and now, here we are at the end of week 51 of data collection, and wind power has reached an average high during the year of almost 33%, and it has been as low as 27%, and now, at the end of 51 week, with just one week to go for a full year, that average operational Capacity Factor for wind power is 29.56%, less than half of one percent lower than the figure of 30% I have used steadfastly for the source.
Renewable power is now over that 20% mark, and again. see how difficult it is going to be to get that figure considerably higher, and most States have a 50% target to reach by the year 2030, and while they say they will do it, I seriously doubt that figure will be reached in those three large States of NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
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 Mon 09/23/2019 by TonyfromOz
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