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.
Tuesday 6th October 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 – 1544MW (6.00PM)
Daily Maximum – 3173MW (1.35AM)
Average Wind Generation – 2363MW
Total Generated Power – 56.71GWH
Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 6.2%
Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 1557MW of 25000MW – 6.20PM – 6.22%
Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 10.4%
Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 30.58%
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
- 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)
- For total power in GWH, multiply the average daily power by 24, and then divide by 1000.
- 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 lower on this day than it was on the day before, and that average of 2363MW gave wind generation a daily operational Capacity Factor of 30.6%, the year round average. It was (yet again) lowest at the evening peak, and delivered just 10% of all generated power across the day, with, again, a difference between the low and the high for the day of more than 1600MW. Also again, note that sudden drop in output power just before 8AM, right in the middle of the usual morning peak. That loss of power was 630MW in 40 minutes, a large amount of power to just ‘go missing’, right when it’s needed the most.
*****
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
Robber
Wed 10/07/2020
Tony, not much wind generation in SA/Vic afternoon/evening of Oct 7, and seemed to be a lot more use of open cycle gas generation, so prices jumped. The 500 MW Newport CCGT has not been used in October.
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TonyfromOz
Wed 10/07/2020
Robber,
there’s one of the problems with wind power shown right there, and it’s more evident in a State like South Australia, which is such a small consumer on the main scene, only consuming 6.3% of the overall Australian total power, and at the same time having such a large amount of wind power. You have a Nameplate for wind generation of almost 2800MW. With electrical power generation, you turn on the plant and expect it to deliver at its full rated power. However, with wind it varies considerably, not just overall, but on an hourly basis, and you never really know, and, yet again, here is a prime example of that. Nameplate of 2800MW, and the general public thinks it delivers just that. Here, on this day, it only delivered around 1500MW for a short time, and then, within 7 hours, it just steadily fell away to just 100MW, and then started to rise again. So now, not only is that 2800MW of wind power ….. NOT delivering, you now have to go and run up other power plants to cover for the power that wind is not delivering.
And if you ask me, that is NOT the way to operate a power supply grid. You need the power, you turn on the power plant, and the plant delivers the power. NOT with wind power.
Tony.
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wemoore
Wed 10/07/2020
I wonder what kind a idiot it takes to use these data to argue FOR wind power generation.
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