Sixteen wind farms with 1473MW capacity operating in South Australia by 2016 – up from 34MW in 2004
The Hornsdale wind farm that feeds the big Tesla lithium ion battery near Jamestown.
In early 2004, South Australia had 34 MW of installed wind power capacity. In 2016, there were 16 wind farms operating across South Australia with an installed capacity of 1473 megawatts (MW) – about half of Australia’s installed capacity.
Wind farm capacity is intermittent (depending on weather, making it variable but predictable) source of energy. Thus the capacity of South Australian wind farms is usually 32-38% averaged over a year.
At peak performance, wind farms have set records for power supply in South Australia, as well as providing an average 7% of Victoria’s electricity demand and more than 5% across the National Electricity Market.
Well-established South Australian wind farms include: Snowtown (369 MW), Hallett (350 MW), Lake Bonney (278.5 MW), Waterloo (111 MW, being increased in 2016), Wattle Point (91 MW), Mount Millar (70 MW), Cathedral Rocks (66 MW), Clements Gap (56 MW), Canunda (46 MW) and Starfish Hill (34.5 MW).
In 2015, the Hornsdale 270 MW wind farm project at Jamestown in South Australia’s mid north was awarded a contract to supply 100 MW of electricity to 56,000 homes in Canberra – equal to 13% of the Australian Capital Territory’s projected electricity demand by 2020.
Hornsdale, owned by French company Neoen International SAS, won the contract by quoting Australia’s lowest known price for renewables at $77 per megawatt hour in an innovative reverse auction. Hornsdale was generating 86 MW immediately prior to the South Australian blackout in September 2016.
In 2016, Neoen obtained finance to take Hornsdale, stretching 20 kilometres, to a second stage that will flow into national energy grid. It will be built by global technology company Siemens.
