Also known as Wild Cattle Hill Wind Farm
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| Location of Cattle Hill Wind Farm
From The Mercury, about 2013
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Mat Dennien wrote an
article in The Examiner 2019/03/01 reporting that long loads of turbine components would be delivered to the wind farm site until August.
The article mentioned 49 turbines, but the Goldwind site states 48.
This project was originally proposed at least as early as 2013.
As of January 2018 Goldwind is the proponent; they have a
net site on the project.
On 2017/11/14 Goldwind signed a power Connection Agreement with TasNetworks.
The wind farm will be at Wild Cattle Hill, near Waddamana, about 50km west
of Oatlands in the Central Highlands.
Cattle Hill Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction | Completion
due | Lat | Long
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| Under construction | 48 | 3.0 | 144
| April 2018 | 2019 | App. S 42.16° | App. E 146.68°
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Photo acknowledgement: Peter Kempster
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On 2015/02/23 I received the following in an email from Paul Fulton:
I am the director of FIRE [Flinders Island Renewable Energy] Developments
Pty Ltd.
FIRE developed the Enercon E30 on Flinders Island.
We produce about 25% of the islands energy needs – about 1000MWh per
year.
FIRE is a joint venture between Blowing in the Wind Pty Ltd (owned by
Robert
Nichols), and Joule Logic Pty Ltd, a consulting company partly owned by
me.
There is an inspiring video about this
wind turbine on
youtube.
I received the following in an email from Peter Kempster (who lives on King
Island and manages the wind farm/power station there) on 2009/03/03:
"Yes there are two wind turbines on Flinders Island.
1 x 55 kW unit installed in 88 and 1 x 25 kW unit installed in 96.
These units are not owned by Hydro Tasmania, they are privately owned and
Hydro Tasmania purchase's all the power they produce."
A page by
RISE,
Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, also mentioned some wind power
installed on Flinders Island in 1988 and a second stage in 1996.
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News November 2018
The Web site reported that "ten workers on site and this number is expected to increase in the New Year. The construction of access tracks, drainage and other site preparation works are now in progress."
The Advocate news service reported that turbine blades had started arriving at the port of Bernie.
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This wind farm is being built on Granville Cattle Farm, about 25km WNW of Zeehan.
There is a
Web page on the project.
There a power purchase agreement between WestCoast Wind and Hydro Tasmania.
On 2014/04/19 The (Burnie) Advocate reported that there was very little
opposition to the project.
Summary data, Granville Harbour Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
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| Construction | 31 | 3.6 | 112
| January 2018 | Late 2019 | Approx. S 41.82° | E 145.06°
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Additional data on Granville Harbour Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$200 million
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This section added 2019/03/07
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Jims Plain and
Robbins Island wind farms are both proposed by UPC Renewables Australia.
There is a web page
about the project; it includes a location map.
The site is about 10 km inland from the Woolworth Wind Farm, about 23 km west of Smithton and roughly half way between Smithton and Marrawah.
Sean Ford wrote an
article in The Advocate 2019/02/26 stating that UPC Renewables Australia proposes to install up to 30 MW of solar generation at the wind farm.
Summary data, Jims Plain Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
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| Proposed | ? | ? | Up to 160 | Undecided
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Proposed expansion of existing wind farm
Reneweconomy, 2012/11/28, mentioned
that Hydro Tasmania is planning "a $46m prototype off-grid power plant
that combines solar panels, wind turbines (an additional 6MW), biodiesel
and energy storage technology.
(Also see King
Island Renewable energy.)
This project aims to provide 65 per cent of King Island's energy needs from
renewable sources by 2013 (100 per cent on windy days) and to cut its energy
costs by $4.5 million a year."
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The farm started generating in 1998 and has since been expanded.
Its total generating capacity is 2.5MW of electricity and it is now
owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
It is a part of a power complex that includes solar and diesel generators.
Hydro Tasmania have a
page that gives
actual output, updated every five minutes, by the wind and solar
installations.
In interesting feature of Huxley Hill is that it includes a 'vanadium
redox flow battery' (see
Wikipedia); this is capable of storing up to 800kWh of surplus energy
and releasing it as required.
This was insalled during stage 2.
I thank Peter Kempster, who lives on King Island, for some of the above
information.
Huxley Hill Wind Farm is located at South Latitude 39.93° and
East Longitude 143.87°
King Island has a
live feed that
shows the situation of their power supply at any moment.
Some of the time they are on 100% renewable energy.
If King Island can do it, so could Australia – if we had a government
with ethical standards.
Huxley Hill Wind Farm summary data
Stage 1
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned
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| Operating | 3 | 0.25 | 0.75 | 1998
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| Turbine | Nordex N29
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| Tower height | 29m
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| Rated wind speed | Approx. 50km/hr
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| Rotor diameter | 29.7m
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Stage 2
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned
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| Operating | 2 | 0.85 | 1.7 | 2003
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| Turbine | Vestas V52
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| Tower height | 60m
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| Rated wind speed | Approx. 50km/hr
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| Rotor diameter | 52m
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This section written 2012/12/01
Edited 2017/07/19
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News, 2017/07/16
An
article written by Tess Brunton in the Examiner mentioned that a
development application had been lodged for this wind farm.
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This wind farm has been proposed by Low Head Wind Farm Pty Ltd, who have a
Net site about the project.
If built, it will be about 7km NE of Georgetown and a similar distance east
of the mouth of the Tamar inlet.
The proponents are "now engaging local land owners and other stakeholders to
discuss key aspects of the project and better understand any perceived
concerns or risks" (2012/12/16).
Summary data, Low Head Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
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| Proposed | 10 | 3? | About 30
| Undecided | Approx. S 41.05° | E 146.88°
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This was originally a Roaring 40s project, but was taken over by
Hydro
Tasmania following the break up of Roaring 40s.
It is in the NE extremity of Tasmania, about 20km NE of Gladstone and
about 100km NE of Launceston, was proposed around 2004 only to be shelved in
2006.
Then it was on-again-off-again, largely because of changes in the Federal
Government's renewable energy legislation, until in December 2011 Hydro
Tasmania (ABC On-line News) stated that construction would begin 'this month'.
(Tasmania has a far higher percentage of renewably generated electricity than any other Australian state.)
Ecogeneration News carried an article on 2012/03/09 about an agreement
between Hydro Tasmania and Chinese company Shenhua Clean Energy Holding
for providing $400m funding for the project.
Musselroe Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Completion | Lat. | Long.
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| Operating
| 56 | Vestas | V90 | 3 | 168
| July 2013 | S 40.90° | E 148.15°
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The turbines are Vestas V90
Further data on Musselroe Wind Farm
| Project cost | $400 million
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| Expected greenhouse gas saving | 300 000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
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| Expected generation | 500GWh per year
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| Proportion of Tasmania's energy demand | 5%
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On 2014/01/15 there was an interesting article on
ABC On-line News about the Musselroe Beef company that runs 2000 head
beneath the turbines.
Nichols Poultry has a wind
turbine near the intersection
of Chapel Road and Valley Field Road, Sassafras.
The Tasmanian Food Company's
Web page about Nichols Poultry states that it has RSPCA approval and takes pride in its ethical standards and respectful treatment of the chooks.
Visitors are welcome, which is unheard of in the less ethical factory farms.
The Web page states that 50% of the power requirements come from the wind turbine.
Nichols Poultry wind turbine summary data
| Status | # Turbines | kW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
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| Operating | 1 | 225
| 2008 | S 41.257° | E 146.513°
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The turbine is a Vestas V27
A wind farm on Robbins Island was first proposed around 2013.
The island is just off NW tip of Tasmania.
The Mercury published an article on a wind farm much larger than the
original proposal on 2017/06/08.
The enlarged proposal would have an expected cost of $1.2b and would require
a second Bass-Link undersea power cable connecting with the mainland.
On 2017/12/16 the ABC published a
piece, written by Henry Swartz, stating that there would be up to 300 turbines and a total installed capacity of up to 1000 MW, but this seemed to be the long term plan.
It seemed that the first stage was to be around 450 MW.
The proposer, UPC Renewables have stated that they expected "the first wind turbine to be built and ready on the island in about two years, and that the entire site would be operational around 2023."
Summary data, Robbins Island Wind Farm (2017/06/09)
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Expected completion | Lat. | Long.
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| Proposed | Up to 300 | 3.3? | Up to 1000
| Late 2019 | 2023? | Approx. S 40.69° | E 144.94°
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Project cancelled
Hydro Tasmania anounced the termination of this project in late October
2014, on economic grounds.
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On 2013/05/13 the King Island Courier announced that KI's biggest employer,
Lion Nathan, were urging King Islanders to say yes to the wind farm
proposal going to the next stage (a detailed study of the feasibility of
the wind farm).
Lion owns King Island Dairy and employs about 100 people (of a total KI
population or around 1600).
Also in that issue of the KIC it was reported that the same public relations
firm that has worked for the infamous Church of Scientology, Exclusive
Brethren and James Hardy (asbestos), has been engaged by those
opposed to the project to 'amuse then scare' the local people.
It seems that substantial funding for this may be coming from a particular
very wealthy opponent who is opposed to the project because "it may spoil the
view from his newly acquired property".
Summary data, TasWind Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Lat. | Long.
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| Cancelled | 200 | 3 | 600
| Approx. S 39.92° | E 143.99°
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King Island is ideally placed for a large wind farm.
It is in the notoriously windy Bass Strait and close to Melbourne, which will
provide a market for the electricity.
Understanably, particularly considering the amount of disinformation being
spread by wind farm opponents, there is a great deal of concern about the
proposal among the residents of the island.
The Garnaut report
showed that Australia's CO2 emissions were 28 tonnes per person
in 2006, so the TasWind project will abate the carbon dioxide emissions of
some 70 000 Australians.
The King Island people have the unenviable responsibility of deciding
the correct course of action both for themselves and for the world.
If the wind farm is built it will probably be the biggest in Australia (and
the Southern Hemesphere – and depending on whether the similarly
sized Ceres Project goes
ahead); in November 2012, Victoria's
Macarthur Wind Farm, at
420MW installed, held that distinction.
Additional data on TasWind Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Hydro Tasmania
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| Project cost | Aus$2 000 million
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| Annual generation | About 1800GWh
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| Annual abatement | About two million tonnes
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The actual
abatement would depend on the
proportion of electricity from
gas or coal-fired power stations that would be replaced by the TasWind project
Hydro Tasmania list the economic benefits of the project on a
Net page.
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This section added 2018/01/09
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This wind farm is proposed by Epuron, who have a
net page on the project.
Epuron has been measuring wind speeds for many years and aims to submit its planning application in the first half of 2018.
It is intended that it will be built toward the north-western tip of the peninsula on which Stanley is situated.
They say that the visual impact at Stanley will be minimal.
Summary data, Western Plains Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
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| Proposed | About 11 | ? | ?
| Undecided | Approx. S 40.72° | E 145.26°
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Bluff Point and Studland Bay wind farms
Previously called Woolnorth Wind Farm
These wind farms are located near Cape Grim in the northwest corner of
Tasmania.
They were developed, owned and operated for several years by
Hyrdo Tasmania, but later became
the property of a corporation called Woolnorth that is a joint venture between
Hydro Tasmania and a Chines company, the Shenhua Group.
The wind farms were completed in three stages giving a total of 140MW
installed capacity.
On 2011/12/22 the Wall Street Journal published online the following "Guohua,
a unit of China's state-owned coal giant Shenhua Group, is acquiring interests
in the 65-megawatt Bluff Point and 75-megawatt Studland Bay wind farms."
Hydro Tasmania needs the procedes of this deal to finance the
Musselroe Wind Farm.
Woolnorth Wind Farm summary data
Stage 1 (Bluff Point)
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
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| Operating | 6 | Vestas | V66 | 1.75 | 10.5
| August 2002 | Approx. S 40.72° | E 144.73°
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Stage 2 (Bluff Point)
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
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| Operating | 31 | Vestas | V66 | 1.75 | 54
| April 2004 | S ?° | E ?°
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Stage 3 (Studland Bay)
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
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| Operating | 25 | Vestas | V90 | 3 | 75
| 2007 | S ?° | E ?°
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All stages combined
| Status | # Turbines | Total MW | Capacity factor
| Commissioned
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| Operating | 62 | 140 | 39% | 2007
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The capacity factor above was calculated from AEMO data for March
2009 to December 2012 data (inclusive) downloaded via Andrew
Miskelly's '.csv' format download facility.
It is one of the highest for any Australian wind farm.
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Generation record for Woolnorth
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Woolnorth
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 Woolnorth Wind Farm...
| Turbines
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| Productive wind speeds | Stages 1 & 2: from 4.2 to 25m/sec
(15 to 90km/hr)
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| Peak efficiency wind speed | Stages 1 & 2: from 15 to 25 m/sec
(55 to 90km/hr)
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| Wind generators | Stages 1 & 2: Vestas 1.75MW
Stage 3: Vestas V90 3MW
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| Tower height | Stages 1 & 2: 60m
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| Rotor diameter | Stages 1 & 2: 66m
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| Total weight of turbine and tower | Stages 1 & 2: 180 tonnes
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ABC on-line news Sept. 21, 2007 stated that ten wedge tailed eagles had
been killed by Woolnorth turbines since it began operating in 2003.
Doctor Cindy Hull has
studied bird
deaths at the Woolnorth wind farms for some years.
It seems from her work that eagle deaths have decreased substantially since
around 2007.
