Australian Daily Wind Power Generation Data – Thursday 27th 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 27th 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 – 2161MW (11.00AM)

Daily Maximum – 3822MW (7.05PM)

Average Wind Generation – 2944MW

Total Generated Power – 70.65GWH

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 12.3%

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 3687MW of 27900MW – 6.55PM – 13.22%

Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 12.3%

Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 38.10%

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

Wind generation was higher than it was on the day before this, and that average of 2944MW gave wind generation a daily operational Capacity Factor of 38.1%, higher than the year round average of 29%. For once, wind generation was almost at its high point for the day at the evening peak, when wind generation was delivering 13.2% of all generated power.

Victoria again showed the worth folly of a future reliance on wind power.

The Ararat Wind Plant, The Bulgana Green Power Hub wind component, The Crowlands Wind Plant, The Kiata Wind Plant, The Murra Warra Wind Plant and the Waubra Wind Plant, (you can see that these are the only ticked boxes under the graph) six wind plants in total (all six in the North West of the State, so all in the one area, the only wind plants in that specific area) with a total Nameplate of 960MW (and that is 370 individual wind towers) all rolled back to zero output power at around 6AM in a space of 20 minutes, and stayed off line for the next nine hours. As you can see from the graph at right, at the time they stopped, they were delivering 620MW, so that was a substantial loss, and here, the full 960MW Nameplate in fact is the real loss, the equivalent of two large scale coal fired Units failing, and if that had have been the case, you would hear about in a very loud voice. A loss of this nature when they are generating at a high rate would most probably be caused by winds being too high in fact, so, to prevent damage they automatically shut down for the duration of the high winds.

Combine this loss of power with Macarthur wind plant, the (not for long) largest wind plant in the Country, and with a Nameplate of 420MW, being off line as well, that’s a loss of 1380MW from wind power, just in the State of Victoria. There must be something going on at Macarthur, because it has been delivering ZERO power since early Tuesday, off line for more than three days now. Wind plants are up and down on a regular basis, but for this one plant at Macarthur to be at ZERO for another long period of time, (as this is a regular occurrence) then these three days at zero output is strange to say the least.

If this is a regular occurrence, which it is, bot in high wind situations and also in low wind situations, then wind power has a reliability factor that is so low, it just cannot be relied upon to deliver the constant power which is required absolutely.

*****

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