Australian Daily Wind Power Generation Data – Thursday 24th October 2019

By Anton Lang ~

This Post details the daily wind power generation 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 that on some days, there will be a scale change for the main wind power image, and that even though images may look similar in shape for the power generation black line on the graph when compared to other days, 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.

Thursday 24th October 2019

Total Wind Power Generation

This image shows the total power generated across the whole day by every wind plant in this vast AEMO coverage area for Australia.

The total Nameplate for all these wind plants changes as each new wind plant comes on line delivering power to the grid. That current Nameplate is 6702MW, and this is from the current total of 55 wind plants.

Note that the shape of this wind power load curve does not follow the shape of the main load curve for total power generation, and that is seen in the image below, the solid black line across the top of the image for that graph. Wind power generates its power only when the wind is blowing, hence it does not follow the actual power generation Load Curve, which is also the the exact same shaped curve as for actual power consumption.

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 (around 4AM each day) and maximum power consumption, the evening Peak. (at around 6.40PM in Winter and earlier during the Summer Months.)

Daily Minimum – 1340MW (12.05AM)

Daily Maximum – 3950MW (11.45PM)

Average Wind Generation – 2576MW

Total Generated Power – 61.82GWH

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 6.73%

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 1.30PM (27300MW) – 10.40%

Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 11.3%

Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 38.43%

Wind Power Generation Versus Total Power Generation

This image shows the total power generated from all the wind plants in this AEMO coverage area, and compares it to the overall total generated power from every source of power generation, which is the black line at the top of the graph. Wind power is the green coloured area, along the bottom of this graph.

While the green colour in this image looks to be a different shape to the graph above, keep in mind here that the scale is completely different, and that green coloured Wind total is the same as for the image shown above, only with the scale changed so it can fit onto the graph.

Notes

1. Finding Wind Power Average – On the graph, there are 25 hourly time points, starting with midnight and finishing with midnight. I have added the total at each of those hourly time points together, and divided the resultant total by 25 to give an average in MegaWatts. (MW)
2. For total power in GWH, multiply the average daily power by 24, and then divide by 1000.
3. For the Capacity Factor, that is calculated by dividing the average wind generation by the current Nameplate and then multiplying that by 100 to give a percentage.

Comments For This Day

After three pitifully low days, the wind continued to pick up, having started the evening before at around 7PM, and it continued to blow, increasing the power generation from wind power, as you can see from that top graph. The average for the day was up to 2576MW, and the generated power total of 61.82GWH was just a little less than the total for those last three days combined. That average gave wind power a daily operational Capacity Factor of 38.43%, a good eight percent higher than the year round average. You can see that the difference between the low for the day and the high was 2600MW. Note also from the second graph that the Load Curve for power generation from all sources is now taking the distinct shape of  normal Summer Load Curve with the main peak during the middle of the day, and in this case that was at 1.30PM, and that peak at that time was a healthy 1600MW higher than the normal evening peak at around 6.40PM.

Now, on that top graph note the colours along the bottom of the graph, and here, as I have explained earlier, each colour indicates a wind plant. See that one out there all on its own at the top of those colours, that red colour, well that’s Macarthur Wind Plant, the largest wind plant in the country, and I have included the image for just the power generation from this one wind plant shown in the image at right. Over those last three days, each day I included the image for this plant to show just how disastrously low the power generation was from this plant. On this day however, it was a good day, not just for all wind power, but for Macarthur Wind in particular. I have included the vertical time indicator at 6.10AM when this plant was at its maximum, and here note, that even on a really good day, that maximum is still not really all that close to the total Nameplate for the plant of 420MW, and even while still high on this day, it was only 390MW. Note also that even while high there twice during the day, it still had a low period right around the time that the most power is required during the day, at that evening peak, when Macarthur Wind was only delivering around 40MW in total. The average across the day came in at 249MW, and that gave the plant a daily operational CF of 59.24%, almost double the year round average. The total power delivered across this day was 5976GWH, and that is four times the total power delivered across all three of those earlier days combined.

*****

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.

OzWindPowerGenerationTFO

Tagged: Australian Electrical Power Consumption, Australian Electrical Power Statistics, Australian Renewable Power, Electrical Power Load Curves, Wind Power Generation

Posted in: Australia, Climate Change, Electrical Power Generation, Renewable Energy, Wind Power