Australian Daily Wind Power Generation Data – Thursday 20th August 2020

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 20th August 2020

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 7728MW, and this is from the current total of 64 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 – 3708MW (9.10AM)

Daily Maximum – 5075MW (11.55PM)

Average Wind Generation – 4465MW

Total Generated Power – 107.16GWH

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 13.8%

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 4893MW of 29000MW – 6.45PM – 16.87%

Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 18.5%

Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 57.78%

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

On this day, wind generation was the highest it has EVER been. That average of 4465MW was the highest average, and that total generated power of 107.16GWH was the most power ever generated from wind plants. Only twice before has wind power generated more than 100GWH in a day, and that was on the first two days in May, sixteen weeks ago, so something like this is a really rare thing. Of interest is that on both of those earlier occasions, this high total was achieved from a lower Nameplate, so the daily operational Capacity Factor (CF) on this day was lower than for those two earlier occasions, and on this day, that CF was 57.78%, and on both earlier occasions it was just over 60%. The high point for the day was when wind power generated 5075MW, and I’m sure that is the first time it has ever been higher than 5000MW. That total meant that for that one five minute point in time, wind power was delivering its power at a CF of 65.67%, so at the best it has EVER been, wind power still only managed a little less than two thirds of its total Nameplate. On this day, wind also delivered its best percentage of overall total generated power, averaging 18.5% across the whole day.

This was the best day wind power has ever had, and now, look at the lower graph, where the black line is total power consumption, and the green area is wind generation. All of that white area is what is left to be made up if renewables is what we have to look forward to in the future, and this is the best that wind can do.

For those three days when wind has been this high, there has been 27 days when it has been lower than 1000MW. One good day every few years is not something to look forward to and gloat about.

*****

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