| |
|
This section written 2011/04/24
|
|
CBD Energy PL submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in June 2010.
The wind farm is composed of three clusters of turbines.
From the PEA:
"Adjungbilly Cluster is located approximately 26km east of the Gundagai
and approximately 30km north-east of Tumut whereas the Stockdale
Cluster is located approximately 22km north-east of Gundagai and
approximately 17.5km south of Jugiong.
The turbines of the Adjungbilly Cluster extend over a series of
north-south facing ridgelines whereas the Stockdale Cluster extends
across a single east-west ridgeline.
All turbines are located on land ranging from approximately 481m to
799m Australian Height Datum (AHD)."
There seems to be no Net site dedicated to the wind farm as of 2011/04/24.
Summary data, Adjungbilly Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | Max. 26 | 1.5? | App. 39
| Undecided | Approx. S 35.09° | E 148.41°
|
The coordinates above are those of the Adjungbilly Cluster
Additional data on Adjungbilly Wind Farm
| Tower height | 68m
|
|---|
| Hub height | 70m
|
|---|
| Max blade tip height | 111m
|
|---|
|
|
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit Wind Prospect
| |
Wind Prospect submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in March 2011.
It will be close to the towns of Boorowa and Rye Park, about 25km north of
Yass and 80km north of Canberra.
There is a
Net page by the proponents.
In late 2017 it stated that a determination was hoped for from the state
Planning Assessment Commission in early 2018 on whether development approval
should be given.
Summary data, Bango Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Costruction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 122 | Approx. 3 | Approx. 400
| Unknown | Approx. S 34.63° | E 148.83°
|
Eco Business quoted Wind Prospect Senior Development Manager Adrian
Maddocks as saying that the number of turbines was reduced from around
200 to 100 on 2012/08/07.
Additional data on Bango Wind Farm
| Developer | Wind Prospect
|
|---|
| Project cost | $500m to $600m
|
|---|
| Tower (hub) height | 70 to 100m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 80 to 120m
|
|---|
Also known as Guyla?
Allco, the company behind this proposed wind farm, failed in November 2008.
A company spokesman had stated that Allco would
lodge the development application within a couple of days of 27th Feb.
2008.
The town of Ben Lomond is about 33km south of Glen Innes in the New England
district of NSW.
There is a map showing the location of this wind farm in the section on
White Rock Wind Farm.
If the farm is ever built the turbines will run along several ridges from
Ben Lomond.
Summary data, Ben Lomond Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 98 | 2.4 | 150 to 200
| Undecided | Approx. S 30.03° | E 151.66°
|
Additional data on Ben Lomond Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Allco
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$300 million
|
|---|
| The turbines
|
|---|
| Tower type | Tubular steel
|
|---|
| Width of base | 4.5m
|
|---|
| Hub height | 80m
|
|---|
| Total height (to blade tip) | 128m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | Up to 95m
|
|---|
Some of this information came from an informative page at
Wind-Watch news, posted
December 19th 2007.
Other information came from Allco's
pages on this wind farm.
| |
This section added 2017/02/05
Updated 2017/07/14
|
|
Newtricity, the proposer of this wind farm, have a
Web site on the
project, it includes several maps showing the project boundary and turbine
layout.
It is to be about 8 km east of Biala and 15 km south-west of
Crookwell.
The project was approved by NSW Planning and Environment Dept. 2017/04/12.
It is proposed that 31 turbines will be built on four private farming
properties.
Maximum blade-tip height will be 185m.
A sketchy proposal was first announced several years ago.
Summary data, Biala Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 31 | ? | ?
| Undecided | S 34.59° | E 149.35°
|
| Location of Birrema and Carroll's Ridge wind farms
|
|---|
|
|
Map credit Epuron
|
Epuron submitted a Preliminary
Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in July 2010.
Newsletters are available from the Epuron Net site.
Epuron's Net site gives the status of this wind farm as "Development
commenced".
From the PEA, "The proposed Birrema Wind Farm is to be located on the
boundary of the Southern Tablelands and South Western Slopes regions of
NSW, 30km west of Yass, and approximately 300km SW of Sydney.
The site is in the vicinity of a number of proposed wind farms".
Summary data, Birrema Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 60 to 80 | 1.5 to 3.3 | 90 to 264
| Undecided | Approx. S 34.88° | E 148.56°
|
Additional data on Birrema Wind Farm
| Project cost | Not stated
|
|---|
| Tower height | Up to 105m
|
|---|
| Maximum total height | 150m
|
|---|
| CO2 abatement | 510 000 tonnes estimated
|
|---|
| Power generated | 536 000MWh per year estimated
|
|---|
This wind farm near Oberon, and about 50km south of Bathurst, has been
proposed by Wind Corporation (Level 42, AAP Centre, 259 George St., Sydney).
NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor has approved the project, with
conditions.
Energreen Wind Pty., Ltd. (57 Carlotta Street, Greenwich, NSW 2065) also
has some part in the project.
I was unable to find a Net page for either company, nor for the project;
AEMO does not mention this wind farm on its list of proposed generators.
Summary data on Black Springs Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 9 | 2.1? | 19?
| Unknown | Approx. S 33.87° | E 149.73°
|
ABC Central West NSW OnLine reported 2009/03/27 that the falling water
level in the Oberon reservoir could cause the fast-tracking of construction
of this wind farm.
(The wind farm does not need water from the dam, apparently the alternative
is a fossil-fuelled power station that does need cooling water.)
Mark Fogarty, director of Wind Corporation, is reported as having said
that "he is hopefull construction can start early next year" (2010).
It was reported that the project will generate 32 jobs at the construction
stage.
Further data on Black Springs Wind Farm
| Project cost | Au$32.6m
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 44 thousand tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
Located near Bathurst, this wind farm is owned by Eraring
Energy.
|
|
A beautiful photo of part of Blayney Wind Farm by
Dave Bassett; his Flickr name,
tassie303.
|
Summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 15 | Vestas | V47 | 0.66 | 9.9
| Oct. 2000 | S 33.62° | E 149.20°
|
The year 2000 date is when the wind farm was opened by the NSW
Minister for Energy.
Additional data, Blayney Wind Farm
Several Net pages have a very limited amount of data on Blayney wind
farm
http://www.bathurst-nsw.com/BlayWindFm.html,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blayney_Wind_Farm,_New_South_Wales.
Somewhat more can be found at
http://www.eraring-energy.com.au/.
| |
| Boco Rock Wind Farm under construction
|
|---|
| | Photo credit Paul McIver; photo on
Flickr
| |
Construction of the wind farm was completed on 2014/12/15.
An open day was held on 2014/11/29 and it was reported that more than 1000
people attended.
This farm was constructed by
Wind Prospect.
This farm was approved by NSW Minister of Planning Tony Kelly on
2010/08/09 (Announced in the Cooma-Monaro Express) and by the Federal
Government on 2010/09/30.
I have some more photos of Boco Rock WF on
another page.
| Boco Rock Wind Farm early works 2013/08/11
|
|---|
|
| Image credit Mike Hudson
|
The Boco Rock WF Net site gave the construction starting date as 2013/07/29.
Summary data, Boco Rock Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Completion date
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Operating | 67 | 58 × 1.7 MW
9 × 1.6 MW | 113 | 2014/12/15
| Approx. S 36.73° | E 149.26°
|
The developers, CWP Renewables, have approval to expand to 120 turbines.
| |
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit Infigen
| |
| |
News 2018/08/23
Renew Economy reported that the first three turbines had begun exporting power to the grid.
|
|
Infigen submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in October 2010.
It being constructed about 20km north-east of Wellington and around 40km
south-east of Dubbo at the closest point.
It is spread over at least five properties on land at elevations of between 400m and 740m.
Infigen has a
Net site and a
Facebook page about the project.
NSW Health representative Professor Wayne Smith, Director Environmental
Health Branch and Dr Jeremy McAnulty, Director Health Protection NSW were
consulted by the Planning Assessment Commission on 2013/08/22.
"NSW Health was very clear in its advice, which is consistent with that of
the National Heath and Medical Research Council – that there is no
published scientific evidence to link wind turbines with adverse health
effects."
The Commission noted that noise levels predicted at any non-associated
dwelling were expected to not exceed 30 dB(A) and that infrasound was not
expected to be perceptible at any dwelling.
The Commission noted that there would be a modest
Community fund
– 2% of the revenue of one turbine.
Summary data, Bodangora Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Expected completion | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 33 | 3.4 | 113
| Second half of 2018 | S 32.46° | E 149.05°
|
Additional data on Bodangora Wind Farm
| Tower height | 80 to 100m
|
|---|
| Blade tip height | Maximum 150m
|
|---|
| Footing type | Rock anchor probable
|
|---|
Also called Bungendore and Capital Hill Wind Farm
Once owned by Babcock and Brown, this farm now belongs to Infigen Energy
who have a
Net page on the farm, which was constructed by Suzlon.
The wind farm is mostly between Tarago and Lake George, and about 50km
SSW of Goulburn;
the location is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
My information, of which I cannot be sure, is that
they will be in three groups:
at Groses Hill east of Lake George (about Lat. S 35.06°, Long.
E 149.51°)
in the Hammonds Hill-Ellendon area (about Lat. S 35.17°, Long.
E 149.50°),
and a few in the Boro area, SSW of Tarago (about Lat. S 35.19°, Long.
E 149.63°).
There is a map
on this page, in the section on the
adjacent Woodlawn Wind Farm.
An interactive map showing its location and giving directions on how to
get there is available on
ExplorOz.
In May 2008 the NSW Government announced that power from this wind farm
would be used to run the proposed Kurnell (Sydney) desalination plant.
Infigen managing director Miles George said the desalination plant would
use 40MW of electricity when it began operating this summer, and that any
left over power generated by the wind farm would go into the national
electricity grid.
The NSW Planning Dept.
posted in December 2013 that this wind farm complies with state noise
standards.
|
| Some of the Bungendore turbines in the middle distance,
Woodlawn turbines in the far distance. Lake George is in the foreground
|
Summary data on Capital Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Capacity factor | Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 67 | Suzlon | S88 | 2.1 | 140.7 | 26%
| November 2009 | Approx. S 35.15° | E 149.54°
|
|
The capacity factor was
calculated from AEMO data for August
2009 to December 2012 data (inclusive) downloaded via the
Australian Landscape Guardians '.csv' format download facility.
|
| |
| | Up to mid 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Capital
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
Further data on Bungendore Wind Farm
| The project
|
|---|
| Owner/operator | Infigen Energy
| | Project cost | Aus$220 million
| | Estimated generation | 400GWh per year
| | Length of underground cabling | 45km
| | The resource
|
|---|
| Average wind speed | More than 7m/sec. at hub height
| | The Turbines
|
|---|
| Type | Suzlon S88
| | Expected life | 25 years
| | Tower height | 80m
| | Rotor diameter | 88m
| | Blade length | Approx. 43m
| | Height to tip of blade | 124m
| | Blade material | Fibreglass
|
|
|
Much of the data in the table on the left came from Miles George
of Infigen.
Infigen commissioned QDos Research to conduct a survey into the perceptions
of Capital Wind Farm held by the local people.
The results were released in May 2012.
Infigen calculated the approximate population of the area surveyed –
Bungendore and Tarago – to be 3300.
Of these 200 householders and 34 businesses were interviewed by telephone.
The survey report is available from
Infigen's Net site.
The NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure did a survey
of people living within four kilometres of Bungendore, Cullerin Range and
Woodlawn wind farms.
I have written a little more about these surveys on
another page.
| |
| Location
|
|---|
Map from Infigen's PEA
| |
Infigen's Net site
Update 2017/08/04; Infigen Pty Ltd have received a 1 Year extension
to their planning application.
The following information was extracted from the original Preliminary
Environmental Assessment (PEA).
The land to be used is about 700 hectares and belongs to five landowners.
The majority of the land has been cleared, but a small number of isolated
patches of native vegetation remain.
"Construction of the turbines and roads will not require any tree clearing".
If built, this project will use the same connection point to the power grid
as Bungendore and Woodlawn.
From the PEA:
"The surrounding area is undulating with some steeper slopes around incised
valleys.
Capital II Wind Farm is bordered by Western Leg Road to the east and
Lake George to the west.
At approximately 2500 people, the Bungendore township
is the closest significant population
centre to the site, and the city of Canberra is located approximately 40km
to the south-west."
Summary data, Capital 2 Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 41 | 3.5 | 144?
| Unknown | S 35.12° | E 149.47°
|
Also see
Yass Valley Wind Farm.
| Location of Birrema and Carroll's Ridge wind farms
|
|---|
|
|
|
Map credit Epuron
|
Epuron have proposed this
wind farm, but few details were
given.
Summary data, Carroll's Ridge Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 34 | Likely 2 to 3.6
| 68 to 122? | Unknown | S 34.91° | E 148.69°
|
| |
Fully financed
Sophie Vorrath
posted in Renew Economy 2019/05/30 that financial closure had been achieved due to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation investment of $180 million into the $360 million project.
|
|
This project was owned by Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund, but all
their wind power assets were taken over by
Ratch Australia Corporation.
Ratch produced a newsletter (number 4), which included a detailed map
showing intended turbine locations, in July 2012.
On 2013/12/03 the NSW Planning Assessment Commission approved this project,
although with the deletion of eight turbines.
Reducing the number from 63 to 55.
|
|
| | Map credit Transfield
|
|
It is proposed that the farm will be just south of the
Cullerin Range Wind Farm, 30km SW of
Goulburn and it is expected to cost around $400 million.
Transfield said that the site was chosen for the reasons below:
- It has an excellent wind resource;
- There are few residences in close proximity to the site;
- The site is traversed by the electricity grid, limiting the length of
transmission line required;
- Preliminary environmental studies indicate a low impact on the
environment; and
- Community support for renewable energy developments in the region.
Wind data has been collected over several years from two wind monitoring
towers.
Summary data, Collector Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Approved | 55? | 3.4? | 227 | late 2019? | S 34.86° | E 149.40°
|
The number and size of turbines above is from Ratch's Newsletter
# 4
The total MW is from a posting of Renew Economy
Further data on Collector Wind Farm
| Tower height | 90m max.
|
|---|
| Blade length | 60m max.
|
|---|
| Construction period | About 2 years
|
|---|
| Expected power generation | 550 GWh per year
|
|---|
Ratch have promised $200 000 per year to the local
community for this wind farm.
This equates $3175 per turbine per year.
2013 Collector Pumpkin Festival
It seems that Transfield/Ratch sponsored this festival, which is the premier
annual event at Collector.
Apparently
Angus Taylor, the local Liberal candidate and
wind power opponent, attacked the wind farm proponents and the sponsorship.
He was eventually made to back-down and the festival was a great success.
| |
|
This section written 2018/01/09
|
|
Originally to be a part of
Yass Valley Wind Farm this now seems to belong to Goldwind as a separate entity.
Goldwind has a
net site about the project.
They state:
"Coppabella Wind Farm will extend 12 kilometres west to east and 10 kilometres north to south along the Coppabella Hills near the towns of Bookham and Binalong."
Summary data, Coppabella Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | Up to 79 | ? | ?
| Undecided | Approx. S 34.75° | E 148.63°
|
The wind farm is about 10km south of Crookwell and 175km SE of Sydney;
the location is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
See also
Crookwell 2 and
Crookwell 3 wind farms.
There is a map showing the locations of all three stages of the Crookwell
projects in
Crookwell 3 WF.
The wind farm operators are apparently Great Southern Energy, Pacific Power
and Eraring Energy
(full URL "http://www.eraring-energy.com.au/Default.aspx?aCateId=796"
for Eraring's wind farms).
Argyle County has a
page
on the wind farm, from which much of this information came.
Summary data for Crookwell
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 8 | 0.6 | 4.8
| July 1998 | S 34.52° | E 149.54°
|
Further data on Crookwell
| Owner/operator | Eraring
|
|---|
| Tower height | 45m
|
|---|
| Tower weight | 36t
|
|---|
| Turbine type | Vestas V44-600kW
|
|---|
| Turbine diameter | 44m
|
|---|
| Blade material | Fibreglass
|
|---|
| Start-up wind speed | 4.2m/sec (15km/hr)
|
|---|
| Shut-down wind speed | 20m/sec (72km/hr)
|
|---|
| Rotation rate | 28 revolutions per minute
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 8000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
| |
|
Union Fenosa/GPG Naturgy Group has a
Web page about the project.
On 2018/11/21 it was reporting the the wind farm was "scheduled to commence operation in the second half of 2018."
The wind farm will be adjacent Crookwell Wind Farm, about 14km SE of Crookwell, about 30km NW of Goulburn and 175km SE of Sydney and in the shire of Upper Lachlan; the location is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
(There is a map showing the locations of all three stages of the Crookwell
projects in Crookwell 3 WF.)
The site has a long history of agricultural use, and is now largely used
for grazing of sheep and cattle.
The size of the proposed development has been greatly reduced over several
years, at one point about 46 turbines were proposed.
It is expected that the turbines will be spread along several of ridge-lines.
| Crookwell 2 Wind Farm
|
|---|
|
| Gullen Range Wind Farm in the distance
|
|
| Credit for both photos: Mike Hudson
|
The wind farm is contracted to the ACT (Australian Capital Territory)
government under its 100% renewable energy by 2020 target.
For more information see
Resources and Energy, NSW.
The wind farm is being constructed by Union Fenosa Wind Australia (UFWA).
The Crookell Gazette stated on 2012/07/10 that "construction of the works
associated with the wind farm [will continue] from late July".
The construction work to be done was roadbuilding.
Managing Director of UFWA sited "major disruptions to energy policy in
Australia" as the reason for the delay in construction.
He said that the uncertainty in the industry has "put a brake on all forms
of investment in electrical generation in Australia".
UFWA has recently announced the formation of a Community Consultative
Committee.
Crookwell 2 summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Completion date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | 28 | 3.25 | 91 | Late 2018? | S 34.53° | E 149.56°
|
Further data on Crookwell 2
| Owner/operator | Union Fenosa Wind Australia
|
|---|
| Expected generation | Up to 100GWh per year
|
|---|
UFWA have promised a Community Enhancement Fund of $70 000 per year for
this wind farm for the expected 25-year life of the project.
This equates $2500 per turbine per year.
For more information see
Resources and Energy, NSW.
|
|
|
Location of the Crookwell Wind Farms
Acknowledgement Union Fenosa
|
|
Update 2014/02/21, pers. com. Thomas Mitchell, Legal Manager, Union
Fenosa
"In the week commencing 10 February our consultants SMEC started geotechnical
investigations and surveys at the Crookwell 3 wind farm sites off the
Woodhouselee Rd, and off the Goulburn-Crookwell Rd near Pejar Dam."
This is to map the foundation conditions for the turbines.
|
Union Fenosa has a
pdf newsletter on this project.
If built it will be on two parcels of land, south and east of Crookwell
2 Wind Farm; the new bits are referred to as Crookwell 3 East and Crookwell
3 South.
(Also see the
Goulburn area-map.)
The pdf newsletter (released in March 2010, link above) states that approval
is currently being applied for.
ABC
Online News also carried an article on the proposal, May 24, 2010.
Email inquiries can go to info@unionfenosa.com.au.
A community consultative committee has been established in relation to this
and Crookwell 2 WF.
Summary data, Crookwell 3 Wind Farm
| Status | #Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction beginning | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | Up to 30 | Up to 3.4 | Up to 102
| Unknown | Approx. S 34.57° | E 150.05°
|
The coordinates are those of Crookwell 3 East
Additional data on Crookwell 3 Wind Farm
| Hub height | 105m maximum
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 152m maximum
|
|---|
| Tip height | 152m maximum
|
|---|
| Expected generation | Between 146 and 209GWh per year
|
|---|
| Project cost | $90-$100 million
|
|---|
| |
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit Wind Prospect
| |
Construction started on this wind farm in May 2018.
| |
September 2018
It has been reported that many more trees have been felled than were reported as needing to be removed for site access in the environment impact statement.
This could be related to the turbine blades being longer than first expected.
|
|
This project was allowed to languish for several years, but was approved
by the NSW Planning Assessment Commission on May 10, 2016, and Commonwealth
Minister for the Environment and Energy on April 4, 2017.
There is a
net page by the developer,
CWP Renewables.
Update 2018/06/05
Renewables Now carried an article 2018/05/30 reporting that the Clean Energy Finance Corporation had announced that it would provide $38 million in debt financing for this project.
Information from 2013 or earlier
Wind Prospect submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in February 2011.
The project "is located approximately 45km south of Mudgee and 45km north
of Bathurst.
The turbines extend over a 16 km span along the Crudine Ridge, south west
from Aarons Pass Rd.
The individual turbine positions are located on land with elevations
ranging from approximately 890m to 1 000m Australian Height Datum (AHD)."
106 turbines were proposed.
Summary data, Crudine Ridge Wind Farm
Updated 2018/05/29
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction started | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 37 | 3.63 | 134.3 | May 2018 | September 2019 | Approx. S 33.00° | E 149.72°
|
|
Turbine blade arriving at the Cullerin Range Wind Farm
Photo credit Origin
|
This wind farm 30km west of Goulburn and 14km east of Gunning on the
Cullerin Range; the location is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
Approval was given by the state Planning Minister in late February 2007
and preliminary construction works commenced at the end of
January 2008 around the time that Origin Energy acquired the development
rights from Epuron.
It was reported in June 2016 that this wind farm was sold by Origin to Duet subsidiary Energy Developments.
Summary data, Cullerin Range Wind Farm
| Status | #Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Capacity factor | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 15 | REpower | 8×MM82
7×MM92 | 2 | 30
| Late May to
early July 2009 | 40% | Approx. S 34.81°
| E 149.40°
|
The capacity factor was calculated from AEMO data up to the end of
December 2012 and among the best I have calculated for any Australian
wind farm.
|
Cullerin Range Wind Farm under construction
Photo credit Origin
|
|
|
| | Data up to end 2012
| |
The NSW Planning Dept.
posted in December 2013 that this wind farm complies with state noise
standards.
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Cullerin Range
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
Origin provided $20 000 in 2013/14 to the local
community for this wind farm.
This equates $1333 per turbine per year.
(Earlier they had promised $25 000/year.)
They have said that they will provide only $15 000 for the 2014-15 year
($1000 per turbine).
|
|
| Additional data on Cullerin Range Wind Farm
|
|---|
| Owner/operator | Origin
| | Project cost | Aus$50 million
| | Turbine brand | Repower
| | Tower height | 80m
| | Blade length | up to 46m
| | Nacelle and generator weight | 72 tonnes
| | Hub weight | 17 tonnes
| | Footing | 380 cubic metres in size and containting
650 tonnes of concrete and 40 tonnes of reinforcing steel
| | Greenhouse abatement | 95 000 tonnes CO2/yr expected
| | Altitude | Around 700m
| |
Some of the information on the table came from
Wind Energy News and other from the Goulburn Post (2009/03/13).
Lights turned off
The Croockwell Gazette published an article stating that the aviation
lighting on the wind farm towers were switched off on November 1st, 2010.
| |
Rejected
ABC on-line News
reported on 2012/11/21 that the project had been rejected
by The Southern Joint Regional Planning Panel.
|
|
Epuron have proposed this project on the NSW south coast, on a peninsula approximately five kilometres SE of the township of Eden.
A development application has been lodged with the Bega Council.
Epuron have given the following contacts for inquiries:
- Martin Poole, Director; 0411 159 114
- Daniel Gilbert, Project Manager 0411 758 225
Summary data, Eden Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Development application lodged | Up to 7 | ? | ?
| Undecided | Approx. S 37.11° | E 149.94°
|
Several documents about the project are available from Epuron's Net page.
Newsletter No. 1 has a map showing the location of the project.
Epuron have announced a Community fund for the project.
| |
|
On 2013/11/28 the Blayney Chronicle announced that this project has received
the support of the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
It was later (March 2014) approved by the Planning Assessment Commission.
|
|
Flyers Creek Wind Farm Pty Ltd (100% owned by Infigen Energy)
propose
that this wind farm will be built about 20km South of Orange
and about 200km West of Sydney.
The turbines will be located in pastoral country along ridges about two
kilometres to the south-east of the Cadia mine site boundary.
Summary data, Flyers Creek Wind Farm
| Status | #Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | Up to 44 | 2 to 3.5? | 120
| Unknown | Approx. S 33.48° | E 149.10°
|
A preliminary environmental assesment was published on the Net in December
2008 by Flyers Creek Wind Farm Pty Ltd;
some of the information above was taken from that document.
Infigen Energy was trying to include one community owned turbine in this
wind farm.
| |
News 2017/07/19
Nixif Energy's
net page stated that "The company kicked off early works at the Glen
Innes site in early January 2017"
|
|
The wind farm was first proposed by Infigen Energy and was approved by the NSW
government in November 2009.
If built it will be in the New England area: the northern NSW highlands.
As of July 2017 Nexif Energy Australia has a
Net site on the project.
On 2013/05/09
Clean Technica reported that Denham Capital Management had invested in several
Australian wind farms, including this one.
On 2013/05/23 Sustainable Business reported that OneWind Australia had the
rights to the project and that it would come online in 2015.
There is a map showing the location of this wind farm in the section on
White Rock Wind Farm.
Summary data, Glen Innes Wind Farm
| Status | #Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 25 | 3.6 | 90
| ? | S 29.76° | E 151.64°
|
The figures for number of turbines and total MW above are from a net
page of Nexif
Additional data on Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$150 million
|
|---|
|
|
| Location map
|
|---|
| Map credit Wind Prospect
A more detailed map is available from Wind Prospect CWP's Net site.
| |
Wind Prospect's page (2013/07/01)
included a note stating that "The planning application with the NSW
Department of Planning and Infrastructure has been allowed to lapse."
If built, the turbines will be on the higher altitude ridges around the
township of
Golspie, to the northeast of Crookwell and about 50km north of Goulburn.
A newsletter (No. 1) was released for February/March 2012 in late February.
It included a fairly detailed map of the wind farm boundaries.
Email contact: Development Manager, Daniel.macdonald@wpcwp.com.au
Summary data, Golspie Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioning date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | Up to 100 | 1.5 to 4.5 | 250
| 2014/15 intended | S 34.28° | E 149.63°
|
Additional data on Golspie Wind Farm
(These figures may well be obsolete)
| Project cost | Not stated
|
|---|
| Tower (hub) height | Up to 120m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | Up to 136m
|
|---|
| Max. blade tip height | 188m
|
|---|
| Carbon dioxide abatement | 740 000 tonnes p.a. expected
|
|---|
| Annual generation | 876 000 MWh expected
|
|---|
| |
|
This section written 2017/08/14
|
|
This wind farm is proposed 12km SE of Nimmitabel, in the Steeple Flat region
of Brown Mountain.
There is a
net page.
Bega District News carried an article 2017/08/09.
"The project is a joint venture between an Australian company Willy Willy and
French company Akuo Energy."
In early August 2017 community members were being invited to be a part of a
consultation group.
There has been concern about bird kills; the proponents pointed out in the
article that blade-tip height will be 200m and the lowest height swept by the
blades will be at 70m and that most birds don't fly as high as 70m.
They also reported that the project managers were calling for expressions of
interest in a community consultative committee.
Summary data, Granite Hills Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 35 | 3.45 | 120.8
| Second quarter 2018 | Late 2019 | Approx. S 36.57° | E 149.37°
|
At the time of completion this was the biggest wind farm in NSW, but it is
smaller than others in WA, SA and Victoria.
Epuron was originally involved in this proposal, but seem to have sold
their interest to
Goldwind Australia.
Goldwind announced first power to the grid in mid December 2013.
| |
| Gullen Range Wind Farm 2013/07/13
|
|---|
| | Image credit Mike Hudson
| |
Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. announced the start of
construction at Gullen Range Wind Farm on or about 2012/11/28.
At the same time it was announced that 17 towers were to be manufactured
locally.
REVE (2012/07/08) said that this would be the first wind farm in Australia
to host Goldwind's 2.5MW Permanent Magnet Direct Drive wind turbines.
ABC
online news reported (2007/11/14) that this windfarm was to be built
on 14 properties along a ridge-line between Goulburn and Crookwell;
the properties are at Kialla, Bannister, Pomeroy and Gurrundah.
The location is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
The Crookwell Gazette (2011/02/23) ran an article anouncing an agreement
Epuron made with Goldwind Australia for the latter to supply the turbines
for the project (it seems they will be made in China).
Goldwind was founded in 1998 and established in Sydney in 2009.
ReNew
reported that the final foundation was poured on 2013/09/26 and that
the switchyard was completed.
Solar farm co-located with the wind farm
RenewEconomy ran an article by Giles Parkinson on 2017/10/05 reporting
that the solar farm co-located with the Gullen Range Wind Farm has started
feeding power into the grid.
The 10 MW solar farm was officially opened on 2018/02/01.
Summary data, Gullen Range Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Completion
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Operating | 56
17 | 2.5
1.5 | 165.5
| 2014/12/23 | Approx. S 34.57° | E 149.59°
|
Additional data, Gullen Range Wind Farm
| Expected CO2 abatement | 511 000 tonnes/year
|
|---|
| Project cost | $250 million
|
|---|
| Construction jobs | 150
|
|---|
| Longer term jobs | 15
|
|---|
The Crookwell Gazette, 2010/09/07, carried the following:
"Under the terms of consent for the Gullen wind farm and its 84 turbines,
the developers will be required to pay $139 944 a year into a
community enhancement fund."
This is $1666 per turbine per year and is more than most wind farmers put
into their communities.
Gunning WF is sometimes called Walwa WF because it is built on
a pastoral property of that name.
| |
| Assembling the first turbine at Gunning Wind Farm
Photo credit Acciona
|
|
Acciona has a
Web site about the wind farm.
It extends from a point about 20km WNW of
Goulburn to about 35km NW of Goulburn.
It is about 20km NE of Gunning and 10km NE of the
Cullerin Range wind farm; both are on the Cullerin
Range.
The general location of the Gunning Wind Farm is shown on the Goulburn area
map and more precisely below.
The first tower erection took place on 28 Oct. 2010; the first nacelle lift
occurred on 8 November.
Acciona's contacts for the project are: Bruce Payne – Construction
Manager, Phil Munari – Project Manager, Louise Kingma –
Community Relations Coordinator; Free call: 1800 283 550.
Email can go to "gunning@acciona.com.au".
The turbines used on this project are built by Acciona, and unlike some
other turbines (for example, the Vesta turbines used at SA's
Waterloo), rotate at a
constant speed.
The Gunning turbines have a gearbox to increase the rotation speed of
the generator, unlike the Enercon turbines at SA's
Mount Millar Wind Farm.
Electricity at Gunning is generated at 12kV, stepped up to 132kV at a
substation on the wind farm, then transmitted on a new line about 12km to the
Yass-Goulburn transmission line.
Another informative page I found on the Net was one by
Capire, who had been retained by Acciona for community relations work.
Summary data, Gunning/Walwa Wind Farm
| Status | #Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Capacity factor | Construction completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 31 | Acciona | AW 1500 | 1.5 | 46.5
| 39% | May 2011 | Approx. S 34.68° | E 149.36°
|
Gunning's capacity factor was calculated from data spanning the
period April 2011 to December 2012 inclusive and is among the highest for
any wind farm in Australia.
|
|
| Location of Gunning Wind Farm
Image credit Acciona
Click on the image for a higher resolution map
|
|
Additional data on Gunning/Walwa Wind Farm
| Tower height | 76m
|
|---|
| Tower base diameter | 4.5m
|
|---|
| Tower top diameter | 2.5m
|
|---|
| Blade length | Up to 40m
|
|---|
| Turbines | Acciona
|
|---|
| Concrete footing dimensions | 14m×14m×1.5m thick
|
|---|
| Nacelle dimensions | 8m long, 4m high, 50 tonnes weight
|
|---|
| Expected CO2 abatement | App. 135 000 tonnes annually
|
|---|
Acciona are providing $1000 per turbine per year (indexed to the CPI), a
total of $31 000 per annum.
This is more generous than some, less so than others.
The Crookwell Gazette publised a piece on a proposed 'community
enhancement fund' on 2012/08/02.
Both Upper Lachlan and Goulburn Mulwaree councils will have representatives
on the proposed committee.
|
|
| Generation record
|
|---|
| | Data up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Gunning Wind
Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
Hampton Wind Park is a two hour drive from Sydney, just off the Jenolan
Caves road in the Blue Mountains.
It was financed by Wind Corporation Australia and supplies electricity to Integral Energy's green power customers.
Summary data on Hampton Park Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 2 | 0.66 | 1.32
| Sept. 2001 | S 33.65° | E 150.05°
|
Additional data on Hampton Park Wind Farm
| Tower height | 50m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 47m
|
|---|
| Rotation | Fixed rate, 28.4 revolutions per minute
|
|---|
| Start-up wind speed | 4m/sec, 14km/hr
|
|---|
| Full power wind speed | 13-16m/sec, 46-58km/hr
|
|---|
| Shut-down wind speed | 25m/sec, 90km/hr
|
|---|
| Capital cost | Aus$2.5 million
|
|---|
The information above is from several sources including the NSW
Dept. Energy, Utilities and Sustainability and
Research
Institute for Sustainable Energy, (RISE).
I have been unable to find an Internet page devoted to this wind farm.
Wikipedia (on its page 'List of wind farms in NSW') indicates that this
farm is owned by Wind Corporation.
| |
| Map of proposed location
|
|---|
| | Map credit EPYC
| |
| |
Update 2018/02/28
Sophie Vorrath reported on
RenewEconomy 2018/02/28
that the project has again been rejected by the state government’s Department of Planning and Environment as “fundamentally unsuitable” to the site and surrounds – despite being downsized to 54 turbines.
"It will now go to the Planning Assessment Commission for the final determination, but the department has recommended approval of the project should be refused."
|
|
This proposal by
EPYC is intended to be 14km E of Lake George, 5km southeast of Tarago and 50km ENE of Canberra.
From the
EPYC net page 2018/01/10, the proposed number of turbines has been reduced from 100 to 88 and then to 54; the area concerned has gone from 12,000ha down to 5000 and then to 4135ha.
If the 54 turbines are to be 3.5MW each the total installed capacity will be 189MW.
EPYC released their first Community Newsletter in February 2014.
The project area "is approximately 12 000 ha extending along
Braidwood-Goulburn Road and past the Kings Highway".
"The majority of the proposed development will be on the Eastern side of the
Goulburn-Braidwood Road."
Summary data, Jupiter Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 54 | 3.5 | 189?
| Undecided | Approx. S 35.18° | E 149.66°
|
On 2015/11/01 RenewEconomy reported:
"A planning application for a 350MW wind
farm in the NSW Southern Tablelands has been rejected by the state's
Department of Planning and Environment, after it was ruled the project's
developers had failed to adequately assess the visual and noise impacts of
the turbines, or to properly consult with local residents."
| |
| Kooragang turbine
|
|---|
| This excellent image kindly provided by Tyler Hamilton.
See more of Tyler's photos on
Flickr
| |
| |
News, 2014/07/03
"After 17 years of operation, the iconic Kooragang Island wind turbine will
be dismantled and removed after Ausgrid was unable to find an appropriate
buyer for the site."
Newcastle Herald
|
|
Kooragang 'Wind Farm' consists of a single turbine on Kooragang Island
near Newcastle.
This information is from several sources including the NSW
Dept. Energy, Utilities and Sustainability.
In March 2011 there is discussion on the possibility of a need to move
the turbine because of the building of Waratah Coal Services' proposed
fourth coal loader.
Summary data on Kooragang
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 1 | 0.6 | 0.6
| 1997 | S 32.88° | E 151.75°
|
Proposed by Pamada to be built near Scone in the upper Hunter Valley.
There is a
Net page on the project.
The Net page stated that, as of 2015/01/20, works were underway.
This entry mainly concerns the wind farm part of the project.
Summary data, Kyoto Energy Park Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Approved | 34 | 3 | 102 | Undecided
| Approx. S 32.01° | E 150.78°
|
The turbines are to be in two areas, Mountain Station is about
latitude S 32.07° and longitude E 150.74° (31 turbines,
and Middlebrook Station is about latitude S 31.95° and longitude
E 150.78° (3 turbines).
This is a particularly
interesting and unusual project because beyond the wind turbines
it is to include from 3 to 10MW of solar (photovoltaic) collectors and
a closed-loop mini hydro-electric plant.
Pamada hopes that the project will have a total generating capacity of
137MW.
ABC On-line news reported on 2010/02/10 that the NSW Planning Minister
had approved the project.
| |
News 2019/03/07
Tilt Renewables announced that it had completed the acquisition of the project from Epuron.
They have a
Web page on the project.
|
|
Epuron have proposed this wind farm between Cassilis and Coolah in the Upper Hunter Renewable Energy Precinct.
Coolah is about 74km south-east of Coonabarabran; the wind farm will be about 470 km north of Sydney.
It was announced in early April 2018 that the NSW government had given approval for the wind farm to proceed.
In July 2018 it was reported that the project had secured environmental approval from the federal government.
"Using the elevated ridges that run north-south in the general area of
Coolah," Epuron project manager, Simon Davey said.
"We believe that the wind speeds and the data indicates that there is a very
good and strong, consistent wind resource in the area that we are quite
excited about."
Summary data, Liverpool Range Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | Up to 267 | 3.75? | Up to 1000
| Not yet announced | Approx. S 31.83° | E 149.72°
|
The coordinates above are those of Coolah
The program will provide funds for community projects and initiatives in the area and will be administered by an independent community group. The fund will consist of $3,000 per turbine per annum.
This is more generous than most.
| |
Comment 2017/07/20
I have been informed by private email that a suitable site for the wind farm
has not yet been settled.
|
|
This is a proposed community owned wind farm.
There is a
net page on the proposal.
The net page states that the wind farm is "a project which aims to establish
the first community-owned wind farm in NSW.
A community-owned wind farm based on the New England Tablelands will have
significant benefits for residents, businesses and organisations in this
region."
Summary data on New England Wind
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 3 to 6 | ? | ?
| ? | S ?° | E ?°
|
| |
|
This section added 2018/09/27
|
|
Alternatively known as Nundle Wind Farm
This wind farm is proposed by Wind Energy Partners who have a
Web page about the wind farm.
It is proposed that the wind farm will "stretch along 20 kilometres of Ridgeline from Hanging Rock to Crawney, south east of Nundle."
(Northern Daily Leader, 2018/03/06.)
It will be about 50 kilometres south-east of Tamworth and 260 kilometres north of Sydney.
"There is also the potential for the project to include a solar farm, located on Lindsays Gap Rd, near Old Wallabadah Rd, towards the New England Hwy."
(Northern Daily Leader, 2018/03/08.)
Summary data, Hills of Gold Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
|
|---|
| Proposed | 98 | 4? | Up to 400 | Undecided
|
Additional data on Hills of Gold Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Wind Energy Partners/Hills of Gold Energy
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$600 million
|
|---|
| Total turbine height (to blade tip) | Up to 220m
|
|---|
| |
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit Tract Consultants and Union Fenosa
| |
|
|
Update 2014/06/03
A media release mentioned a public exhibition day (2014/05/27) and stated
that the project had been modified substantially in response to public
consultation.
It gave an email address for inquiries: info@unionfenosa.com.au
|
|
Paling Yards Wind Farm was proposed by TME Australia
P.L. and Gamesa Energy Australia P.L.
Later
Union
Fenosa Wind Australia took over all the TME wind farm portfolio.
The turbines will be built on both sides of the Goulburn to Oberon Road,
45km south of Oberon, 30km north of Taralga, and 70km north of Goulburn.
In October 2012 Union Fenosa was seeking nominations for a community
consultative committee for this project; see their Net site.
ABC Online news, May 24, 2010 carried the following:
"A development application for the $275 million wind farm at Paling Yards
has been lodged with the Department of Planning".
Some of the information in this section came from UFWA's newsletter of
May 2011.
That newsletter included a larger scale map of the outline of the proposed
wind farm.
Thomas Mitchell of Union Fenosa said (2013/02/08) that following the
expected acceptance of the planning documentation the
"documents will then form our Environmental Impact
Assessment, and the Paling Yards project will then commence a period of
public exhibition.
When the public exhibition period has ended we will have an opportunity to
respond to any issues that are raised.
The Department will prepare their assessment of our Environmental Impact
Assessment reports, and we anticipate that they will provide a positive
recommendation to the Planning Assessment Commission. The Paling Yards site
is a remote site in a sparsely-settled location, with good wind."
Summary data on Paling Yards
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Development application lodged | 55 | 3.25 | 178
| Unknown | S 34.15° | E 149.81°
|
Further data on Paling Yards Wind Farm
| Greenhouse gas abatement | Estimated at 320 000t of CO2
|
|---|
| Tubines | Gamesa Eolica 2MW
|
|---|
| Tower height | 78m
|
|---|
| Blade length | 45m
|
|---|
| Total height | 123m
|
|---|
| Tower diameter at base | About 4m
|
|---|
| |
|
REpower and Suzlon have combined operations in Australia and New Zealand and
are operating as REpower Australia.
|
|
Windlab and
REpower Australia are jointly seeking approval to
construct and operate a wind farm at Rugby in the South Eastern Highlands
of NSW.
They have submitted a preliminary environmental assesment (Oct. 2010) and
have conducted a Community Information Session at the Rugby Hall
(Dec. 7th 2010).
It is classed as a major project and a Major Project Application has been
submitted.
The Project Area is located near between Rugby and Boorowa and is
approximately 40km north of Yass and 220km south-west of Sydney.
Preliminary investigations have indicated that about 20 dwellings are
located in the vicinity of the proposed turbine locations.
The topography of the Project area is characterised by a series of rolling
hills forming a number of gentle ridgelines suitable for turbine placement.
A large proportion of the Project Area, especially along the ridges, is
covered with native vegetation, mostly dry sclerophyll forest.
Summary data on Rugby Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 52 | Max. 3.4 | Up to 176
| ? | S 34.41° | E 148.88°
|
Number of turbines proposed reduced from 'up to 90'
ABC online news 2012/05/02 announced the reduced number of turbines.
Further data on Rugby Wind Farm
| Capital investment value | Aus$390m
|
|---|
| Average wind speeds | 25-30km/hr
|
|---|
| Height to tip of blade | Up to 160m
|
|---|
Much of the information in this section was extracted from the Preliminary
Environmental Assessment application.
| |
| Location map
|
|---|
| | Map credit Epuron
| |
| |
News, 2017/05/26
Gavin Coote,
ABC Central West, wrote an article announcing that the wind farm had
received approval.
The number of proposed turbines was decreased from 109 to 92.
|
|
Epuron applied for planning approval for this $300m wind farm
before the end of February, 2011.
It is intended that it be built SE of Boorowa, about 25km
NNE of Yass and about 240km WSW of Sydney.
Boorowa is the town where 'Boorowa Council' is shown on the map on the right.
The project is now in the hands of Tilt Renewables.
Rye Park Wind Farm contact details are:
Phone: 1800 839 661
email: ryeparkwindfarm@tiltrenewables.com
Postal Address: PO Box 16080 Collins Street West Melbourne Vic. 8007
Tilt Renewables have a
development
projects net page which seems to give no information about Rye Park
Wind Farm.
However, a much more informative fact sheet is available.
Epuron has a
Net page on the
project (which was still operating in late May 2017, but whether Epuron
still has an interest in the project I don't know).
Summary data on Rye Park Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | Up to 92 | ? | Up to 276
| Late 2018 at the earliest | S 34.88° | E 148.91°
|
There is a
Net page
on this project which apparently was first proposed by Wind Prospect then
taken over by CWP Renewables.
The wind farm will border the Glen Innes to Inverel road on the north,
from about 15km to 30km west of Glen Innes.
There is a map showing the location of this wind farm in the section on
White Rock Wind Farm.
It seems that 100MW of installed capacity has been contracted to supply power to the ACT.
The project is using Vestas turbines.
Summary data, Sapphire Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction started | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 75 | 3.6 | 270
| January 2017 | December 2018 | S 29.71° | E 151.50°
|
Additional data on Sapphire Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Wind Prospect
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$925 000 to $1 250 000
|
|---|
| Maximum height of blade tip | 200m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 140m
|
|---|
| Predicted output | 828GWhr per year
|
|---|
| Carbon dioxide abated | 695 000 per year
|
|---|
| Estimated capacity factor | 35%
|
|---|
| |
| Location of wind farm
|
|---|
| | Image source, ABC online news
| |
The farm is being built near Silverton, about 25km NW of Broken Hill.
| |
News
On 2018/05/15 RenewEconomy reported that the first turbines at Silverton had started feeding power into the grid.
|
|
Wind Farm Development had some involvement in this farm,
then Epuron became involved; more recently
AGL have taken over the rights to the proposal.
The project received approval from the NSW state government in early June
2009.
This was announced by Premier Nathan Rees in Parliament about 3rd June.
The city of Broken Hill is, in many ways, by default a part of South
Australia even though it is geographically in New South Wales.
The fact is that it is much closer to Adelaide than to Sydney (420km and
940km respectively, as the crow flies).
It's radio and TV programs come from South Australia, and it is closer to
the population centres of South Australia than to those of NSW (300km from
Jamestown, SA; 670km from Dubbo, NSW).
The ores from its famous mines have always been railed to South Australia
for smelting and/or shipping.
So the Broken Hill Wind Farm is of especial interest to me, a South
Australian.
Summary data, Silverton Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Completion expected | Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Construction | 58 | 3.43 | 200
| May 2017 | Mid 2018 | S 31.78° | E 141.25°
|
There were originally to be a total of 172 turbines and a total
installed capacity of 570MW.
On the information available to me when I first wrote this section, Silverton
seemed an odd choice of site; the
Wind Resource Map of Australia and
the NSW wind resource map both indicate that Broken Hill is not particularly
windy; both show it as less windy than most of the highlands along the
eastern coast and the Australia map shows the area as much less windy
than many areas of WA, SA, and southern Victoria.
Also there is not a big local market for the power, Broken Hill has a
population of around 20 000 and not a huge amount of industry; it
could not possibly use all the power from such a big wind farm and
there are no high capacity transmission lines near the city.
These apparent difficulties were largely explained by Andrew Durren of
Epuron/Taurus Energy on 2009/01/05 who stated:
- Mesoscale wind resource maps are unreliable and the wind resource
at Silverton is better than indicated on the Wind Resource Map of Australia;
- An initial powerline will connect the farm with Broken Hill (approximately
25km) and a second powerline will suppliment this by connecting to [a high
capacity transmission line in] Red Cliffs in Victoria (approximately 300km).
Also called Berridale Wind Farm
Proposed by Epuron; since sold to Origin.
This project was approved by the local council several years ago, but
Origin has decided to not go ahead with it.
Lucy Morrell wrote an article on the cancellation of the wind farm
in the Jindabyne Summit Sun newspaper on 2010/12/02.
Origin representatives said that wind measurements were too low and that
"the wind farm did not meet the company's requirements on a number of
fronts".
Summary data on Snowy Plains Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 16 | 2? | Maximum of 30
| Undecided | S 36.19° | E 148.58°
|
Further data on Snowy Plains Wind Farm
| Greenhouse gas abatement | 81 000 tonnes/year expected
|
|---|
The
project Net site
states that construction began in August 2013.
|
|
| Taralga in the snow
|
|---|
| | Photo credit Will Stone and Taralga Wind Farm
| |
Proposed by RES Southern Cross, the project was approved by NSW
Planning Minister Frank Sartor and his decision was later upheld by the
NSW Land and Environment Court (Feb. 2007).
CBD Energy together with its partners China Datang Renewable Power and
Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric acquired this project from RES in September
2011.
Goulburn Post reported that this project was sold to Banco Santander
and CBD Energy Ltd around October 2012.
The location, on ridges east of Taralga, is shown on the Goulburn area
map.
RES state that the closest turbine to the township of Taralga will be more
than 3km away, while most will be 5km or more.
International Business Times announced that Taralga was the first
joint venture between CBD Energy Ltd and China Datang Corp (2011/04/18).
Reneweconomy reported that TRUenergy had signed a power purchase agreement
with CBD Energy in regard to Taralga Wind Farm in September 2012.
Summary data on Taralga Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Completion date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 51 | 1.8 to 3 | 107
| July or August 2015? | Approx. S 34.41° | E 149.82°
|
Breakdown of turbines
| # Turbines | MW each | Total MW of this class
|
|---|
| 21 | 2.0 | 42.0
|
| 21 | 1.8 | 37.8
|
| 9 | 3.0 | 27.0
|
Further data on Taralga Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$250 million
|
|---|
| Expected generation | 300 GWh/year
|
|---|
| Taralga in the snow
|
|---|
|
| Photo credit Will Stone and Taralga Wind Farm
|
| |
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit Wind Prospect
| |
Wind Prospect submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW
Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project
in March 2011.
| |
Newsletter
Newsletter #3 was made
available
on 2013/05/01.
The newsletter contains a detailed map of the proposed turbine lay-out.
|
|
The wind farm will be about 15km west of Wellington and 70km ESE of Dubbo.
It will be spread over quite a large area between Wellington and Gulgong.
Wind Prospect has a
Net site on this project.
The information on this project has come from several sources.
Summary data, Uungula Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Prelim. Envionmental Asses. lodged | Up to 249 | 1.5 or more
| About 370 | Not decided | Approx. S 32.51° | E 149.29°
|
Additional data on Uungula Wind Farm
| Project cost | Not stated
|
|---|
| Tower (hub) height | 70 to 100m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 80 to 120m
|
|---|
| Expected generation | 1320GWh/year
|
|---|
Thanks to Daniel MacDonald of Wind Prospect for an update on this project
(2013/03/12).
"When first announced in March 2011 the project consisted of approximately
330 wind turbines and ancillary structures spread over 29 different
properties.
Since being announced, the project has been revised to take into account
findings from key assessments and consultation with interested stakeholders.
This has resulted in a reduction in the number of wind turbines.
The project now comprises a wind farm with one layout consisting of around
250 wind turbine locations, together with ancillary structures spread over
35 different properties."
"The Preliminary Environmental Assessment was submitted to the NSW Department
of Planning and Infrastructure in March 2011 and is available to view at
www.planning.nsw.gov.au (following the links to Development – Major
Project Register).
Over the next few months the focus is concluding the environmental
assessments and presenting a project for approval to the department."
| |
|
This section written 2018/11/16
|
|
| |
|
PV Magazine carried more about the project on the same day.
|
|
Giles Parkinson wrote about this project in
Renew Economy on 2018/11/15.
It is expected to include a wind farm, solar farm and energy storage, possibly including a battery and pumped hydro energy storage.
The project is intended to be built in several stages, with a wind component being in the first stage.
The project is proposed by Energy Estate and MirusWind for the Walcha/Uralla area, about 30 km south of Armadale and 230 km north of Newcastle.
At the time of writing I was unable to find anything specific on the Internet about the project from either MirusWind or Energy Estate.
Some years earlier it was reported that the Walcha community was looking into the feasibility of making Walcha a zero net energy town.
Summary data, Walcha Energy Project
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Battery | Construction date | First output expected
|
|---|
| Proposed | ? | ? | 4,000 | ?MW, ?MWh | 2020 | 2022
|
| |
| Location map
|
|---|
| | Map credit Epuron
| |
Construction of this wind farm, about 20km SW of Glen Innes and 40km ESE of Inverell, began in May 2016.
Goldwind, who took over the project from Epuron, has a
Net site on White Rock Wind
Farm.
Epuron announced that they were working to establish a community consultation committee.
Epuron state in their Planning Aplication that:
"[The site] has been selected for its windy ridges and cleared grazing land.
The majority of land in the region is currently used for commercial
agriculture (sheep and cattle grazing) and has been cleared and grazed over
many decades.
The ridges most likely to contain turbines are generally clear on the tops
with varying density of vegetation across the lower slopes."
Epuron's Planning Application, dated September 2010, stated that there would
be 80 to 100 turbines.
This has been changed to 119 turbines as specified in a pdf file forwarded
to the Dept. of Planning on 2011/05/11.
Summary data, White Rock Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction began | Completion | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Stage 1 operating | 70 | 2.5 | 175
| May 2016 | Early 2018 | S 29.81° | E 151.58°
|
119 turbines have been approved; 70 are in the first stage
| |
|
Location of Woodlawn and Capital wind farms
Acknowledgement: Inifigen Energy
|
|
Woodlawn Wind Farm
This Infigen farm is adjacent to their older
Bungendore Wind Farm.
The link to the electricity network is to be via the existing 330/33kV
sub-station at the Bungendore Wind Farm.
Infigen has a downloadable pdf document.
Infigen's page,
on 2011/12/07, stated "The Woodlawn Wind Farm achieved practical completion
on 17 October 2011.
Suzlon Energy is the turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)
provider on the project."
On the same page it was stated that a Construction Compliance Report was
available for downloading.
An inaugural run through the wind farm was held in November 2012.
It attracted 450 participants.
See the article in the Canberra Times.
Infigen should be commended for holding this event which gives many people
an opportunity to get up close to wind turbines.
Hopefully this will be the first of many.
Also see Tourism and wind farms.
The NSW Planning Dept.
posted in December 2013 that this wind farm complies with state noise
standards.
Summary data on Woodlawn Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Capacity factor | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 23 | Suzlon | S88 | 2.1 | 48.3 | 33%
| 2011/10/17 | S 35.10° | E 149.57°
|
Further data on Woodlawn Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$115 million
|
|---|
| Turbine type | Suzlon S88, 2.1MW
|
|---|
| Total average generation | 16MW
|
|---|
The capacity factor and average generation were calculated from
AEMO figures for the period May 2011 to December 2012 inclusive.
| |
| | Up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Woodlawn
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
| |
|
This map shows the originally proposed wind farm layout.
The upper left wind farm is Coppabella, upper right is Marilba and
lower right is Conroy's Gap (proposal abandoned). Image credit Epuron
|
|
It seems that this wind farm, as an entity, no longer exists.
Coppabella Wind Farm, originally to be a part of this, is discussed elsewhere on this page.
Conroys Gap and Marilba Hills wind farms seem to have gone.
Epuron still has a
Net page titled Yass Valley (Coppabella) Wind Farm.
Originally proposed by Epuron; this very big wind farm project incorporated Marilba Hills, Coppabella Range, Conroy's Gap and possibly
Carroll's Ridge.
It was to be south of Binalong, a little west of Yass and 100km west of Goulburn.
As it was originally to be...
The map was extracted from Epuron's Community Information Newsletter #1;
the town at the top of the map is Binalong, Yass is a little off the map
to the right.
The northern highway is the Burley Griffin Way, that nearer the centre
is the Hume.
The Coppabella Hills precinct, 10km SW of Binalong and the area on the
upper left of the map, was proposed to have 82 turbines on 15 properties.
The Marilba Hills precinct, 6km SW of Bowning and the area in the upper
right of the map, was to have 70 turbines on ten properties.
(Bowning is just off the right side of the map.)
The proposed (then abandoned) Conroy's Gap Wind Farm is the small purple area south
of Marilba Hills Wind Farm.
See elsewhere for Carroll's Ridge Wind Farm.
The proposed wind farms was to be spread over an area of about 7400 hectares,
of which about 29ha would have needed to be cleared.
|
Summary data on Yass Valley Wind Farm as of April 2016
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 79 | ? | 237 to 284?
| Unknown | S 34.82° | E 148.75°
|
In addition to the wind farms detailed above many others have been proposed
(table below).
If and when any of these proposed wind farms look likely to be built,
and as I get more information, I will write them up in more detail.
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.
Some of the projects listed below are in this table simply because there
is very little information available on them.
The NSW Government has made available a
fact sheet on their Wind and Solar Farm Inspection Program, December 2018.
It answers questions such as:
- Why are wind and solar farms important and how are they regulated?
- When do wind or solar farms become State significant developments (SSD)?
- How many wind or solar farms have SSD approvals and what is their status?
Development assessments of major projects are on the
NSW Government Planning and Infrastructure site.
