Wind Power in WA

Edited 2013/07/01

Wind power generation in WA

Renewable energy on the SWIS Graph source: WA Office of Energy The WAOE stated that almost 80% of WA's renewable energy on the SWIS is from wind. See text. As of April 2012 this still seems to be the most up-to-date data available.

In eastern Australia the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) publishes power generation data from the larger wind farms on the Internet. I have summarised this information on these pages, see Power generation of wind farms. On 2013/07/01 the Independent Market Operator had a Net site giving live figures on wind power generation for at least some of the WA wind farms (in January 2019 this seemed not to be working). However, it seems that no data are provided to allow the calculation of capacity factors or the graphing of monthly generation figures.

WA Today published an article on 2012/04/04 passing on a figure of 4.33% as the proportion of WA's electricity made up by wind power in the twelve months up to October 2011. The Collgar Wind Farm, which started generating power in May 2011 and became fully operational in October 2011 doubled WA's installed wind power capacity (see the graph at Operating WA wind farms). One would expect that around 7% of WA's electricity would now be generated by wind power. (I emailed the Dept. of Finance [osr@finance.wa.gov.au], which is now responsible for WA's renewable energy, on 2012/04/09, but did not receive a reply).

The Western Australian Government Office of Energy (no longer existing; its functions have been transferred to the Finance Department) included the following on their Net site: "Most of Western Australia's electricity generated by renewable energy comes from wind. The state's 12 wind farms, with a total of 198 megawatts of installed generation capacity, account for 63% of WA's electricity produced from renewable energy sources. Almost 80% of renewable energy produced on the SWIS [Southwest Interconnected System] is from wind." (2011/07/18)

The above graph gives a rough idea of how much electricity WA's wind farms produced up to 2009/10 in total.

This section added 2013/12/21

WA wind farm generation figures

Name Installed capacity 2013 Average annual generation Average generation Cap. Factor   MW GWh MW percent Albany Wind Farm 21.6 55.7 6.6 30 Blairfox Karakin Wind Farm 5.0 3.8 0.8 15 Blairfox Westhills Wind Farm 5.0 0.7 0.4 8 Bremer Bay Wind Farm 0.6 1.4 0.2 28 Collgar Wind Farm 206.0 627.0 74.0 36 Denmark Community Wind Farm 1.4 4.4 0.6 43 Emu Downs Wind Farm 80.0 202.3 23.9 30 Grasmere Wind Farm 13.8 38.1 4.5 33 Greenough River Solar Farm 10.0 21.7 2.6 26 Kalbarri Wind Farm 1.6 4.2 0.5 31 Mt Barker Wind Farm 2.4 6.2 0.7 30 Mumbida Wind Farm 55.0 121.4 17.6 32 Walkaway Wind Farm 89.1 303.0 35.8 40 Summary Total installed MW Total annual GWh Average generation MWh Average (percent)   475.1 17 589 164.1 35

The data in the table on the right were kindly provided by Mike Hudson who extracted them from the IMOWA Net site (I have not been able to do so).

IMOWA stands for the Independent Market Operator, WA, which is the organisation responsible for the operation of the South West Interconnected [power] System (the SWIS).

Note that the average capacity factor is the same as that for the wind farms on the eastern Australian grid (NEM, National Electricity Market).

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WA Farmers Federation on wind power

In an article about the Flat Rocks Wind Farm the ABC On-line News, 2013/07/23 reported:

The WA Farmers Federation says the idea of broadacre farmers using a small portion of their land for wind turbines to generate extra income is something producers in other regions should also be considering.

President Dale Park says it's "inherently a good idea".

"I think it's a great chance for farmers to offset the variability that we have in climate these days," he said.

"If we can have a system where we can profit from the wind we get, for instance, we should be grabbing it with both hands.

"To the best of my knowledge, there are no health concerns and there are plenty of communities in WA that have got wind farms and haven't got a problem."

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Updated 2011/04/04

Wind farms by region

This table is intended to include all the large operating wind farms (>1MW) and a number of
large proposed farms, but does not attempt to include all small farms or all proposed farms.
See also Wind farms by location.

Region	Wind farm		Status
Far north coast	Coral Bay		Operating
	Denham, Shark Bay		Operating
North coast	Alinta, Geraldton		Operating
	Emu Downs, Cervantes		Operating
	Kalbarri		Operating
	Mumbida		Construction
	Warradarge		Proposed
Inland	Collgar, Merredin		Operating
	Flat Rocks, Kojonup		Proposed
Islands	Rottnest		Operating
South Coast	Albany		Operating
	Bremer Bay		Operating
	Denmark		Proposed
	Esperance	Nine Mile Beach	Operating
		Salmon Beach	Dismantled
		Ten Mile Lagoon	Operating
	Grasmere		Operating
	Hopetoun		Operating
	Mt Barker		Operating

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This section written 2011/04/26 Updated 2017/07/15

Wind farms by location

Below is a conceptual map of south-western WA. The numbers in each cell are the Latitude and Longitude, the main town in the area is shown in the cells. Placing the mouse over the highlighted bits will show which wind farms are in that area, clicking will allow you to get to the details of those wind farms. I have concentrated mainly on wind farms that are operating or under construction, rather than those that have simply been proposed. Similar sections are in the pages on NSW, SA and Victoria.

Two WA wind farms are on the western coast north of this area: Coral Bay and Denham.

See also Wind farm by region.

Albany
Alinta
Badgingarra
Bremer Bay
Clifton
Collgar
Coral Bay

Coronation
Dandaragan
Denham
Denmark
Emu Downs
Esperance
Flat Rocks

Fremantle
Grasmere
Hopetoun
Kalbarri
Karakin
Kondinin
Merredin

Moonies Hill
Mount Barker
Mumbida
Myalup
Nilgen
Nine Mile Beach
Pilbara
Rottnest Island

Salmon Beach
Sumich
Waddi
Ten Mile Lagoon
Walkaway
Warradarge
Yandin

Other operating wind farms | Minor wind farms | Other proposed wind farms

Updated 2011/12/12

Albany Wind Farm

Also see Grasmere Wind Farm

It seems likely that the six new turbines of Grasmere will be included in the Albany Wind Farm.

One of the Albany turbines at sunset

Verve Energy's Albany Wind Farm is twelve kilometres west of Albany and 400km SSE of Perth. An interactive map showing its location and giving directions on how to get there is available on ExplorOz.

It is on a very scenic section of the south coast of Western Australia. There is a parking area, several viewing areas, and a few kilometres of pleasant walking trails at the base of several of the turbines. There is a trail connecting to the Bibbulmum track.

Good views can be seen of places as far away as the Porongorup and Stirling ranges from one of the hill lookouts.

The Albany Wind Farm is owned by Verve Energy, from whom came much of the data for this section.

Milton Evans, Mayor of Albany, has said that the existing wind farm generates about 50% of Albany's electricity. (He also said that there was the possibility of wave power development.) With the new (Grasmere) turbines wind could supply up to 80% of Albany's power needs.

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Albany Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Annual production	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	12	1.8	21.6	Average 77 GWh	October 2001	S 35.06°	E 117.79°

Before sunrise, Albany Wind Farm

Further data on Albany Wind Farm (stage 1)...

Project cost $45 million Turbines Rotation rate 10 to 22 revolutions per minute Productive wind speeds From 2 to 34 m/sec (7 to 122 km/hr) Wind speed at which maximum output reached 14 m/sec (50 km/hr) Survival wind speed Greater than 60 m/sec (220 km/hr) Wind generators Enercon E-66 Turbine type Three bladed, upwind, horizontal axis, variable speed inverter coupled Mechanical No gearbox Manufactured Germany Tower height 65m Tower material Steel Rotor diameter 70m Blade length 35m Blades Glass fibre reinforced epoxy Productivity Greenhouse gas saving Estimated at 70 000 tonnes CO2 p.a.

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Updated 2019/01/30

Badgingarra Wind Farm

Map from minutes of meeting of Shire of Badgingarra Badgingarra is to be in the yellow area, Emu Downs is marked pink.

Originally proposed by Griffin Windfarm 2 Pty Ltd (Griffin Energy is involved in coal-fired power stations in WA) and Wind Portfolio Pty Ltd, this farm is being built immediately to the north of the existing Emu Downs Wind Farm, 16km west of the town of Badgingarra and about 185km north of Perth.

APA have a net page that includes information and a map of Badgingarra. APA's net page does not mention Griffin Energy.

The proponents say that "The turbines will be situated on previously cleared farm land and have minimal environmental impact during and after the construction phase. Some turbine sites may require minor vegetation clearing however this will be avoided wherever possible." The Development Application also state that the project is strongly supported by the relevant landowners. The minimum set-back from residences is 1km.

News, Late January 2019

It seems that the wind farm has started injecting electricity into the power grid.

Solar PV farm to be added

Giles Parkinson reported in Renew Economy, 2018/08/29, that a 17.5 MW solar farm was to be added to the wind farm.

Badgingarra Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction	Completion expected	Lat.	Long.
Under construction	37	3.6	130	Nov. 2017	Early 2019	S 30.37°	E 115.28°

The Development Application states that most of the winds are from the south and south-east, with less, but significant winds, from the east and north-east.

Further data on Badgingarra Wind Farm

Project
Greenhouse gas abatement	Estimated at 420 thousand tonnes per annum

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Bremer Bay Wind Farm

Updated 2010/07/29

Bremer Bay, 500km SE of Perth between Albany and Esperance, has a single turbine. (Strictly speeking is should not be called a wind farm, but I have done so here for ease of indexing.) It is owned by Verve Energy and normally feeds power into the 33kV feeder that supplies Bremer Bay, but can also operate in parallel with a local diesel power station when it is brought into service as a back-up supply for Bremer Bay.

Bremer Bay Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Completion date	Lat.	Long.
Operating	1	0.6	0.6	June 2005	Approx. S 34.39°	E 119.38°

Powercorp were the principal contractor for this project. The project value was Aus$3 million.

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Updated 2012/07/22

Clifton Wind Farm

Originally proposed by Cape Bouvard Energy, this wind farm was to be between Clifton Beach and Old Coast Road, Clifton. The proposal was dropped in July 2012 (from an article by Rachel Fenner in the Mandurah Coastal Times). The reason given was negative community feedback.

Summary data, Clifton Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Lat.	Long.
Proposal abandoned	Up to 36	?	More than 100	Was to be mid 2015	S 32.80°	E 115.65°

Additional data on Clifton Wind Farm

Tower height	95m
Rotor diameter	112m

It is a pity that this wind farm was dropped, especially since it seems that the reason was because of 'not in my back yard' (NIMBY) feelings in the local residents. The whole west coast from Geraldton down to Augusta would have an excellent wind resource and to have a project attempted but failing in this area will probably tend to discourage any other attempt on the coast south of Perth.

The cancelling of the project is a victory for ignorance, selfishness and NIMBYism and a loss for renewable energy, the fight to slow climate change and bad news for the future of the planet.

Email received from Steve Watson of Cape Bouvard Investments PL The reason for this decision [to abandon the project] centres around concerns raised against the proposal leading up to and during our recent community open days. During these sessions, the majority of local residents expressed views including: That the wind farm would destroy the tranquillity of what is essentially a retirement location for most residents, A belief that a wind farm would negatively impact on property values near the site, Concerns over rumoured negative health effects claimed to be associated with wind farms, and Environmental concerns, including perceived threats to bird life and the thrombolites in Lake Clifton. Cape Bouvard Energy disputes the veracity of these claims, which are not consistent with the findings of our environmental, noise, and economics consultants. However, having lived in the peel region for over thirty years the Proprietors of Cape Bouvard have decided that they wish to respect the views of their neighbours in the region, and the Clifton Beach Wind Farm project is terminated accordingly. The five rural lots comprising this site will now be sold to interested parties, either individually or as a parcel.

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Edited 2017/03/13

Collgar Wind Farm

Also called Merredin Wind Farm

Location Acknowledgement: http://www.collgarwindfarm.com.au/

The wind farm is about 25km SE of Merredin, south of Burracoppin, and about 250km ENE of Perth. The project was approved by the Shire of Merridin in late September 2008 and by the end of October 2011 all of the turbines were fully commissioned and generating. This wind farm is among the largest in Australia; at the time of construction, Collgar was the largest single stage wind farm in Australia.

There is a Collgar Wind Farm Net page for the project. It includes a number of good photos.

Windlab also have a Net page on the farm (with links to the above site).

First power exported into the WA South West Interconnected System (SWIS) was on 2011/05/14. Around 15 personnel are employed perminantly for maintenance of the farm.

I must thank Alistair Craib and Carmen Hantar for some of the information in this section. Any errors present are probably mine.

Collgar Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction	Initial Operation	Full power	Lat.	Long.
Operating	111	1.86	206	May 2010	May 2011	October 2011	S 31.63°	E 118.48°

I have been informed that the turbines at Collgar are Vestas V90-2MW.

A small part of Collgar Wind Farm – under construction Photo taken April 26, 2011 Image credit Diana House

Some milestones

Western Power announced completion of a $20m project connecting Collgar to the grid on 2011/04/20. (See World Transmission and Distribution)

The Merredin Mercury published an article 2010/09/22 stating that "wind turbine components have started arriving at the Collgar Wind Farm". It further stated that "Collgar staff expect to start putting the first towers up in November, using cranes to move each part into position before bolting them together" and that footings are being poured. The turbine components are being trucked from the port of Bunbury via Narembeen to Collgar by convoys every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over a period of six months. Each of the 111 turbine comes in 7 truck loads; a total of 777 loads. (See "http://www.merredinmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/ turbines-arrive-at-wind-farm/1948897.aspx" – there should be no spaces in the URL.)

ABC on-line news stated that "the Energy Minister Peter Collier officially opened the Collgar wind farm in Merredin" on 2010/08/01. On March 24, 2010, they reported that an agreement had been made with Synergy to purchase power from the farm over the next 15 years.

Collgar Wind Farm - additional information

Project value	Aus$750 million
Turbine make	Vestas?
Tower height	80m
Blade length	44m
Total height (tower and blades)	125m
Annual generation	792 GWhr expected
Capacity factor	44% (calculated from annual generation)
Greenhouse gas abatement	At least 700 000 tonnes expected

Community funding

Collgar Wind Farm provides a community fund to 'enhance facilities in the Merridin region and surrounding areas'.

On the grapevine, January 2010:

• Suzlon tried to get the contract for this project, but couldn't raise the money because they had too much debt for the banks to be interested.
• Vestas won the contract and are to use 1.86MW turbines with the same size rotors as on the 3MW turbines at Waterloo in SA; winds at Merredin are weaker than those at Waterloo. (See wind resource map of Australia.)

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Coral Bay Wind Farm

Updated 2010/07/29

Owned by Verve Energy, this wind farm is about 1130km north of Perth.

Coral Bay turbines; showing how they can be raised and lowered Photo credit: Brendan Ryan

Coral Bay Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	3	0.275	0.825	October 2006	Approx.S 23.15°	E 113.77°

Coral bay Wind Farm - additional information

Project value	Aus$4 million
Turbine type	Vergnet 275kW, lay-down model
Annual generation	Around 1980 MWh

The area is subject to tropical cyclones with consequent occasional hurricane force winds. The turbines can be lowered to avoid the strongest winds. The wind farm is supported by a flywheel energy storage system supplied by Powercorp and supplies more than half of Coral Bay's electricity requirements.

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This section written 2013/03/10

Coronation Wind Farm

Proposed to be adjacent to Coronation Beach 25km north of Geraldton. Apparently the project has been approved by the Shire of Chapman Valley, the WA Planning Commission, and the Environment Protection Authority.

It seems that this project was proposed by around 2003 and there seems to have been little action on it since.

Summary data, Coronation Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Lat.	Long.
Aproved	58	1.8	104	Undecided	Approx. S 28.55°	E 114.56°

Additional data on Coronation Wind Farm

Owner/operator	Energy Visions?
Project cost	Aus$200 million

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Updated 2019/05/25

Dandaragan Wind Farm

Including Waddi and Yandin wind farms

The wind farms, if built, will be on the South and North-west sides of Dandaragan and 145km North of Perth. (Waddi will be around 12km West of Dandaragan township and Yandin 5km to the South). If built at the proposed size (500+ MW) in the near future, Dandaragan Wind farm will be the biggest in Australia.

Planning approval for the project was received on 2011/12/15.

Wind Prospect, the proposers, have a Net site intended to inform the public about the project.

Dandaragan Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Completion date	Lat.	Long.
Approved	151	2.1 to 3.4	513.4	?	?	Approx. S 30.67°	E 115.70°

The coordinates above are those of the township of Dandaragan

Further data on Dandaragan Wind Farm

Expected annual generation	1 800 000 MWh
Expected annual carbon dioxide abatement	1 500 000 tonnes

According to Renew Economy, 2019/02/25, Alinta Energy have committed to going ahead with Yandin Wind Farm at an estimated cost of $400 million. Alinta expects a capacity factor of 50% from the wind farm. In May 2019 Renew Economy reported a likely construction date of July 2019.

Yandin Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Completion date
Approved	51	4.2	214	July 2019?	?

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Denham Wind Farm

Updated 2010/07/29

Denham is an isolated town on the west coast of Western Australia, about 900km north of Perth. The Denham Wind Farm is owned by Verve Energy.

A single 230kW Enercon wind turbine was first installed in 1998. Two similar turbines were added in late 1999, and a further 330kW Enercon turbine was added in 2007.

Denham Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	4	3 x 0.23 + 1 x 0.33	1.02	First turbine 1998, last in 2007	Approx. S 25.92°	E 113.55°

The annual average wind energy penetration is around 40%.

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Updated 2013/05/11

Denmark Wind Farm

Denmark Community Wind Farm Photo credit, Craig Chappelle, Chairman, Denmark Community Windfarm Ltd.

"Denmark Community Windfarm originated as a local response to the global challenge of climate change. Since the first community workshops in 2003 the vision has been for Denmark to own and operate its own windfarm."

Photos of the Denmark WF can be viewed at Skyfarming.

Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, announced on 2008/10/16 funding of $1.4 million dollars for this project.

ReNew carried a major article about this wind farm in its issue 121 (Oct. - Dec. 2012).

Interestingly community wind farms are rare in Australia, they are much more common in some European countries, including (ironically) Denmark. Apart from this project and the Mount Barker Wind Farm, I only know of one other community wind farm in Australia, that is the Hepburn Wind Farm in Victoria; although there is another proposed for Fremantle. Some people involved in the Mount Barker Wind Farm are also involved here.

Denmark Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Completion date	Lat.	Long.
Operating	2	0.8	1.6	2013/02/20	Approx. S 35.03°	E 117.33°

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Altered 2018/09/02

Emu Downs Wind Farm

Emu Downs Wind Farm Photo credit: Sarah Rose, W.A.

Construction of this wind farm near Cervantes 200km north of Perth started in November 2005. It is in the Shire of Dandaragan.

An article on MiningOilGas, 2012/04/15, said that while Emu Downs Wind Farm was constructed as a joint venture projects between Griffin Energy and Queensland's Stanwell Corporation the current owner was APA Group (100%). The turbines are Vestas. The electricity is purchased by Synergy Energy and some of it goes to the sea water desalination plant at Kwinana.

Solar farm added

ARENA reported 2018/03/02 that a 20 MW solar PV farm was to be added to this wind farm.

Updated 2018/05/23

Esperance wind farms

The Esperance wind farms are owned by Verve Energy.

Esperance – 600 km ESE of Perth – has been the pioneering town in the Australian wind energy experience. It started with the Salmon Beach wind farm, the first wind farm in Australia, comprising six 60 kW turbines and commissioned in March 1987. The nine 225 kW Ten Mile Lagoon turbines were built in 1993 and the six 600 kW Nine Mile Beach turbines were added in 2003.

The power system in place in 2006 comprised these two wind farms plus a 30 MW gas-fired power station. The wind farm generated about 22% of Esperance's electricity with a maximum instantaneous penetration of just over 65%.

An interactive map showing the location and giving directions on how to get there is available on ExplorOz.

Salmon Beach Wind Farm

The last remaining in-situ Salmon Beach turbine in the foreground, some of the Nine Mile Beach turbines are visible in the background. Photo taken from a lookout at the south of Esperance 2006/06/01.

Salmon Beach turbine on display in Esperance

Salmon Beach Wind Farm, the first in Australia, no longer operates but two turbines have been retained for historical interest. It was built more for research than as a commercial venture.

The farm of six turbines each of 60 kW operated from 1987 for nearly 15 years, but was decommissioned in 2002 due to urban encroachment, the age of the turbines and the fact that there were by then much larger and more cost-effective units on the market.

The wind farm consisted of six turbines each of 60kW capacity.

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Nine Mile Beach Wind Farm

Nine Mile Beach turbines

Nine Mile Beach Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Annual production	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	6	0.6	3.6	10.5 GWh	2003	S 33.88°	E 121.79°

Further data on Nine Mile Beach Wind Farm...

Construction
Principal contractor	Power Corp
Turbines
Rotation rate	18 to 34 revolutions per minute
Productive wind speeds	From 2.5 to 35 m/sec (9 to 126 km/hr)
Survival wind speed	60 m/sec (216 km/hr)
Wind generators	Enercon E-40
Turbine type	Variable speed, inverter connected
Mechanical	No gearbox
Manufactured	Germany/Australia
Tower height	46m
Blade length	22m
Capacity factor	33%

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Ten Mile Lagoon Wind Farm

Ten Mile Lagoon turbines on left. Some of the Nine Mile Beach turbines are barely visible in the distance on the right.

There is a scenic road around Ten Mile Lagoon and Nine Mile Beach wind farms; worth taking for the coastal scenery let alone the turbines. A side road leads to an information shelter and a viewing area on top of the ridge among the Ten Mile Lagoon turbines.

There seems to be no public access to the vicinity of the Nine Mile Beach turbines.

Ten Mile Lagoon Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Annual production	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	9	0.225	2.025	5.5 GWh	1993	S 33.82°	E 121.79°

Further data on Ten Mile Lagoon Wind Farm...

Turbines
Rotation rate	33 and 43 revolutions per minute
Productive wind speeds	From 3.5 to 25 m/sec (12.6 to 90 km/hr)
Survival wind speed	56 m/sec (202 km/hr)
Wind generators	Vestas V27
Turbine type	Two speed, induction type
Mechanical	Gearbox (1:23.4)
Manufactured	Denmark/Australia
Tower height	31.5m
Blade length	13.5m
Capacity factor	31%

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Updated 2013/07/24

Flat Rocks Wind Farm

Also known as Moonies Hill Wind Farm

Conditional approval given On 2013/07/21 it was reported that the section of the wind farm in the Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup received condtional appoval. Rejection by JDAP The proposal was rejected by the Great Southern Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) in early March 2013. Concern was expressed over the possible effects the turbines might have on farming practices. NSW Farmers have released a Guide for farmers. Under 'Impact of farming activities', this document states "Host landholders generally find that wind farm development does not significantly impact farm operations." Interestingly, "problems experienced in communities such as Waterloo in South Australia" were cited as justification for the decision. It happens that I am a member of the Community Liaison Group associated with the Waterloo Wind Farm and I have a property about 30km from it. There is a very small but very vocal group who have been stiring up opposition in the area, but in my opinion there are no real problems beyond some possible minor noise annoyance. Several of the noise complaints relate to properties at distances of 5 or even 10km. I have never even heard a wind turbine from a distance greater than 2.5km (correction, on 2013/07/07 I managed to just hear some turbines 3.0km away), and then only in near-ideal conditions. It has been claimed that homes have been abandoned at Waterloo due to the wind turbines, but when one looks into the details this is highly questionable. A group calling itself Heartland Farmers in South Australia's Yorke Peninsula have also been claiming that a proposed wind farm there will heavily impact farming practices. So far as I can see, their claims are mostly false.

This project has been proposed by Moonies Hill Energy Pty Ltd (MHEPL, email info@mhenergy.com.au) who submitted a development application (DA) to the Shire of Kojonup on 19th of November 2010. Moonies is described in the DA as "a locally owned renewable energy development company." The Shire of Kojonup has a page on the proposal here.

Flat Rocks is described in the DA as being about 35km SE of Kojonup. The proposed wind farm will be between the Kojonup-Broomehill road and the Tambellup West road; the map in the DA indicates that the project will be around 20km SE of Kojonup. It will be about 125km north of Albany and 260km SE of Perth.

The Shire of Kojonup announced that they had approved the "Kojonup stage" of the flatrocks Wind Farm on 2011/11/23. It seems that this is being called "stage 1" and will "comprise 30 turbines, an electrical substation, and associated infrastructure in the Kojonup Shire." However, EnergyBusinessNews announced (2011/07/12) that Moonie Hill Energy "has withdrawn its development application with the Broomehill-Tambellup Shire after it emerged that existing town planning rules restrict the production of electricity on farmland". This is expected to be only a temporary setback.

It is intended that power from the farm will either go into a new 220kV line proposed for a new mine, or will join the existing 'SWIS' line at the Kojonup Substation via a purpose-built new 132kV line.

Summary data on Flat Rocks Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Lat.	Long.
Development application lodged	App. 74	1.8 to 3.3	Around 150	Unknown	S 33.92°	E 117.35°

The location above is that shown on the map in the development application

Further data on Flat Rocks Wind Farm

Approximate cost of development	Aus$400m
Tower height	Up to 90m
Blade length	Up to 56m
Rotor diameter>	Up to 112m
Height to tip of blade	Up to 146m
Footing	Reinforced concrete 15m diameter 1.5m high

The above figures will depend on the type and size of turbine decided upon

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This section written 2013/01/04

Fremantle Community Wind Farm

It is intended that this wind farm will surround the harbour on Rous Head. The project is being developed by the Fremantle Wind Farm network who have an informative Net site. The Net site states that "Development Approvals were granted by the City of Fremantle and the WA Planning Commission", but apparently these have since lapsed.

I gather that the main hurdles to getting the project up and running is that the Fremantle Port Authority has not cooperated.

Summary data, Fremantle Community Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Lat.	Long.
Proposed	8	0.8	6.4	Undecided	Approx. S 32.050°	E 115.733°

Additional data on Wind Farm

Hub height	55m
Expected annual generation	21GWh
Project cost	Aus$16-18 million

In answer to my inquiry regarding the reason for the Ports Authority's opposition to the wind farm Jamie Ally of Fremantle Community Wind Farm provided the following:

The common written reason the FPA provides is pasted below. We have asked many times for the 'detailed assessment' they refer to, including via MP's in parliament, and through Freedom of Information channels. They refuse to release their analysis.

"we have undertaken a detailed assessment of the feasibility of a wind farm development within the port. This examined the likely risks and issues with regard to economic, technical, social and environmental factors. After consideration of the study findings, the Fremantle Ports Board concluded that the potential benefits did not justify the risk of creating opposition amongst our customers, tenants, the community and other key stakeholders as a result of the real or perceived impacts of a wind farm located in close proximity to port workplaces and local communities. On this basis, the Fremantle Ports Board determined that it is not in the best interests of the business to support a wind farm development within the Port."

One would have to wonder how the Ports Authority can justify their refusal to release their analysis? I wonder too what weight the Authority placed on combating climate change?

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Updated 2012/04/06

Grasmere Wind Farm

Also see Albany Wind Farm

Verve Energy proposed that this wind farm be built immediately to the west of the existing Albany Wind Farm. It will consist of six Enercon E-70 turbines, and when completed will appear to be a continuation of Albany Wind Farm.

Craig Carter of Verve Energy gave me the following update on 2011/12/12: "All six Enercon 2.3MW E-70 wind turbines have been installed are are undergoing trial operation. All are running but power is limited to 5MW in total until the communications and control systems are completed in early 2012. The Grasmere Wind Farm (13.8MW) is next to the Albany Wind Farm and the two appear as one wind farm. The only difference is that the new turbines are a slightly darker grey colour and the new Enercon blades are an aerofoil shape to the hub. The new farm is on higher ground and will have a slightly better capacity factor as a consequence. I think that the Albany community will call the two wind farms the Albany Wind Farm.

On 2012/04/05 Craig informed me by email of the completion of the wind farm.

Verve have a Net page on the project. It includes a live Web cam that can be controlled by the viewer; fascinating stuff!

Grasmere Wind Farm - summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Completion	Lat.	Long.
Operating	6	2.3	13.8	2012/02/24	S 35.06°	E 117.73°

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Hopetoun Wind Farm

Updated 2010/07/29

The Hopetoun Wind Farm is situated 5km north of the town of the same name on the south coast between Albany and Esperance, and is owned and operated by Verve Energy.

This wind farm consists of two 600kW Enercon E-40 wind turbines and is part of a hybrid wind-diesel power system. The wind turbines supply around 40% of Hopetoun's electricity.

Hopetoun Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	2	0.6	1.2	2004 and 2006	Approx. S 33.95°	E 120.12°

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Kalbarri Wind Farm

Edited 2013/08/27

This wind farm was built by Verve Energy. Verve Energy call this a mini-wind farm; it consists of two 800kW Enercon E-48 wind turbines. Verve Energy states that, together with voltage control equipment, the facility should improve the quality of the local electricity supply and increase its load capacity by about 15%.

Kalbarri Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Completion date	Lat.	Long.
Operating	2	0.8	1.6	28 July 2008	Approx. S 27.90°	E 114.17°

I visited Kalbarri on 2013/08/27 and was told the "turbines are near the chook farm, 20km south of town".
I was not able to locate them on Google Earth.
The ABC reported on July 3rd 2007 that the two wind turbine sites were moved to cleared land (a distance of 150m) because of a rare species of orchid.

The ABC again reported on the wind farm on 28th July 2008 saying that it had been opened, its total cost was Au$5m ($2m of which came from the Commonwealth Government), and that it was expected to "meet a third of Kalbarri's power needs and offset about 5 000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year."

Powercorp were also involved in the development of this project, supplying voltage control equipment.

Kalbarri also has a 20kW photovoltaic system, consisting of 256 panels. The angle of the panels used to be automatically adjusted six time a day to follow the sun as it crossed the sky, but the panels were later fixed in a single position.

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This section added 2019/01/30

Kondinin Wind and Solar Farm

This wind and solar farm project received federal government approval in January 2019. It has all necessary state and federal government approvals.

Lacour has a Web site about the project in which they state that it will be located five kilometres north-east of the town of the same name (there is a map in the Lacour page). It is expected to "comprise of up to 46 wind turbines, approximately 50MW of solar panels and a battery storage facility."

Goldwind is to supply the turbines and manage the construction works. It is expected that the project will cost around $250m and that construction will start later in 2019 and will take a total of 18 to 24 months.

Summary data, Kondinin Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Battery	Construction date
Approved	Up to 46	?	About 120	?MW, ?MWh	Later in 2019

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Altered 2011/10/03

Mount Barker Wind Farm

Image credit Peter Auer of SkyFarming

Mount Barker Community Wind Farm is owned 100% by Mt Barker Power Company Pty Ltd, which has a Net site about the project. MBPCPL is owned by twelve share holders. The Mt Barker Power Company is associated with SkyFarming Pty Ltd, which is connected with the Denmark Wind Farm proposal.

Directors of SkyFarming with whom I have communicated are Andrew Woodroffe and Peter Auer (Site Manager for Mount Barker).

This wind farm is on a hill on a private sheep farm four kilometres north of Mount Barker on the Western Side of Albany Highway. Three Enercon E53, 800kW turbines have been erected. Andrew informed me by email on 2011/03/26 that the turbines "are now spinning". There are photos on the Net page.

The ABC has reported this as "Australia's first community wind farm", and it was operational several months before Hepburn Wind Farm, but there seems to be no clear definition of what constitutes a 'community wind farm'. See my notes on Community wind farm, or not? elsewhere.)

Congratulations to all involved; inspirational stuff.

Mount Barker Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Energisation	Lat.	Long.
Operating	3	0.8	2.4	Late March 2011	S 34.60°	E 117.65°

Additional data on Mount Barker Wind Farm

Tower height	73m
Project cost	Aus$8.5m
Completion	March 2011

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Updated 2013/08/28

Mumbida Wind Farm

This is a 50/50 joint venture between Macquarie and Verve Energy; Verve has a Net page on the project.

Update 2013/08/28 The "premier open day" was scheduled for 2013/09/27.

A Planning Application was submitted to the City of Geraldton-Greenough before July 2009. The project won a 30-year operating licence from WA's Economic Regulation Authority in late March 2011.

The project is being built 25-40km south-east of Geraldton and 210km north of Perth.

Power-technology.com stated (2012/06/23) that "The entire output of the wind farm will be purchased by Water Corporation to offset the energy requirements of the recently commissioned Binningup Desalination Plant." The same article said that the wind farm would offset 200 000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses annually.

There were objections from the owners of the nearby Emu Downs Wind Farm on the grounds that the power grid did not have sufficient capacity for another wind farm in the area, but these were over-ruled.

The Engineer (on the Net) carried an article on 2011/06/21 stating that "A consortium including US conglomerate General Electric (GE) and Australian company Leighton Contractors has received a contract, worth [Aus]$130m, to supply and install 22 GE 2.5-100 wind turbines for the Mumbida Wind Farm." GE will also provide mainenance for ten years.

Mumbida Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Completed	Lat.	Long.
Operating	22	2.5	55	2013/04/09 (see below)	Approx. S 28.95°	E 114.96°

Number and rating of turbines received from Craig Carter of Verve Energy 2011/04/04.
2013/04/09 was given as the date when the 'last turbine went live' in the West Australian article mentioned above.

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This section added 2022/11/30

Myalup Wind Farm

Proposed area of the wind farm Map credit Skyborn energy

This offshore wind farm has been proposed for between about five and 25 kilometres off the coast from south of Mandurah to north of Bunbury. I understand that the water closer than about five kilometres off the coast is too shallow for the ships that will be used in construction.

Skyborn renewables have a web site on the project.

Information from Skyborn states that the wind farm will be up to 1,900MW in capacity and will use turbines around 15MW each. As of the time of writing the biggest wind farm in Australia was Coopers Gap WF in Queensland, at 450MW and the biggest wind turbines were about 5.5MW.

Australis Energy, based in England and Wales, has a part interest in the project.

300MW of the wind farm will be in state controlled waters, the remainder further offshore in federally controlled waters. My information is that the part in state controlled waters will not be economically viable on its own. It is unlikely to be operational until about 2032, if at all.

At the time of writing all but the intentionally blind were realising the urgency of changing away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, so for this project to take as long as ten years to be built is very disappointing.

The project is of particular interest to me because I have lived in Mandurah since February 2022. It seems unlikely that I will live to see it built - I am 77 years old at the time of writing. Skyborn energy held an information session, which I attended, in Mandurah on 2022/11/30.

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Altered 2010/01/20

Nilgen Wind Farm

This wind farm is proposed by Pacific Hydro and was approved in December 2009. The proposed location is on a ridgeline approximately 9km east of Lancelin and 100km NNW of Perth. More precisely Pacific Hydro's Planning Application states that "the site runs approximately 10km from Dingo Road in the north to just north of Sappers Road in the south".

Pacific Hydro's page on this wind farm can be accessed via their home page.

It is expected that the project will have an operational life of 30 years.

Nilgen Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction due	Lat.	Long.
Approved	Up to 53	Up to 2.5	Up to 132.5	Undecided	Approx. S 31.02°	E 115.42°

Further data on Nilgen Wind Farm

Project
Greenhouse gas abatement	Estimated 500 000 tonnes per annum
Cost	Aus$280 million
Annual generation	Up to 480 GWh expected
Turbines
Towers	Up to 90m high, tubular
Blades	Three, up to 48m long
Rotor diameter	Up to 96m
Blade tip max. height	Up to 138m
Foundation	15m diameter, 1.5m high, reinforced concrete
Hardstand	Crane hardstand approx. 22m x 40m

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This section added 2018/05/05

Pilbara Energy Hub
Formally, The Asian Renewable Energy Hub

There is a net page on the project. It is said to involve a consortium of global renewable energy leaders, the Governments of Indonesia and Singapore, as well as large energy users in the Pilbara.

	Putting it in perspective China's Three Gorges Dam, the biggest hydro-electric installation ever built, has a total generating capacity of 22.5 GW.
	Macquarie Group gets onboard On 2018/10/08 Peter Williams wrote an article in the West Australian about the Macquarie Group becoming involved as an investor in this $22 billion proposal.
	German ambassador's visit On 2019/02/26 Shannon Beattie wrote an article in the West Australian about the German Ambassador, Dr Anna Prinz, who visited the Karratha to learn about the hydrogen-producing potential of the Pilbara region. She intends to visit again.

This is by far the most ambitious renewable energy proposal current in Australia at the time of writing (May 2018); being for at least 6,000 MW (6 GW) of wind turbines and 3,000 MW (3 GW) of solar PV. (In May 2018 the biggest operating Australian wind farm was the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm in Victoria, and the biggest solar PV farm was the 102 MW installation at Nyngan, NSW.)

It seems that there will be two stages. The first stage will be 3 GW wind and solar, will be confined to the Pilbara and will cost about $5 billion. The second stage will be another 6 GW wind and solar, will cost $15 billion, and will include the power link to Java (and possibly Singapore).

The proponents say that they expect the project to generate 33 TWh of electricity each year which works out at what seems to me to be a very optimistic but perhaps not impossible 42% capacity factor. (It happens that 33 TWh is the national target for renewable energy by 2020.)

Some of the power is expected to be used in the Pilbara but much is intended to go to Asia via an undersea high voltage direct current transmission line. The production of hydrogen for the domestic and overseas market has also been mooted.

If built it will occupy 7,000 square kilometres of land in the East Pilbara.

Feasibility studies and planning started in 2014. A financial decision is aimed at by 2020, construction in 2023 and completion by 2029.

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Updated 2011/04/04

Rottnest Island Wind Farm

As there is only a single turbine the use of the term 'wind farm' is inacurate, I have used it for simplicity in indexing in these pages.

Rottnest Island turbine

This wind farm, consisting of a single Enercon E-40 turbine and belonging to the Rottnest Island Authority, is situated on the popular tourism island about fifteen kilometres off the coast at Perth. The project cost was Aus$3 million.

Craig Carter of Verve Energy informed me by email on 2011/04/04 that "Verve Energy was the principal contractor for the project to install the wind turbine, re-automate the existing diesel power station, add two 320kW low load diesels to increase wind penetration and to automate the control of the desal plant to use excess wind energy for water production."

According to the Rottnest Island Authority, the wind turbine produces about 35% of the power needed on the island. Wind turbines had been tried unsuccessfully some years ago, but until the installation of the current one, the island had been reliant on diesel-generated power.

Rottnest Island Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW	Completion date	Lat.	Long.
Operating	1	0.6	September 2006	S 32.00°	E 115.54°

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Walkaway Wind Farm

Sometimes called Alinta Wind Farm

Walkaway Wind Farm Image credit: Julie Burgher, sunphlo, Flickr

This wind farm is 30km SE of Geraldton, about 12km from the coast, and 370km north of Perth.

This farm was owned by Alinta, now Babcock and Brown. (Babcock and Brown was replaced by Infigen.)

I have been informed that this wind farm has the, so far as I know, otherwise unheard of capacity factor of 47%. This means that the amount of electricity generated is 47% of the rated capacity of the wind farm. A more typical capacity factor is 30%; 33% is the average for most Eastern Australian wind farms. Miles George of Babcock and Brown Wind Partners also informed me that this c.f. is the best for all of B&B's 79 wind farms.

Infigen may have sold this wind farm.

Walkaway Wind Farm summary data

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Commissioned	Lat.	Long.
Operating	54	1.65	89.1	April 2006	S 28.90°	E 114.89°

Further data...

Wind resource Average wind speeds 5.5-7 m/sec in the cooler months, 7-10 m/sec Oct. to March (20-25 km/hr in the cooler months, 25-35 km/hr Oct. to March) Turbines Type NEG Micon NM82 - 1.65MW Expected life 25 years Rotation rate 14.4 revolutions per minute Productive wind speeds From 3.9 to 18 m/sec (14 to 65 km/hr) Wind speed at which maximum output reached 11-15 m/sec Tower height 78m Tower weight 130 tonnes Tower material Steel Rotor diameter 82m Blade length Approx. 40m Blade material Fibreglass Blade weight 7.5 tonnes Project Project cost Aus$210 million Productivity Annual generation 367 GWh Greenhouse gas saving Estimated at 400 000 tonnes CO2 p.a. Capacity factor 47% net Power export Via existing 132kV transmission line

Some of the data in this table came from the Alinta Net site mentioned above, and some from Miles George of B&B Wind Partners. Corrections were received from Verve Energy.

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Edited 2019/01/23

Warradarge Wind Farm

On 2019/01/16 The West Australian carried an article stating that "Work soon to start" on the wind farm, without giving any dates.

The West Australian announced on 2012/07/06 that state-owned Verve is planning to build this wind farm, which may be the state's biggest, when and if it is built, 270km north of Perth. It was expected that the wind farm will be built in three stages between 2014 and 2020.

On 2018/12/22 a piece written by Peter de Kruijff in The West Australia reported that Vestas Wind Systems had won the engineering, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance contracts for the project

On 2019/01/06 Aidan Smith writing for Farm Weekly reported that "The Shire of Coorow is welcoming of the State government's announcement that it has given the go-ahead for construction to begin." "the first power generation is on track for 2020"

Summary data on Warradarge Wind Farm

Status	# Turbines	MW each	Total MW	Construction date	Completion expected	Lat.	Long.
Approved	51	3.53?	180	?	Third quarter 2020	S 30.07°	E 115.31°

The coordinates above are those of the township of Warradarge

Further data on Warradarge Wind Farm

Blade length	66m
Height to tip of blade	152m
Capacity factor	50% hoped for

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Edited 2013/08/27

Other operating wind farms in WA

Name	No. turbines	kW each	Total MW	Comments
Karakin	10	500	5	Partnership between Sumich and Blair Fox
Sumich	10	500	5	Owned by the Sumich company. 75% to 85% of the power is used on-site.

I thank Antoine Le-Ray for informing me about the existence of these small wind farms and Vincent Tana, General Manager of Sumich, for further information. Both wind farms are near Lancelin. All turbines are Enercon E-40s with 44m towers, 22m blades and no gear-boxes; all were previously operating in Europe and were in very good condition when received.

One of these is at about Latitude 30.39, Longitude 115.08.

Karakin or Sumich wind farm Photographed from the Cervantes to Jurien Bay road

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Minor wind farms in WA

Less than 1 MW and at least 20 kW

Updated 2010/07/29

This list quite probably does not include all the 'wind farms' within the above range, and there would certainly be many small wind generators below the 20kW level that are not mentioned on this page. These pages, Wind in the Bush, are predominantly concerned with large, utility scale, generators.

All these farms are operating, all capacity figures are in kilowatts Alphabetical order
Location/name	Developer	Owner	Connection or purpose	Year commissioned	Turbine make	Turbine capacity	No. turbines	Total capacity
Armadale	Steel Dale Industries	Steel Dale Industries	Grid	1997	Westwind	30	1	30
Cocos (Keeling) Island	Power Corp/Diesel & Wind Systems	Power Corp/Diesel & Wind Systems	Wind/diesel	2005	Westwind	20	4	80
Exmouth Advanced	Western Power	Horizon Power	Small grid	2002	Westwind	20	3	60
Murdoch	RISE	RISE	Research	2000	Westwind	20	1	20
Swan Valley	Western Power	Nyungar Community	Grid	1998	Westwind	10	2	20

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Other proposed wind farms

Updated 2012/02/08

In addition to the wind farms detailed above several others have been proposed (table below).

If and when these wind farms look likely to be built, and as I get more information, I will write them up in more detail. If any readers have information concerning these wind farms I would appreciate a note, my email address is at the top of this page.

Until a wind farm gets at least to the point where an application for approval has been submitted to the relevant authority it may be little more than wishfull thinking and is not worth covering in more detail than that below.

Links

IMOWA; "The Independent Market Operator, (WA) was established in Western Australia in December 2004 after a government initiative to privatise the electricity industry and open the market up to wider competition. The market, referred to as the WEM (Wholesale Electricity Market), commenced on 21 September 2006."

Current wind power generation on the SWIS (South West Interconnected System)

Other links are in appropriate places throughout the text of this page.