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.
Sunday 24 January 2021
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 8132MW, and this is from the current total of 67 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 – 1090MW (4.45PM)
Daily Maximum – 3040MW (8.50PM)
Average Wind Generation – 2029MW
Total Generated Power – 48.69GWH
Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 3.4%
Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 1177MW of 32800MW – 4.35PM – 3.59%
Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 7.8%
Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 24.95%
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.
Weekly UPDATE
Generated wind power total as a Percentage of overall total generated power from every source for this last week – 8.4%
Generated wind power total as a Percentage of overall total generated power from every source for the last year (52 weeks) – 9.8%
Capacity Factor for wind power generation for the last week (7 days) – 25.62%
Capacity Factor for wind power generation for the last year (52 weeks) – 29.40%
Capacity Factor for wind power generation for the longer term (121 weeks) – 29.81%
Comments For This Day
Wind generation was a little higher on this day than it was on the day before. That average of 2029MW gave wind generation a daily operational Capacity Factor of 25%, four percent down on the year round average. Again, as is nearly always the case in recent times, wind generation dropped away as the overall daily power consumption rose, and then rose in the evening as consumption dropped away as it always does at that time.The low for the day for wind generation corresponded with the high for the overall power consumption, when wind was only delivering between 3.4% and 3.6%. This was a day out of the ordinary for overall power consumption, due in the main to a heat wave covering the Southern States, and overall power consumption was even higher than it was on week days during this last week. That total power consumption of 32800GWH across the whole day was around 21% higher than for a typical Sunday like the one just seven days back now.
Now, you can see that sudden loss of power around Midday. That was a loss of 800MW, and almost all of that was in one State, South Australia. That’s around 450 individual wind towers shutting down almost immediately, so almost a dozen wind farms going back to zero output power.
When it comes to the weekly update, the weekly operational Capacity Factor of 25.6% was four percent lower than the year round average and that also meant that it dragged both long term averages for that Capacity Factor lower, both still stubbornly lower than 30%.
*****
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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Robber
Mon 01/25/2021
Thanks Tony. So all that solar is actually helping to keep summer prices down?
Per AEMO this Jan, Vic lowest at $25/MWhr, Qld highest at $41.
Jan 2020 Vic $143, Qld $67, NSW $152, and Jan 2019 Vic $250, Qld $94, NSW $117.
If you go back to Jan 2016, it seems the peak was later in the day, and demand in the range 24-28 GW, only occasionally above 30 GW. And prices were $45-50.
https://anero.id/energy/2016/january/28
https://anero.id/energy/2016/january/21
I wonder whether the delivered electricity from RTS is a lot lower than the declared generation.
Appreciate your dedicated contributions.
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Robber
Mon 01/25/2021
Tony, what am I missing? The graphs on OpenNEM and anero.id covering Monday’s hot spell show generation peaking at about 34 GW around midday. I thought demand tended to peak around 6.30 pm?
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TonyfromOz
Mon 01/25/2021
Robber,
thanks for this good question.
That Peak shifts each Season. In the one maybe two Months leading up to Winter, and then during Winter, and in a Month maybe two after Winter, then the Peak is around 6PM each evening. However, during Summer, and a month maybe two either side of Summer, the Peak moves back towards the early afternoon.
That’s nothing new.
It has always done that, and you can see that by looking at the full Load Curve for each day, and you can check back using the Aneroid site.
It’s not just here in Australia, but EVERYWHERE electrical power is consumed, and it has been like that since the days electrical power became available.
In Summer, more electricity is consumed during the daylight hours than in Winter.
These days it might ‘artificially’ seem like it has changed, and that (artificial) change may be thought to be because of rooftop solar, (RTS) but look at Load Curves back before RTS became as large as it is now, and you’ll see that those Load Curve shapes have not changed. They always show the Summer peak as higher earlier in the day, and the Winter Peaks with that distinct dip between the morning and evening Peaks. That mid afternoon difference between Winter and Summer can be around 10,000MW.
To show you this, look at these two Load Curves
Summer – Friday January 22 2021
Winter – Friday July 17 2020
Note the distinct shape change for the Load Curves.
The Summer peak is around 3PM, and the Winter Peak is around 6PM.
However, at 3PM in Summer, power consumption is higher by almost 8,000MW.
Now, look again at the Load Curve for this coming Wednesday (tomorrow) and then for the rest of this Month etc, and you’ll see that the daily peak will move even closer back towards Midday, and it will be higher, always does that after Australia Day for the rest of Summer.
That’s mainly because school will be back as will most workplaces, but mainly schools, and that is added power consumption, and lots of it in fact.
Barely one person in a thousand in the general public understands any of this, so when they see it, it actually raises just the questions you ask here, but in fact, those other 999 people in the thousand couldn’t care less.
That’s what we (well me really) are up against, trying to explain things like this to people when they don’t want to even know in the first place. It’s just so complex, every aspect of it, so the simplified “we’ll be right, renewables can do this” will always prevail, because it’s what people want to hear, the simple confidence trick by those who also do not understand the complexities.
Again, thanks for the ‘righteous’ question. The more that people actually attempt to understand all of this, then it might even get to the stage where the correct questions actually DO get asked.
Tony.
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