Australian Daily Wind Power Generation Data – Tuesday 09 February 2021

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 09February 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 – 724MW (2.00PM)

Daily Maximum – 3824MW (12.05AM)

Average Wind Generation – 2384MW

Total Generated Power – 57.21GWH

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At The Low Point For The Day – 2.8%

Percentage Supplied By Wind Power At Peak Power For The Day – 774MW of 26450MW – 1.45PM – 2.93%

Average Percentage Of Overall Total Power Generation – 10.0%

Daily Operational Capacity Factor – 29.32%

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 lower than it was on the day before. The average of 2384MW gave wind generation a daily operational Capacity Factor of 29.3%, and that’s almost right on the year round average. As you can see from the graph, wind yet again, went lower and stayed there as overall power consumption was at its highest for the day. The low point of just 724MW meant that wind was only operating at a totally pitiful 8.9%, so of all the many thousands and thousands of wind towers spread across the whole of Australia, less than one in ten actually had their blades turning over and delivering power. That’s a total of just 724MW from a total of 8132MW. At that low point, wind was only delivering 2.8% of all generated power. I don’t even care that this might only be one point in time when it’s that low, it drops across hours and does not go back up for hours. What is the Country supposed to do when it gets that low, and during the many hours when its going low, and then struggling back up. Just turn the whole Country off. I don’t think so. Again note the difference between to high for the day and the low, and on this day, that gap was a huge 3100MW and that gap was a staggering 81% difference.

You can’t run a Country like this.

*****

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