Wind in the Bush: The most informative, comprehensive, and up-to-date pages on Australian wind power and wind farms.
These pages are independent of any company, lobby group, or government.


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Wind farm photo pages...

Canunda/Lake Bonney
Hallett
Mount Millar
Snowtown
Starfish Hill
Victoria
Wattle Point

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Wind turbines on Brown Hill Range
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Contact: email daveclarkecb@yahoo.com

Contents of this page...

Introduction | Installed wind power in SA | Wind farm generation data | Capacities of conventional power stations | Growth of the SA wind industry | South Australian wind farms | SA wind farms by region | Visiting SA wind-farms | News | Power interconnectors | Index |

Graphs

Operating SA wind farms | Monthly wind farm generation in SA | Wind energy contribution to SA power | Generation duration curve for SA wind power | Wind output at high demand periods

Tables

Installed capacities of SA wind farms | Capacities of conventional power stations | SA wind farms by region | Colour coding for wind farm status | Other proposed wind farms | Power interconnectors |

Map

Hallett wind farms


Created as a separate page 2004/02/28, modified 2010/09/05
Information about wind farms that I have missed, additional interesting information,
or corrections for anything that I have got wrong, would be greatly appreciated.
About these pages
Contact: email daveclarkecb@yahoo.com

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Introduction

 
Updated 2010/03/19
This page discusses matters that relate to wind-generated electricity, especially as it is developing in South Australia.

In 2009 the SA Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council (ESIPC) annual report stated "The penetration of wind generation in South Australia leads the nation, and is one of the highest in the world, and the Planning Council considers it still has significant growth potential." The Climate Group's "Australian Electricity Generation Report 2008" stated that South Australia was the only one of the eastern states that recorded a drop in production of greenhouse gasses for the year; this would mainly be due to the rise in wind energy in the state. At the end of 2009 almost half of Australia's installed wind power was in South Australia.

Before 2003 there was only one large wind turbine in South Australia: a 150kW unit at Coober Pedy. As of December 2009 there was 907MW of operational wind farm capacity in South Australia and wind was providing about 14% of South Australia's electricity needs. Actual wind generation figures, from ESIPC, are graphed below.

Very limited government support

However, wind farm development in Australia and South Australia is slower than it could be; this is mainly due to very limited support from the respective governments, favouring the fossil fuel industry over sustainable energy. One of the greatest limits to the growth of the wind industry in South Australia is the lack of high capacity electricity transmission lines where they are needed. The SA Government built a transmission line for the Olympic Dam uranium mine, but is unwilling to build or upgrade a single line for the further development of sustainable electricity. Wind farms are not being built on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula because there are no suitable power transmission lines. No more wind farms can be built in southern Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas because power transmission line capacity is fully used. Further development in the South East is unlikely without increased power transmission line capacity. Wind farm generation in Mid North South Australia too, even with the high-capacity lines between the coal-fired power stations at Port Augusta and Adelaide, is getting close to reaching the limits of the transmission system.

The Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) has placed conditions on new wind farms that are good for the power transmission operators but expensive and difficult for wind farm operators to fulfil. The Rann SA government is not as supportive of sustainable energy as is claims to be, rather it is opportunistic. For example, Victoria and NSW both have publicly available wind resource maps, but there is no public wind resource map of SA. SA is well suited to wind farms and the Rann government is attempting to take credit for development that is being stimulated by interstate mandatory renewable energy targets.

The NSW and Victorian governments have legislated large mandatory renewable energy targets. These will make electricity retailers buy significant percentages of renewable energy. For NSW to fulfil its commitment to renewable energy it will have to buy wind generated electricity from SA - SA has a better wind resource than NSW (see Wind Power Potential in Oz. The SA government will deviously try to take credit for the upsurge due to the new demand from NSW.

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Installed capacities of existing SA wind farms

Installed wind power in South Australia
by wind farm, December 2009
NameDate completedMW
Brown Hill Range (Hallett) June 200894.5
Canunda March 200546.0
Cathedral Rocks Sept. 2005?66.0
Clements Gap Late 200956.7
Hallett Hill (Hallett) Late 200971.4
Lake Bonney Stage 1 March 200580.5
Lake Bonney Stage 2 April 2008?159.0
Lake Bonney Stage 3 Late 2009?39.0
Mount Millar Dec. 200570.0
Snowtown Sept. 200898.7
Starfish Hill Sept. 200334.5
Wattle Point May 200590.8
Total907
 
It is interesting to compare this with the installed capacity of the solar photovoltaic power generated by South Australia's 18 000 'solar customers'. The combined total of solar generating capacity of all these was reported as 'exceeding 25MW' in a government publication in early September 2010; that is, about one fortieth of the installed wind power capacity at the same time.

Actual productivity as a percentage of installed capacity (Capacity factor) is similar for wind and solar power.

Operating SA wind farms, Megawatts
Wind Power in SA
As of December 2009
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Wind farm generation data

The table below was extracted from the Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council's Annual Planning Report of June 2009. Those years when the wind farms were not fully operational are shown with a yellow background and are not included in the average.

A wind turbine rarely generates at 100% of capability (its installed capacity). The table below records the percentage of the installed capacity that was actually achieved for some South Australian wind farms in the given years. The installed capacities of these wind farms is given above.

Capacity Factors (%) for South Australian Wind Farms since January 3, 2006

Calendar YearCanundaCathedral RocksHallett Stage 1 Lake Bonney Stage 1Lake Bonney Stage 2Mt Millar Snowtown Stage 1Starfish HillWattle Point
200634%19% 23% 7%  31%30%
200738%33% 28%9%15%  29%35%
200834%35%32%28% 25%19%27%29%35%
200926%26%35%21%21%24%39%26%32%
Averages33%28%35%25%23%19%39%29%33%
Average of averages 29%

A qualification to the above data in the ESIPC report was "The capacity factors for 2009 are based on information from 1 January 2009 to 28 May 2009 and only reflect the performance of the generators during that period."

Note that these figures are for power fed into the grid. Technicalities in the operation of the grid limited how much power some of the farms fed into the grid some of the time; that is, some of the farms could have generated more power had the grid been able to accept it.




The graph below shows installed wind farm capacity (the green shaded area) and actual electricity generation (the vertical bars).
Monthly wind farm generation in SA to April 2009
Wind farm generation
Acknowledgement 2009 SA ESIPC Annual Planning Report
ESIPC has now become a part of AEMO


Percentage of SA Energy Contribution by Fuel Source
Wind farm generation
Figure from 2009 SA ESIPC annual report
(As of 1 July 2009 ESIPC is part of AEMO)
Note that while wind energy is still a small part of total SA electricity it is by far the fastest growing component. Much more could be achieved if sustainable energy was to receive serious government support.


Normalised generation duration curve for wind in SA
Wind farm generation
Based on a graph in the 2008 SA ESIPC annual report
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This graph shows the percentage of the time when total wind farm output in SA excedes a given percentage of installed capacity. For example, it shows that 10% of the time the wind farms are producing about 55% of installed capacity and 60% of the time they are producing about 18% of installed capacity.


Histogram of Normalised Wind Output for High Demand Periods
High demand period generation
Figure from 2008 SA ESIPC annual report
The X and Y axes are the same as on the previous graph. This graph shows that 50% of the time during periods of high electricity demand South Australia's wind farms have produced at about 20% of their installed capacity. Unlike solar, wind energy availability is lower than average at times of peak demand.





Capacities of conventional power stations, for comparison

 
Updated 2010/03/19
Updated from ESIPC Annual Planing Rept. 2009
RegionNameOperatorFuelCapacity (MW)
Adelaide Dry CreekInternational PowerNatural gas156
Osborne (Co-gen)NRG FlindersNatural gas 190
Pelican PointInternational PowerNatural gas487
Quarantine StationOrigin EnergyNatural gas227
Torrens Island AAGL EnergyNatural gas480
Torrens Island BAGL EnergyNatural gas/oil800
NorthernAngastonInfratilNatural gas 49
HallettAGLNatural gas192
MintaroInternational PowerNatural gas90
Northern (Port Augusta)NRG FlindersCoal520
Playford (Port Augusta)NRG FlindersCoal240
SoutheastLadbroke GroveOrigin EnergyNatural gas 86
SnuggeryInternational PowerDistillate78
Eyre Peninsula Port LincolnInternational PowerDistillate48
Port Lincoln 3Under constructionDistillate(25)
Total of all above 3644
 
All of these power stations are fossil-fuelled; most use natural gas, the Port Augusta stations burn coal.

The journal Windpower Monthly (July 2003) stated that the average electricity load in SA is 1500MW. Minimum overnight demand is about 1000MW (pers. com. Lewis W. Owens, then Chairman of Essential Services Commission of SA).

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Growth of the SA wind industry

 
SA government sustainable energy initiatives in perspective
ProjectMW
Government Adelaide Airport PV 0.11
Goyder Pavilion PV1.00
Wilpena PV 0.10
Commercial Wind farms (as of June 2009)741.00
Potential further on-shore wind developments 24 000
Potential off-shore wind developments24 000?
If the SA government was serious about maximising SA's sustainable power it could spend taxpayer's money much more productively than on tiny 'showcase' projects, for example by upgrading power transmission lines.
In 2003 the only large wind turbine in South Australia was a 0.15MW unit at Coober Pedy. In early 2004 there was 34MW of installed wind power, in September 2006, 388MW and in December 2009, 907MW.

In 2004 there was more than 2000MW of proposed new wind farm development in South Australia, but it could not go ahead under Howard government policies.

Over the past decade worldwide wind energy generation capacity has been increasing by 25% per year while wind energy prices have been falling by 4% per year.

The Australian Wind Energy Association produced a map in May 2004 showing that of all federal electorates in Australia Grey had by far the greatest capacity of proposed wind farms. The adjacent electorate Wakefield was second. The map showed that there were 1250MW proposed in Grey and 440MW in the adjacent Wakefield. Roughly speaking, Grey includes 90% of SA, and everything north and west of Port Pirie (all of the proposed wind farms are south of Port Augusta); Wakefield included Yorke Peninsula and points east to the border.

Since then there has been an electoral redistribution. The new, larger Grey now includes all of Yorke Peninsula. Most, if not all, of the 440MW of proposed wind farms of the old Wakefield would now be in Grey, increasing the Grey total to around 1690MW.

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The future of wind power in SA

Climate change is happening and must be minimised; Australia and the world must move away from fossil fuels. I don't think that any reasonable and informed person can doubt this any more. Unfortunately the Rudd Australian government is not giving climate change the high priority that it needs.

Turbine stumps and old tree
The lower two sections have been erected for these Brown Hill Range turbines. Two more tower sections to go, followed by the turbine itself.
2007/12/12
Wind, at the present, is the only economically competitive form of sustainable energy ready to take a significant part of the load. Using biological waste and methane from land-fill to generate electricity is feasible and is being done, but its capacity is limited. It is looking like solar thermal and 'hot dry rock' geothermal is close to being competitive, but these are not ready yet and will take many years to 'scale-up' to the point where they are major sources of energy. Wave-power, photovoltaics, harnessing algae to produce fuels, and other alternatives seem further away. A decade or two could change that picture.

Certainly wind power is not 'the answer' to climate change. Only a naive person would believe that there is a single answer, and only a naive person would object to wind power because it is not 'the answer'. It is a part of 'the answer'. Other parts are energy conservation, technological innovation, development of other forms of sustainable energy, and education. (I have listed some suggestions in What should be done.)

So, what is the future of wind power in SA?

If the logic in the few sentences above is correct, then wind power must be developed to the maximum reasonable degree and as quickly as possible. Wind farms could be built along most of the west-facing coasts of South Australia. That is, from near Ceduna to Coffin Bay on Eyre Peninsula, along much of the west coast of Yorke Peninsula and from around Meningie to Port MacDonald in the South East. Wind turbines could be built along many of the major rounded north-south ridges of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Southern Flinders Ranges.

I would hope and expect that national parks and conservation parks would be kept free of wind farm developments.

Will we get sick of the sight of wind turbines? Quite possibly. The alternatives, it seems to me, are either to throw caution (and sanity) to the wind and continue with fossil fuels, or to totally change our life-styles and enormously cut down on the amount of energy that we use, in our personal lives and in industry. I cannot imagine our society being ready or willing to do that.






 
Wind turbine at Starfish Hill, Fleurieu Peninsula
Wind turbine at Starfish Hill, Fleurieu Peninsula

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South Australian wind farms

The June 2008 Annual Planning Report of the Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council showed that wind produced 10% of South Australia's electricity.

Wind farms in SA
(Locality in brackets)

Allendale East (south east SA)
Barn Hill (Red Hill)
Bluff Range (Hallett)
Brown Hill Range (Hallett)
Canunda (Millicent)
Carmodys Hill (Gulnare/Jamestown)
Cathedral Rocks (Port Lincoln)
Clements Gap (Crystal Brook)
Collaby Hill (CB/Port Pirie)
Coober Pedy (far north)
Eyre Peninsula wind project
Green Point (south east SA)
Hallett Hill (Jamestown/Burra)
Hallett wind farms
Lake Bonney wind farms (Millicent)
Lake Bonney Stage 1 (Millicent)
Lake Bonney Stage 2 (Millicent)
Lake Bonney Stage 3 (Millicent)
Mount Bryan (Hallett)
Mt Millar (Cowell/Cleve)
Myponga-Sellicks Hill (Fleurieu)
North Brown Hill (Hallett)
Port Augusta/Lincoln Gap
Robe (Millicent)
Robertstown (Clare)
Snowtown (Clare)
Starfish Hill (Fleurieu Pen.)
Stony Gap (Clare)
Troubridge Point (Yorke Pen.)
Vincent North (Yorke Pen.)
Waterloo (Clare)
Wattle Point (Edithburgh)
Willogoleche Hill (Hallett)
Woakwine Range (Millicent)
Worlds End (Burra)
Wind farms by region
Other proposed SA wind farms


Note: Latitudes and Longitudes are given below in decimal degrees. They are given to two decimal places because this defines the location to ±1km; a wind farm is a large thing and typically covers a number of kilometres.

Note that the wind farms listed here as proposed or approved will not necessarily ever be built. You can't be sure that anything is going to be built until it starts happening.

Wind farms by region

As of January 2010
All operating wind farms and some of those proposed that seem more likely to be built are shown here.
RegionWind farmMW Status
Eyre Peninsula
136MW operating
Cathedral Rocks 66Operating
Mount Millar 70Operating
Fleurieu Pen.
34.5MW operating
Starfish Hill 34.5Operating
Hallett
(Burra, Jamestown area)
165.9MW operating

298.2MW operating or under construction
Brown Hill Range 94.5Operating
Hallett Hill 71.4Operating
Mount Bryan 63.0Approved
North Brown Hill 132.3Under construction
Mid North
(other than Hallett)
155.7MW operating

266.4MW operating or under construction
Barn Hill 130?Proposed
Carmodys Hill 175?Proposed
Clements Gap 56.7Operating
Robertstown 100?Proposed
Snowtown 99Stage 1 operating
Stony Gap 120?Proposed
Waterloo 117Under construction
South East
324.5MW operating
Canunda (Millicent)
46Operating
Lake Bonney Stage 1 80.5Operating
Lake Bonney Stage 2 159Operating
Lake Bonney Stage 3 39Operating
Yorke Peninsula
91MW operating
Wattle Point 91Operating
Colour coding for wind farm
status, below
Proposed
Approved
Under construction
Operating





 
Added 2009/12/19

Allendale East Wind Farm

This project has been proposed by Acciona Energy who expect it to cost around Aus$175m.

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Application submitted471.5?70.5 UnknownS 38.004°E 140.709°

The coordinates above are those of Allendale East.
The 70.5MW for the 47 turbines was published on the Net. Nobody is building 1.5MW turbines in 2009, so expect these figures to change.





 
Updated 2010/06/29

Barn Hill Wind Farm (Red Hill, Mundoora)

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Approved622.1 to 3130 to 186Sept. 2011? S 33.57°E 138.16°

Barn Hill is a prominent hill about 8km SW of Red Hill, about 6km east of Mundoora and 160km NNW of Adelaide. It is conspicuous from the plains around Port Broughton, and is named The Bluff on some maps.

Stanwell Corporation, sold their interest in Barn Hill to Transfield Services Infrastructure in December 2007 and on 2009/06/18 AGL Energy Limited announced that it had acquired the rights to Barn Hill Wind Farm. As of 2010/04/08 the AEMO Net page on proposed generators give September 2011 as the commissioning date for this project.

Transfield held public meetings at Redhill and Mundoora to discuss development of the wind farm in June 2008; they submitted a Development Application to the Port Pirie and Wakefield councils in September 2008 and this was approved in late January 2009.

The Barn Hill Wind Farm, if it is built rather than simply being sold from one potential developer to another, will fill the space along the Barunga Range between Clements Gap and Snowtown Wind Farms. (That is, from the Hope Gap Road in the south to the Torrs Gap Road in the north.)

As of June 2010 my information is that AGL was awaiting the passage of the Renewable Energy Target amendments in the Federal Senate.

Further information on Barn Hill wind farm
Estimated average wind speed8.3m/sec.

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Updated 2010/08/22

Canunda Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted Capacity factorLatLong
Operating23246Opened March 2005 30%S 37.61°E 140.29°
The capacity factor above was taken from AEMO data for June 2008 to March 2010 inclusive.
From this it is possible to calculate an annual generation of 124GWhr.

 
Canunda/Lake Bonney wind turbines
Wind turbines of Canunda/Lake Bonney
A 46MW $92.5M wind farm on Woakwine ridge near Tantanoola owned by Canunda Power P.L., a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based International Power P.L. For an interactive map and/or directions to Canunda go to ExplorOz.

The first two turbines were switched on in early November 2004. The wind farm consists of 23 turbines each of 2MW. AGL has signed a deal to purchase all the power generated at this wind farm.

This wind farm was formerly called Lake Bonney Central Wind Farm.

Also see Canunda photos and notes on visiting Canunda.

Further information on Canunda Wind Farm
Wind generatorsVestas 2MW
Rotation rateBetween 9 and 19rpm, depending on wind speed
Tower height67m
Blade length40m
Total height to blade tip107m
Distribution power line33kV double-circuit, 16km long
SubstationSnuggery


 
Generation record

Generation record for Canunda

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Canunda 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.

In 2009 Canunda wind farm generated 119GWh of renewable electricity and fed it into the National Grid.




 
Updated 2010/01/20

Carmodys Hill Wind Farm

Sometimes called Gulnare Wind Farm

The site is east of Georgetown and runs along 18km of ridge-line south from Bundaleer Forest to Mount Misery. It is about 170km north of Adelaide.

Summary data for Carmodys Hill Wind Farm
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Construction dateLatLong
Approval pendingup to 702.5up to 175 2010?S 33.37°E 138.48°

Pacific Hydro held meetings at Georgetown, Gulnare and Gladstone in late July 2008 for community information sessions. Planning Approval for construction has been received from the Northern Areas Council, but as of January 2010 is under appeal. Pac. Hydro have a web page at "https://www.pacifichydro.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=250".

A 'referral' giving more information on the proposal can be downloaded from the EPBC (Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) site. (Search under Referrals and public notices.)

I would like to thank Terry Teoh of Pacific Hydro for much of the above information.

Additional data for Carmodys Hill Wind Farm
Project costAus$350 million
Greenhouse abatementEstimated at 540 000 tonnes per year
Electricity generationUp to 613GWh p.a.

News

From ABC On-line news, 2009/04/06
Pacific Hydro is waiting on planning approval from the Northern Areas Council, and the council is waiting on more information about the lighting on the wind farm from Pacific Hydro. Pacific Hydro spokesman, Andrew Richards, said that they are "hopeful of being able to pursue it [the wind farm project] fairly quickly some time next year" (2010).
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Updated 2010/08/22

Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted LatLong
Operating33266September 2005?S 34.80 E 135.56

Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm is south of Port Lincoln in southern Eyre Peninsula. Port Lincoln is 250km west of Adelaide as the crow flies, but considerably more by road. It is jointly owned by some combination of Roaring 40s, Hydro Tasmania and EHN (Oceania) Pty. Ltd.,

Further data on Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm
Turbine makeVestas
Tower height60m
Rotor diameter80m
Total area covered29 square kilometres
Annual production225GWh
Capacity factor31% (AEMO via ALG, to June 2010)
33% (AEGR)
28% (ESIPC)
39% (Roaring 40s)

The annual production and first capacity factor figures above are from:
 
Cathedral Rocks
Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm
Appreciation to John White Photos

  1. Calculated from AEMO data for March 2009 to Feb. 2010 data (inclusive) downloaded via the Australian Landscape Guardians '.csv' format download facility;
  2. Calculated from generation figure in Australian Electricity Generation Report 2008 from The Climate Group;
  3. Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council report of 2009;
  4. Roaring 40s (pers. com.)
The variation illustrates the difficulty in getting good data on this value.

I tried to visit this wind farm in February, 2006. I was disappointed to be informed that the public does not have access to within even a good viewing distance. I was able to see it only by using binoculars from the top of Winters Hill at Pt. Lincoln. Better views would probably be available from Whaler's Way, on the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula.

Not all of the turbines were running on 4th and 5th February 2006 in spite of there seeming to be ample wind.

Fire 2009/02/03

There was a fire in one of the Cathedral Rocks turbines. ABC On-line news reported that the fire was seen from a nearby boat at 1am (third Feb.) Damages have been estimated at $6 million. It seems the fire did not spread to nearby scrub.

 
Generation record

Generation record for Cathedral Rocks

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Cathedral Rocks 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.
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Updated 2010/08/25

Clements Gap Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW CompletedLatLong
Operating272.156.7Late 2009 S 33.50°E 138.11°

 
Clements Gap
The range on which the Clements Gap turbines are to be built.
Clements Gap itself is in the hollow beyond the near hill
2007/10/07
First towers
The first three half-towers are up.
2009/03/23
Tower & blades
18 half-towers up and many blades on-site
2009/04/10
Clements Gap is about 15km south of Crystal Brook and 180km north of Adelaide.

For an interactive map and/or directions to Clements Gap go to ExplorOz.

While the turbines were imported, the towers were manufactured in Adelaide. Pacific Hydro has a Net page on the project, full URL is "http://www.pacifichydro.com.au/en-us/our-projects/australia-/ clements-gap-wind-farm.aspx" (note that there should be no spaces in the URL).

Further information on Clements Gap Wind Farm...
The project
Owner/operatorPacific Hydro
Estimated costAus$135 million
Turbine makeSuzlon
Electricity generationEstimated 170GWh/annum
Capacity factor34%
Output GWh/yrEstimated 170
Greenhouse gas savingEstimated 170 000t/yr
Total cargo to be transported to site8 000 tonnes
The capacity factor above was calculated from AEMO data from Aug. 2009 to Feb. 2010 data (inclusive) downloaded via the Australian Landscape Guardians Net pages.

The turbines
Wind generatorsSuzlon S-88-2.1MW
Hub height80m
Swept area of each turbine0.6ha
Total steel in towers4 400 tonnes

Air seems insubstantial, but this can be misleading. It is interesting to note that at full production ten million tonnes of air will pass through the 27 turbines of Clements Gap Wind Farm each hour.

Estimated payback time for the "embodied energy" of the whole wind farm is approximately five months.

Pacific Hydro established a Community Fund of $50 000 per year for the life of this wind farm; the first year of operation of the fund was 2009.

Most of the information for this section came from Pacific Hydro and Suzlon; in particular Terry Teoh of the former and Megan Wheatley of the latter.

I did a very short investigation on 2010/07/19. The closest ocupied houses to the turbines of this wind farm seemed to be at least one kilometre away.

Turbines
Completed turbines at Clements Gap – not yet all operating – 2009/07/24


 
Generation record

Generation record for Clements Gap

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Clements Gap 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.
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Updated 2010/08/19

Collaby Hill Wind Farm

 

2008/05/03

Collaby Hill
Collaby Hill, looking south
Collaby Hill
Collaby Hill, looking north
Collaby Hill is near Port Pirie and Crystal Brook and is about 210km north of Adelaide by road. It is part of a long ridge that gradually gains in altitude toward the north and is generally accepted as being the southern-most part of the Flinders Ranges, which continue another 350km to the north. The Mount Lofty Ranges – geologically the same formation – extend from a little to the south of Collaby Hill 270km to the south at Cape Jervis.

As of August 2010 it is proposed that the wind farm will extend from a few kilometres east of Crystal Brook northward about 15km to a point to the west of Beetaloo Reservoir. Much of the land in this area has been cleared and grazed or cropped for many decades, but some is covered with native scrub.

The project was originally proposed by Wind Farm Developments who never seem to take the projects beyond the feasibility stage. Origin Energy, who took the project over from WFD, have not yet (August 2010) provided a Net page about it. My early attempts to obtain information from Origin were unsuccessful.

On 2010/08/18 I was informed (pers. com. Elizabeth Weaver and other Origin employees) that Origin hope to get an application for planning permission in to the two councils concerned (Northern Areas and Pt. Pirie Regional) around the end of the year. I was also assured that very little native scrub will be cleared for construction, that in general the turbines will be sited a kilometre or more from houses not a part of the project and that an information brochure including a provisional map of the project will be made public shortly. If the wind farm is built then Origin Energy will set up a committee of local people to make the decisions about how their community grant money (no amount mentioned, but Pacific Hydro give $50k/yr for Clements Gap Wind Farm) will be spent.

Wind Farm Developments erected a 50m mast with anemometers about 2005 and later stated that they confirmed the project as viable. This tower was removed and Origin Energy later built four more towers to obtain information on the variation of the wind resource around the area. By August 2010 Origin had eight months of data from their new anemometers and this, combined with the Wind Farm Developments data, convinced them that the resource was of sufficient quality for a viable wind farm.

An action group to oppose the wind farm has been formed. The group is suggesting that wind farms cause health problems. There is little scientifically supportable evidence for this claim, except perhaps in regard to lost sleep due to noise and anxiety. I was lead to believe at a Collaby Hill Action Group information session at Laura (2010/07/20) that Origin Energy plans to place turbines within 500m of houses; this was later contradicted by Origin (see above).
 
Collaby Hill map
Map supplied by Origin indicating the general area under consideration for the potential Collaby Hill Wind Farm

Summary data on Collaby Hill Wind Farm
StatusNo. of
Turbines
MW eachTotal MW Construction
date
LatLong
ProposedAbout 702?140?Undecided Approx. S 33.26°E 138.22°
90 turbines had been proposed earlier

I had hoped for a map from Origin Energy that would show turbine locations and much more local detail. The one on the right is all I've managed to get so far. I live in hopes.
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Coober Pedy wind turbine

Coober Pedy turbine
Coober Pedy wind turbine
Photo credit: Greg Farkas
StatusNo. of TurbinesMW eachTotal MW CommissionedLatLong
Operating10.150.15Around 1990 S 29.03°E 134.76°


This was the first wind turbine of more than a few kilowatts capacity to be built in South Australia.

Coober Pedy is a remote town about 750km NNW of Adelaide. Its power supply is by expensive-to-run local diesel powered generators, so even though the area does not have a good wind resource this turbine was thought to be worth building.




 
This section written 2010/09/05

Eyre Peninsula wind project

 
Eyre Peninsula wind resource
The wind resources of Eyre Peninsula; click on the image for a larger map.
Image courtesy of Renewables-SA
The Eyre Peninsula has some of the best wind resources in Australia; see the map on the right and the Australian wind resource map on the Wind Power Potential page. Tim O'Loughlin said that "four internationally experienced wind developers were ready to build more than 2000MW" of wind farms if transmission constraints could be overcome.

A $4.5b project has been discussed by Tim O'Loughlin (SA Commissioner for Renewable Energy), representatives of Macquarie Capital, and SA Premier Mike Rann.

The project involves a 'Green Grid' (set of high capacity electricity transmission lines) for Eyre Peninsula and an interstate connector that would be built from Port Augusta via south-east SA to Heywood in Victoria. (This would also permit better use of the existing wind farms in the SE and development of more resources there.)

The existing power transmission lines on Eyre Peninsula (as shown on the map) are only 66kV and have no reserve capacity. It has been proposed that a high capacity transmission line be constructed to enable the development of four areas in particular:
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  1. Western (around Elliston);
  2. Central (north of Cleve);
  3. Northern (north-west of Port Augusta);
  4. Southern (north of Port Lincoln);
Stage one would connect the first two areas (at an estimated cost of $613m), stage two would conect the other two. The interstate connector is expected to cost $840m.

Average wind speeds in these areas are anticipated to be greater than eight metres per second, a capacity factor of greater than 38% is expected to be achievable and 10GW (10 000MW) of wind power capacity could be installed (3000 to 5000 turbines of the size being built in 2010).

Similar power lines have been built at government expense for coal-fired power stations and mines in the past, but never for renewable energy in Australia. Power lines specifically for development of wind resources have been built in Texas.

The Leigh Creek coal reserves that supply the power stations at Port Augusta are expected to run out around 2017. The new wind power and interstate connector will go a long way to fill the gap in the national power supply when the Port Augusta power stations close down. (Also see Capacities of conventional power stations.)

The Port Augusta Transcontinental on-line news carried and article on the proposal dated 2010/09/01.




Green Point Wind Farm

There seems to have been little or no work on this project for several years (as of June 2009).

StatusNo. of TurbinesMW eachTotal MW Construction dateLatLong
Approved18354 UndecidedS 38.05°E 140.85°

Wind Prospect have planning approval from the District Council of Grant for this wind farm on the coast of south-eastern South Australia between Port Macdonnell and Victorian border.

There seems little other information available. Wind Prospect had a page on Green Point, but have removed it.

In late February 2009 54 Suzlon turbines became available to AGL (for use at Hallett). It seems that these were from a third party who had cancelled an order with Suzlon. Green Point seems to be the only Australian wind farm in the pipeline with 54 turbines planned. Of course this may be no more than coincidence, the cancelled order might not even have been Australian.






 
Updated 2010/08/26

Hallett wind farms

The individual Hallett wind farms...
NameHallett No.MWStatus (Oct. 2009)
Brown Hill Range1 94.5Operating
Hallett Hill 271.4Operating
Total operating 165.9 
Mount Bryan 363.0'Under contract'
North Brown Hill 4132.3Under construction
Bluff Range 5?52.5Under construction
Total of above 413.7 
Willogoleche Hill ??54.6Unknown
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As of October 2009 the biggest wind farm in Australia was Lake Bonney (SA) at 280MW, second was Waubra (Vic) at 192MW. At Hallett, Brown Hill Range and Hallett Hill wind farms with a combined installed capacity of 166MW are operational, making the Hallett group the third largest in Australia in early 2010. North Brown Hill and Bluff Range Wind Farms are under construction and Mount Bryan looks like being built in the fairly near future. The five of these Hallett wind farms combined will have a capacity of around 414MW, by far the greatest concentration of wind power anywhere in Australia.

Not only are there many high capacity turbines at Hallett, but they are very productive; up to mid 2010 Brown Hill Range was on a capacity factor of 40% and Hallett Hill 39%; these are exceptionally high figures and are at least partly due to the very high quality of the wind resource in the area.

Hallett is also ideal for wind farm development because of excess capacity in the electricity transmission line that passes through the area – it was built in the expectation of further development of coal-fired power in Port Augusta that never happened – and the natural gas pipeline that is available for electricity generation to fill-in when the wind isn't blowing. (Note that, as has been the case elsewhere, the transmission lines were not built to harvest the renewable power of the wind.)

I believe that the closest occupied houses to the Hallett turbines are generally about one kilometre from the turbines.

Wind turbines on Brown Hill Range
Wind turbines on Brown Hill Range at sunrise. Booborowie Valley on the left.
Brown Hill Range is one of the Hallett wind farms.


The Hallett wind farms are a group of six, five of which were originally proposed by Wind Prospect; all are in the area around Hallett and Mount Bryan, north of Burra. The sixth, North Brown Hill Wind Farm, was added later. They are all around 170km north of Adelaide. The originally proposed five developments aimed to have an output capacity of about 320MW produced by 160 two-megawatt turbines.

Map of some of the Hallett wind farm locations (and proposed locations)
Acknowledgment, AGL, April 2009
Hallett map





 
Updated 2010/08/26

Bluff Range Wind Farm

(One of the Hallett group, Hallett #5)

StatusNo. of TurbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Under construction252.152.5August 2010 S 33.37°E 138.80°

About 10km West of Hallett and 5km SE of the Hallett natural gas-fired power station.

The early part of the construction of this wind farm started around mid August, and will be getting fully underway around mid September. It will have 25 Suzlon S-88 V3 2.1MW turbines. (The S-88 is an abbreviation: the S is for Suzlon, the 88 indicates an 88m diameter.) A spokesman for AGL said that the project will create more than 120 jobs during the construction phase and anticipated completion in December 2011.

The cost is expected to be Aus$120m. AGL will establish a Community Fund program of $15 000 per year (compare to the $50k per year community fund for the similarly sized Clements Gap Wind Farm 60km to the west).
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Updated 2010/08/22

Brown Hill Range Wind Farm

(One of the Hallett group, Hallett #1)

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCommissioned Capacity factorLatLong
Operating452.194.5June 13th 2008 40%S 33.36°E 138.71°

The capacity factor above was calculated from AEMO data in July 2010 and is among the best I have calculated for Australian wind farms.

The first Hallett turbine
The first Hallett turbine; from Bundaleer forest
This wind farm is about 15km East of Hallett (map) and consists of 45 turbines each of 2.1MW, it was officially commissioned on June 13th 2008, although was largely operational several months earlier. I believe that it is owned by a superannuation company and its power is being bought by AGL.

A company named Wind Prospect first proposed the farm and did initial work on assessing the wind resource and planning a possible layout.

The turbines are Suzlon S-88 2.1MW machines and the farm was constructed by Suzlon. The Suzlon parent company is based in Pune, India.

For an interactive map and/or directions to Brown Hill Range go to ExplorOz.

In the Australian Electricity Generation Report of 2008, available from Australian Policy Online, this wind farm is listed as the seventh largest renewable energy power station in mainland eastern Australia, and the second largest wind farm, by generation for 2008, generating 259MWhr.

Bendan Ryan (of Suzlon) informed me that they used Brett Lane and Associates of Melbourne for bird and bat monitoring. Lane et al apparently wrote the wind industry's 'best practice' recommendations for bird and bat monitoring.

Bright air navigation lights were installed on perhaps 20 of the towers at Brown Hill Range shortly after construction. These lights were turned off around the end of 2009, and seem not likely to be turned back on.

I must express my thanks to Peter Reed and Brendan Ryan of Suzlon for their help in keeping me informed and showing me around this wind farm.

 
Generation record

Generation record for Brown Hill Range

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Brown Hill 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.


Also see Brown Hill Range Wind Farm photos, notes on visiting. More information on the wind farm is given on the Suzlon site. A 623kB pdf file is available at "http://www.suzlon.com/images/common/AGL Hallett Wind Farm project profile.pdf".




 
Updated 2010/08/22

Hallett Hill Wind Farm

(One of the Hallett group, Hallett #2)

Hallett Hill Wind Farm
Some of the Hallett Hill turbines with one of the few remnant sheoak (Allocasuarina stricta) trees in the foreground

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Capacity factorCompletedLatLongCost
Operating 342.171.439%Late 2009S 33.55°E 138.86° $166m

The capacity factor above was calculated from AEMO data in April 2010 and is among the best I have calculated for Australian wind farms.

 
Hallett Hill depot
Working on the works depot for Hallett Hill Wind Farm
2008/08/25
Hallett Hill turbines
Several turbines completed
Photogaphed from Clare, 40km away
2009/04/01
A copy of AGL's location map is above; for an interactive map and/or directions to Hallett Hill go to ExplorOz.

Hallett Hill Wind Farm is about 15km South of Hallett and a very few kilometres west of the township of Mount Bryan.

ABC on-line news, 2008/08/29, reported that:

"Energy company AGL has sold its wind farm near Burra in the mid-north of South Australia in a deal it says is worth $59 million. Energy Infrastructure Trust will own the Hallett Hill Wind Farm and fund the rest of the project's construction. But AGL will operate and maintain the wind farm and buy all the electricity produced."

The wind farm was constructed by Suzlon using Suzlon S-88 V3 turbines. I believe the tube sections of the towers were manufactured in Adelaide.

Bright air navigation lights were installed on a number of the towers at Hallett Hill shortly after construction. These lights were turned off around the end of 2009, and seem not likely to be turned back on.

Further data on Hallett Hill Wind Farm
Hub height80m
Max. blade tip height124m
Swept area of each turbine0.6ha
No. truck journies during construction1240
High tension cable for rock-anchor footings130km
Rock trenching for 33kV reticualtion17km
Concrete used3400m3
Steel for towers5800t
Underground cable17km
Overhead cable10km
Total weight of material transported to site10 350t
Thanks to Suzlon for this information

 
Generation record

Generation record for Hallett Hill

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Hallett Hill 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.
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Updated 2010/03/20

Mount Bryan Wind Farm

(One of the Hallett group, Hallett #3)

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Approved302.163Late 2010? S 33.43°E 138.96°

 
Mt Bryan area
The wind farm area; Hallett is on the left. (Google Earth)
The wind turbines are to be built on the ridge-tops on the right two-thirds of the image.
This proposed wind farm is owned by AGL.

Mount Bryan Wind Farm is to be built near Mount Bryan (the hill, not the township), about 5km East of Hallett, and about 12km NNE of Mount Bryan township (map).

Several people who are opposed to wind farms in the Hallett area have claimed that there will be much damage to native vegetation if the Mount Bryan Wind Farm is built; the image at the right shows that there is practically no scrub right on the ridge-tops.

An email from Tim Knill of AGL Energy (12th March 2010) included the following on ecology: "there are some patches of native grass/shrubs but very few trees on the ridge tops. Any unavoidable clearance of native vegetation will require conservation set-aside areas to be established. We expect that all trees will be protected." The area has been subject to sheep grazing for well over a hundred years and the native vegetation is greatly degraded.

 
General view of Mount Bryan 
area
A general view of the Mount Bryan area
There has been some concern over a remnant stand of Eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus globulus bicostata) in this area (April 2008). It seems that this particular stand of trees could be up to 4000 years old. Sandra Kanck (then South Australian Democrat MLC) said that the stand of trees is only 20m from one of the proposed turbines. (I believe the site of this turbine has been moved because of these trees.) While this stand of E. globulus bicostata is the only one known in South Australia, I believe the species is common in the Otway Ranges in Victoria.

The view on the right is fairly typical of the Mount Bryan range. There are more large gums in some of the lower areas, there are more shrubs on some of the hill-sides, there is more conspicuous damage from over-grazing in some areas. (I have other images if anyone needs them.)




 
Updated 2010/08/26

North Brown Hill Wind Farm

(One of the Hallett group, Hallett #4)

This wind farm is being constructed about 23km from Hallett (map) and immediately north of the Brown Hill Range Wind Farm (Hallett #1). Wind Prospect has quite a detailed Net page about the project and you may find information about the project on AGL's site.

First power into the grid was about 2010/08/10, as of 2010/08/26 there were about nine turbines feeding into the national grid.

EcoGeneration, 2009/10/12 ran a news article stating that AGL had sold North Brown Hill (Hallett #4) to the Energy Infrastructure Investments consortium.

North Brown Hill will be one of the the biggest wind farm in SA and in Australia.

Ward Civil has won the contract for the footings of North Brown Hill and, I believe, is making rock anchor bases that are smaller than previously used in the area. I hear they will take around 50 cubic metres of concrete each and are 1.4m deep rather than the 2.3m deep bases Built Environs designed ones for earlier Hallett wind farms.


StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompletion due LatLong
Under construction632.1132.3Early 2011 S 33.19°E 138.75°

Further data on North Brown Hill
Project costAus$341m
Turbine typeSuzlon S-88 V3 2.1MW
Long term average wind speed8.5M/sec.
The information on this table was from AGL's Net site.





Willogoleche Hill wind farm

(One of the Hallett group)

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Proposed262.1?54.6?Undecided S 33.41°E 138.84°

About 5km West of Hallett. No company has committed to building this wind farm, but my information is that it is likely to be built. The AEMO Net page on uncommitted but proposed generators gives International Power as the proponent of this farm (2011/04/08).
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Updated 2009/12/08

Lake Bonney wind farms

In the Southeast of South Australia near Millicent, this wind farm follows a line of stabilised sand dunes parallel to the coast, in a NW-SE direction.

The owner was Babcock and Brown Wind Partners, more recently N.P. Power and Infagen Energy. Obtaining information on these wind farms is particularly difficult.

The individual Lake Bonney wind farms...
NameMWStatus (Dec. 2009)
Lake Bonney Stage 1 80.5Operating
Lake Bonney Stage 2 159.0Operating
Lake Bonney Stage 3 39.0Operating
Total278.5 





 
Updated 2010/08/22

Lake Bonney Stage 1 wind farm

This farm is located on the Woakwine Range about 2km from the eastern shore of Lake Bonney, near Millicent. For an interactive map and/or directions to Lake Bonney Wind Farm go to ExplorOz.

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted Capacity factorLatLong
Operating461.7580.5March 2005 24%S 37.71°E 140.38°

The capacity factor above was taken from the Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council annual report of 2009 (the average of the annual figures from 2006 to 2009); It is possible to calculate a capacity factor of 29% from the generation figure in the Australian Electricity Generation Report 2008 from The Climate Group.

Canunda/Lake Bonney wind turbines
Wind turbines of Canunda/Lake Bonney


Lake Bonney photos, notes on visiting.

In the Australian Electricity Generation Report of 2008, available from Australian Policy Online, this wind farm is listed as the nineth largest renewable energy power station in mainland eastern Australia, and the fourth largest wind farm, by generation for 2008, generating 204MWhr.

More data on Lake Bonney Stage 1
The project
Capacity factor30.3% net
The resource
Average wind speedMore than 7m/sec. at hub height
The turbines
Turbine typeVestas V66, 1.75MW
Diameter of rotor66m
Blade lengthApprox. 32m
Blade materialFibreglass
Tower height67m
Tower materialSteel
Much of the data in this table came from Miles George of Infigen Energy.


 
Generation record

Generation record for Lake Bonney Stage 1

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Lake Bonney Stage 1 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.





 
Updated 2010/08/22

Lake Bonney Stage 2 wind farm

Owned by Infigen Energy, who have a Net page on the farm.

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted Capacity factorLatLong
Operating533159September 2008 20%S 37.81°E 140.41°

The capacity factor above was taken from the Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council annual report of 2009.

This wind farm commenced full commercial operation in September 2008. In the Australian Electricity Generation Report of 2008, available from Australian Policy Online, this wind farm is listed as the third largest renewable energy power station in mainland eastern Australia, and the largest wind farm, by generation for 2008, generating 373MWhr.

More data on Lake Bonney Stage 2
The Project
CostApprox. Aus$400 million
Capacity factorExpected 34%
The resource
Average wind speedMore than 7m/sec. at hub height
The turbines
Turbine typeVestas V90 3MW
Tower height, to hub78m
Tower materialSteel
Rotor diameter90m
Blade lengthApprox. 44m
Blade materialFibreglass
Much of the data in this table came from Miles George of Infigen Energy.


 
Generation record

Generation record for Lake Bonney Stage 2

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Lake Bonney Stage 2 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.
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Updated 2009/12/08

Lake Bonney Stage 3 Wind Farm

This stage is, like the other two, close to Lake Bonney and is owned by Infagen Energy (who have taken over the business of the old Babcock and Brown Wind Partners).

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompletion due LatLong
Operating13339December 2009 S ?°E ?°

The turbines are Vestas V90 models, 3MW each. The expected capacity factor for this wind farm is 34%.






 
Updated 2009/09/16

Myponga/Sellicks Hill wind farm

Trust Power proposed this wind farm to be built south of Sellicks beach and north of Myponga, near Mount Terrible and Mount Jeffcott, on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Trust Power's Net site seems not to have been updated for a long time.

Summary data
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Approved162.1?33.6?Early 2010 S 35.38°E 138.44°

Shortly after it being reported that construction would start in early 2010 the South Australian Government announced that it has refused to vary major development approval of the wind farm (Trust Power wanted to build taller towers, 110m high). Subsequently Trust Power stated they would drop the project. This all happened in late August, early September 2009.






 
Updated 2010/08/22

Mount Millar wind farm

Owned by Meridian Power of New Zealand, an interesting article can be found on the Eyre Peninsula Tribune site. (Mount Millar Wind Farm was developed by Tarong, then sold to Transfield, and passed to Meridian in 2010.)

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted Capacity factorLatLong
Operating35270December 2005 29%S 33.63°E 136.68°
The capacity factor above was taken from AEMO data via the ALG Net pages and uses data up to the end of June 2010.

One of the Mount Millar wind turbines
One of the Mount Millar wind turbines near Cowell and Cleve, South Australia; at sunset
Mount Millar is a 70MW wind farm in the Cowell-Cleve area of Eyre Peninsula, about 220km NW of Adelaide, as the crow flies. For an interactive map and/or directions to Mount Millar go to ExplorOz.

It is owned by Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund.

This wind farm was previously called Yabmana. It is built along seven kilometres of hill-top roughly between Cowell and Cleve. (It is sign-posted from the Cowell-Cleve road.)

The Eyre Peninsula Tribune, on 14th March 2006, stated that construction of this wind farm started in late 2004 and was completed in December 2005. Power started being generated on February 28th 2006.

This is an interesting and scenic wind farm to visit. Most of the turbines are quite close to a public road along a ridge top with good views over Spencer Gulf.
One of the Mount Millar wind turbines
Some of the Mount Millar wind turbines; late afternoon

You can see more photos of Mount Millar Wind Farm.

More data on Mount Millar Wind Farm
Project costAust$130 million
Footings
Footing typeMass
Mass footing rely on their weight to hold the turbine in place,
rather than the alternative of bolting them to the bedrock.
Footing diameter20m
Material in footings40 tonnes of steel and 800t of concrete.
Turbines
Turbine typeEnercon E70
GearingNo gearbox, direct drive, see below
Tower height, to hub85m
Total height to blade tip120m

 
Generation record

Generation record for Mount Millar

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Mount Millar 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.
The Mount Millar Wind Farm is different to other SA wind farms in that the turbines do not have gear boxes; this, presumably, is why the nacelle of these turbines has a larger diameter than most. A quote from the manufacturer, Enercon...
"The annular generator is of primary importance in the gearless system design of ENERCON wind turbines. Combined with the rotor hub it provides an almost frictionless flow of energy, while the gentle running of fewer moving components guarantees minimal material wear. Unlike conventional asynchronous generators, the ENERCON annular generator is subjected to minimal mechanical wear, which makes it ideal for particularly heavy demands and a long service life.

The ENERCON annular generator is a low-speed synchronous generator with no direct grid coupling. The output voltage and frequency vary with the speed and are converted for output to the grid by a DC link and inverter. This achieves a high degree of speed variability."

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Updated 2009/09/05

Port Augusta Wind Farm

Also called Lincoln Gap Wind Farm

Summary data
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Approved??1182011? S 32.62°E 137.57°

As of September 2009 this project seems to be in the hands of Infigen Energy who mention it in a pdf file, 'Australian development pipeline'. This file gives the project status as "Initial DA [development application?] received".





 
This section written 2010/01/14

Robe Wind Farm

(Wind farm name uncertain)

This proposed wind farm is interesting for it's large size and the fact that the proposal came from a group of 30 farmers who recognised the potential on their land. Michael McCourt, of Beachport, is heading the project on behalf of the farmers.

The agreement by Macquarie Capital Group Ltd. to take "responsibility for all of the ongoing development activities for the proposed wind farm" (Border Watch, 2009/12/22) is very significant because it indicates that financial backing has been obtained; always a hugely important mile-stone for any wind farm development.

Summary data for Robe Wind Farm
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Completion dueLatLong
Proposed??600Undecided Approx. S 37.11°E 139.80°

The wind farm is to be built on the Woakwine Range between Beachport and Mount Benson. Beachport is 78km NW of Mount Gambier, Mount Benson is about 60km NNW of Beachport.

I suspect that substantial upgrading of the power transmission system will be needed before the project can proceed.

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Updated 2009/11/18

Robertstown Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Completion dueLatLong
Proposed30 to 353?90 to 105?Undecided Approx. 33.99°139.10°

 
Robertstown, Stony Gap, and Waterloo Wind Farm locations
Map
Image from Roaring 40s

Robertstown is 50km ESE of Clare, 21km north of Eudunda, and 110km NNE of Adelaide; the wind farm is about 6km west of the Robertstown township. The proponent is Tasmania-based Roaring 40s, who have a page on the project. They have announced that they hope to submit a development application in early 2010; their manager for this project is Michael Hogan.

It was earlier reported that this and Stony Gap Wind Farm were to be extensions of Waterloo Wind Farm, but in fact Roaring 40s are treating all three as separate projects.

In November 2009 Roaring 40s announced that they would be holding an information session about this project in Robertstown 'in the near future'.
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Updated 2010/08/22

Snowtown Wind Farm

Stage 1 summary data
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW First power
to grid
CompletedCapacity factorLatLong
Operating47 2.199March 2008Early September 2008 41%S 33.73°E 138.11°
The capacity factor was calculated from AEMO data up to the end of June 2010. It is the second best I have calculated for any Australian wind farm, just behind Cullerin Range.

Stage 2 summary data
StatusNo. of turbinesConstruction starting
Approvedup to 83Unknown - see below

Trust Power (full URL for Snowtown Wind Farm – "http://www.trustpower.co.nz/index.php?section=163") is considering extending this wind farm in the near future. "As part of this process TrustPower is currently seeking various planning approvals from Wakefield Regional Council for an expansion, which would involve building the remainder of the 130 approved turbines, with a proposal to add another 19 turbines. This would result in a total of 149 turbines across the Snowtown Wind Farm site." Full URL for Snowtown Stage 2, "http://www.trustpower.co.nz/index.php?section=162"

First turbine at Snowtown
The first turbine of the Snowtown Wind Farm
2007/12/28

Additional data on Snowtown Wind Farm
OwnerTrust Power Ltd.
OperatorSuzlon
Project costAust$220 million
Expected output350GWh/yr
Greenhouse gas savings345 000t/yr
Turbine typeSuzlon S-88-2.1MW
Tower height (to hub)80m
Height to blade tip124m
Rotational speed15 to 17.6RPM
Rotor diameter88m
Speed at blade tip69 to 81m/sec. or 249 to 292km/hr

This farm is west of Snowtown and about 150km north of Adelaide. For an interactive map and/or directions to Snowtown go to ExplorOz.
 
Turbine and fog
Fog streaming between turbines at Snowtown Wind Farm
2008/05/05

While TrustPower own this wind farm, the Indian based company Suzlon built it and will operate and maintain the turbines.

The contract calls for a minimum availability of 97%; that is, as I understand it, total turbine/hours of downtime must be no more than 3% of the total turbine/hours in a year.

The wind farm started feeding power into the grid in December 2007 and was officially opened on 2nd November 2008. In the Australian Electricity Generation Report of 2008, available from Australian Policy Online, this wind farm is listed as the eleventh largest renewable energy power station in mainland eastern Australia, and the fifth largest wind farm, by generation for 2008, generating 195MWhr.

Snowtown Wind Farm had air navigation lights on about 40% of its turbines from the time it was built until about May 2010. It was decided that since the towers are below the lowest permissible aviation height there was no need for lights.

Some of my photos of Snowtown Wind Farm are on another page.

 
Generation record

Generation record for Snowtown

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Snowtown 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.

Powering TREV around the world

The developers of TREV (Two-seat Renewable Energy Vehicle) are (as I write, 2010/08/23) buying power from the Snowtown Wind Farm to power TREV on a 'Race around the World'. TREV is expected to use 2.1MWh of electricity in total; that is one hour's generation from one of the Snowtown turbines at full power.

Further stages

I emailed TrustPower (2008/07/30) requesting information on any proposed expansion of the Snowtown Wind Farm and received a reply from Clayton Delmarter. He said that they received approval for 130 turbines back in 2004, and I quote him...
"So we can still install 83 turbines under the original approval - we are looking at various layout options, but essentially if you assume the same turbine type (nothing confirmed at this stage) there is around 174MW of capacity left to build out.

We don't know at this stage if we will build this in one hit or have another couple of stages, depends how the numbers stack up - so at this stage we haven't settled on the final turbine type or the construction start date for any expansion but we are working on it!"

A company named Wind Prospect originally planned up to 105 wind turbines each of 2MW.

For email to Wind Prospect, try: admin@windprospect.com.au, for Trust Power try clayton.delmarter@trustpower.co.nz or rodney.ahern@trustpower.co.nz.

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Starfish Hill Wind Farm

Owned by Transfield Infrastructure Fund since December 2007; they have an informative site on it at
"http://www.tsinfrastructurefund.com/infrastructure_assets/ starfish_hill_wind_farm.htm". (No spaces)

Starfish Hill turbines
Some of the Starfish Hill turbines viewed from Cape Jervis

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCommissioned Capacity factorLatLong
Operating231.534.5September 2003 28%S 35.57°E 138.16°
The capacity factor figure above was taken from AEMO data for June 2008 to the end of June 2010.


Wind turbines at Starfish Hill, Fleurieu Peninsula
Wind turbines silhouetted against the sea at Starfish Hill, Fleurieu Peninsula
This was the first wind farm in South Australia.

It is located across two hills south of Rapid Bay, Starfish Hill and Salt Creek Hill, with 8 turbines on Starfish Hill and 15 on Salt Creek Hill. For an interactive map and/or directions to Starfish Hill go to ExplorOz.

Further data on Starfish Hill Wind Farm
Project costAust$65 million
Annual productionApprox. 100GWh
Turbine makeNeg Micon (now Vestas)
Height to turbine hub68m
Height to blade tip100m
Rotor diameter64m

An interesting feature of this wind farm is that the tips of the turbine blades can be rotated independently of the remainder of the blade. This can be used to stop the turbines when needed.

 
Generation record

Generation record for Starfish Hill

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Starfish Hill 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.
Also on this Net site: Starfish Hill photos, notes on visiting.

When I visited on 2007/03/14 two turbines on Starfish Hill were out of action; all others were operational. I noticed in late January 2009 that three turbines, again on Starfish Hill, were not working; all the others were. This wind farm seems to have serious problems.

Some of the turbines made a strange sound when rotating slowly. After a time I concluded that the turbine blades must be hollow and partly filled with water which cascaded backward and forward as the turbines rotated. When they rotated at full speed the centrifugal force must have been sufficient to keep the water at the far end of the blades and stop the cascading. I have since been informed that it is unlikely that there could be water in the blades, but have heard no other explanation for the strange sound.

Wind turbines at Starfish Hill, SA.
Wind turbines at Starfish Hill, Cape Jervis, South Australia
This was the first South Australian wind farm.






 
Updated 2009/11/18

Stony Gap Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Completion dueLatLong
Proposed40 to 453?120 to 135?Undecided Approx. 33.82°138.93°

Stony Gap is about 28km east of Clare, 13km east of Farrell Flat, and 126km NNE of Adelaide. If built it will be one of the biggest wind farms in Australia. A location map is in the notes on the Robertstown Wind Farm.

Tasmania-based Roaring 40s, who have a page on the project, expect to submit a development application to the Goyder Regional Council before the end of 2009. Roaring 40s' manager for this project is Michael Hogan.

It was earlier reported that this and Robertstown Wind Farm were to be extensions of Waterloo Wind Farm, but in fact Roaring 40s are treating all three as separate projects.

Roaring 40s held a community information session on this wind farm at the Burra Town hall on 2009/12/03.

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Updated 2010/05/19

Vincent North Wind Farm

also known as Sheoak Flat Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMWTotal MWConstruction date LatLong
Proposed361.6559.4Undecided Approx. S 34.71°E 137.88°

This project was proposed by Pacific Hydro and was to be at Sheoak Flat between Port Julia and Port Vincent on Yorke Peninsula. The company obtained planning permission for the wind farm. On May 19th 2010 several newspapers reported that Pacific Hydro had decided to allow planning consent to lapse.

Quoting from the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 2008/04/15, "Currently the 132kv [power transmission] line serving Yorke Peninsula is at capacity and, until the capacity constraints are resolved and the electricity transmission infrastructure upgraded, this project and others like it are likely to remain on hold." Note that this same problem has stopped the development of Wattle Point Stage 2 wind farm. The SA Government talks big on sustainable energy, but does much less.

Further information on Vincent North Wind Farm...
The project
Output GWh/yearGreater than 140
Greenhouse gas savingEstimated 145 000t/yr
Project costAus$100 million

The information in this table came from Pacific Hydro.
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Updated 2010/06/25

Waterloo Wind Farm

 
Construction buildings
Temporary construction buildings at Waterloo Wind Farm; beginning of electrical control yard on left. 2010/02/12

 
Waterloo ridge
The ridge before the turbines were erected
Photo taken 2008/01/17
Some (the first?) power from the Waterloo turbines was fed into the grid on 2010/08/23 at 1100 hours.

On 2010/08/19 Dijana Jevremov of Roaring 40s informed me that the closest turbine to a residence at Waterloo Wind Farm is "at or near to 2km away".

I visited the site on June 24th 2010. I gathered, from what I observed, had read previously, and was told, that:



StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MW Completion dueLatLong
Under construction373111Early 2011? Approx. 33.98°138.92°

 
Crane and towers
2010/06/24
The 690-tonne crane is in place to add the top sections to the part-tower.

As can be seen, there are quite a few native trees on this ridge, it is a pity that many had to be removed.

Waterloo is 39km south-east of Clare, 20km ENE of Auburn and 110km NNE of Adelaide. When completed the wind farm will be one of the biggest in Australia in terms of installed capacity. A location map is in the notes on the Robertstown Wind Farm.

Waterloo Wind Farm is being constructed by Tasmania-based Roaring 40s, who have a page on the project. The wind farm will use Vestas Wind Systems V90-3.0MW turbines. (The V90 is an abbreviation: V for Vestas and the 90 indicates a 90m diameter for the swept circle of the turbine blades.)

Roaring 40s erected a wind monitoring tower in 2002 to investigate the wind potential of the site.

The turbines are to be along the top of a well defined sharp ridge running parallel to, and four kilometres west of, Tothill Range. The point specified by latitude and longitude in the table above is in the approximate centre of the wind farm and is about 3.5km east of Waterloo. Waterloo is about 30km SE of Clare. Most of the turbines (31?) will be spread along a nearly straight line running from six kilometres south of this point to three kilometres north of this point. A second, smaller, group of turbines (8?) are to be in another north-south line from seven to ten kilometres north of the point.

Roaring 40s intend to add a further six turbines to Waterloo in the near future.

An interesting point about this wind farm is that the turbines are to be 43% bigger than most of those previously constructed in northern South Australia; ie. 3MW rather than 2.1MW. (3MW turbines have also been used at Lake Bonney Stage 3 Wind Farm.)

On the grape vine: The quartzite rock on the ridge is so hard that it has to be blasted before footings can be built. However, it is generally too fractured for rock anchors to be used, so the footings are of the heavy gravity type.

The viability of two other wind farms, Robertstown and Stony Gap, is also under investigation in the same area.
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Wattle Point Wind Farm

 
Wattle Point Wind Farm location
Wattle Point location
Wattle Point Wind Farm can be seen in the lower section of this Google-Earth image. Each dot at the end of a little road is a turbine.
The information station is on the road running due south into the farm.
A 55-turbine wind farm at Wattle Point near Edithburgh on Yorke Peninsula. Edithburgh is 80km WSW of Adelaide as the crow flies, but about 230km by road around the northern end of St. Vincent Gulf. For an interactive map and/or directions to Wattle Point go to ExplorOz.

The wind farm started operating in the first half of 2005.

The Google-Earth image at the right shows the locations of individual turbines and a number of the access roads.

Wattle Point is unusual in being (as of late 2009 at least) the only large Australian wind farm laid out in a grid-pattern on level ground. It would be interesting to know how much wind-shadowing there is due to this lay-out.

In the Australian Electricity Generation Report of 2008, available from Australian Policy Online, this wind farm is listed as the eighth largest renewable energy power station in mainland eastern Australia, and the third largest wind farm, by generation for 2008, generating 248MWhr.

Wattle Point Wind Farm
Sunset at Wattle Point Wind Farm


Summary data, Wattle Point Wind Farm
StatusNo. of turbinesMW eachTotal MWCompleted Capacity factorLatLong
Operating551.6591May 2005 33%S 35.10°E 137.72°
The capacity factor was taken from AEMO data, via the ALG Net pages, and is from data up to the end of June 2010.

 
Wattle Point Wind Farm
Old and new windmills at Wattle Point

Additional data on Wattle Point Wind Farm
Type of turbineVestas V82
Total area of wind farm11.5 square kilometres
Tower height67m
Blade length40m
Height to blade tip110m
Expected life25 years
Expected annual generation312GWh
312GWh/annum was roughly 2% of South Australia's electricity at the time Wattle Point was built.

The above data were from Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, (RISE).

Alinta sold this wind farm to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ANZ, Energy Infrastructure Trust, in April 2007 for Aus$225m.

 
Generation record

Generation record for Wattle Point

The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Wattle Point 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.
More photos are at my Wattle Point photos. The photos were taken when I visited in 2005/04/07. I stayed while the sun set. I would recommend to anyone standing in the middle of a wind farm while the sun rose or set; it's almost a spiritual experience. The turbines are the land-bound equivalents of the old sailing ships, graceful, quiet, impressive in their power. See also Of wind turbines and sailing ships.

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About two thirds of the turbines were running in the morning of the seventh, when there was a stiff breeze. By the time the photos were taken there was no breeze at ground level, although still enough to keep the turbines going at their greater altitude.




Wattle Point Stage 2 Wind Farm

Alternatively known as Troubridge Point Wind Farm

This was proposed to be a 25MW wind farm near the present Wattle Point farm. At least to October 2008 it has not been built. The hold up seems to be the lack of capacity in the transmission lines.

Following an inquiry I sent to the District Council of Yorke Peninsula I received the following by email...

Please be advised that Council have approved of a second wind farm near Wattle Point a couple of years ago, however, the development has not proceeded due to the fact that there is insufficient capacity in the transmission lines to accommodate additional power loadings.

Until such time that there is an extensive up grade to the existing transmission lines, which would cost the state government millions of dollars, the development will not occur.

I trust that this information answers you enquiry.

Regards,
ROGER S BROOKS
ACTING DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY SERVICES
District Council of Yorke Peninsula
roger.brooks@yorke.sa.gov.au
www.yorke.sa.gov.au

More recently (October 2008) I have had confirmation from another source (I will not give the name) that the reason this farm was not built was a lack of support by the State Government.

So it seems yet again that a wind farm development that could happen is not going to happen because of lack of the needed government support, in this case, state government support.






 
Updated 2009/09/05

Woakwine Range Wind Farm

Ecogeneration (Southern Press) published online an article on 2009/08/21 stating that "Infigen Energy has announced plans to develop a 420MW" wind farm at Woakwine. (Infigen Energy owns the nearby Lake Bonney Wind Farm.) This article stated that "The Woakwine Wind Farm is to be developed in three stages. Stage 1 and 2 are each expected to have a capacity of 120MW, while Stage 3 is expected to add a further 180MW." (Infigen have previously used 3MW turbines at Lake Bonney stages 2 and 3, so it seem likely that they will use them again.)

Summary data, Woakwine Range Wind Farm
StatusNo. of turbinesMWTotal MWConstruction date Lat.Long.
Proposed140?3?420Undecided Approx. S 33.8°E 139.0°

Infigen has a pdf file on its 'Australian development pipeline' that mentions the project.

The power transmission network in the region is already strugling to handle the load from the existing wind farms; it will need substantial development before this project can be brought online.

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World's End Wind Farm

StatusNo. of turbinesMWTotal MWConstruction date Lat.Long.
Proposed90?2?180Undecided S 33.83°E 139.05°

The Burra Broadcaster published a front page article on 18th August, 2004 stating that a company named Wind Developments Australia Pty. Ltd. were planning to build an 80 to 90 turbine wind farm at World's End (about 15km South of Burra); each turbine being 2MW. The newspaper also stated that construction was expected to take about eight months and the Company hoped to start construction by the end of 2004.

This seems to me one of the least likely of the Mid-North SA wind farms to be built. There is no evidence that I know of for any action at all on the project, and I have been told by someone in a position to know that the turbine sites are inappropriate for efficient operation.

Allco Financial Services listed this as one of their projects. Allco, in severe financial difficulties, called in administrators in November 2008.
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Updated 2009/10/05

Other proposed wind farms

In addition to those detailed above many others wind farms are proposed (table below), but I have been unable to find anything about when, if ever, these are likely to be constructed. Information concerning these would be appreciated, my email address is at the top of this page.

If and when any of these proposed wind farms look likely to be built 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 wishful thinking and is not worth covering in more detail than that below.



RegionWind FarmProposerMWStatus
Eyre Peninsula Elliston Stage 1
(Tungketta Hill)
Ausker Energies & ANZ Infrastructure Services 55Planning approved
Elliston Stage 2 As above65Planning approved
Lake Hamilton/SheringaHydro Tasmania110 Feasibility
Mount Hill Transfield Services80Feasitility
Sheringa Beach Ausker Energies100Feasibility
UleyBabcock and Brown and National Power160Feasibility
Fleurieu Peninsula Kemmis HillOrigin Energy ? 
Waitpinga Waitpinga Wind Farm P.L.? 
Lower North Thompson BeachWater and Energy Systems P.L.? Prefeasibility
Mid NorthKulpara Transfield Services80Prefeasibility
Keyneton Pacific Hydro120Prefeasibility
Skillogalee Wind Farm DP Energy Australia PL?Prefeasibility
South East KongorongTransfield Services 30 to 120Prefeasibility
Mount BensonBabcock and Brown National Power130Feasibility
Lake GeorgeBabcock and Brown National Power120Feasibility
Unknown Weymouth HillMeridian Energy and
Wind Farm Development
? 
For links to developers see Wind farm businesses
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Visiting SA wind-farms


As of December 2007 I have visited, or attempted to visit, all eight South Australian wind farms that are at least partly built. Below are some notes on local accommodation, accessibility, photographing possibilities, etc. I will list them in alphabetical order. (Lake Bonney has been listed with Canunda because these two, independently owned and operated, wind farms are contiguous and it is not easy to see where one finishes and the other starts.)

Wind farms in this section
(Locality)

Brown Hill Range (Hallett)
Canunda (Millicent)
Cathedral Rocks (Port Lincoln)
Lake Bonney (Millicent)
Mount Millar (Cleve/Cowell)
Snowtown
Starfish Hill (Cape Jervis)
Wattle Point (Edithburgh)

All wind farm turbines in SA are on private land. While you can often get quite close to some turbines via public roads, there will be others that cannot be approached except by crossing private land.

In my experience most farmers are very reasonable and will not object if you walk onto a property a short distance from a boundary fence, leave gates as you find them, are considerate of livestock, and do not go near sheds or homesteads without asking permission. I suggest not driving onto private land without permission. Most land-owners would prefer you to ask permission before entering on their land at all, but it is very often difficult to know who owns what land and where he/she lives. If you meet anyone, politely explain what you are doing.

I would appreciate information that would allow me to improve this section, for example, further information on local accommodation options.


Visiting Brown Hill Range Wind Farm, Hallett

Brown Hill Range dawn
As of January 2008 the lower half of all towers were erected and 23 turbines were completed.

Location

On a north/south trending ridge about 15km east of Hallett.

Accommodation

Possibly a hotel at Hallett. There is a caravan and camping park as well as hotel, a motor inn, and numerous cottages in Burra, 33km south of Hallett. Mount Bryan has a hotel that provided accommodation, about 20km south of Hallett. There are hotel/motels and at least one caravan park at Jamestown, which is about 20km north-west of the wind farm site.

Accessibility

Either to Booborowie then north, or Hallett and then the Jamestown road, or Jamestown, then the Hallett road. The site is southwest of 'Old Canowie' homestead on the Jamestown-Hallett road. Only unsealed roads go close to the site. At least three unsealed public roads cross the ridge on which the wind farm is located. All of these connect with the unsealed road that goes from 'Old Canowie' to Booborowie.

Photography notes

The best views available from public roads would be from the unsealed roads that cross the ridge. To go onto the private roads one should arrange permission from Suzlon (try telephoning 0448 871 875) or one of the land owners.



Visiting Canunda and Lake Bonney, wind farms, Millicent

Millicent wind turbines Canunda and Lake Bonney Stage one are fully operational, Lake Bonney Stage two is under construction (as of mid-2007).

Location

South and west of Millicent in the South East of South Australia

Accommodation

Millicent is the closest large town. It has varied accommodation including hotel(s), motel(s), a good caravan park with cabins. Dogs are permitted in the caravan park.

Accessibility

Good, mainly unsealed, roads pass around and through the two wind farms.

Photography notes

This is one of the most photogenic of SA's wind farms. The many vantage points afforded by the several roads around the wind farms give lots of opportunities. The turbines are on a low ridge and there are views over the nearby Lake Bonney in places. If you want to cross any of the private land you will need to decide for yourself how you go about it.



Visiting Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm, Port Lincoln

Fully operational

Location

On the south coast of Eyre Peninsula, about 20km south of Port Lincoln

Accommodation

Port Lincoln is one of South Australia's largest provincial cities, is a tourist destination, and has plentiful and varied accommodation, including hotels, motels, home-stays, b&bs, and camping grounds.

Accessibility

You cannot get closer than 10km or so to Cathedral Rocks without crossing private land.

Photography notes

The lack of accessibility makes Cathedral Rocks the least photographable wind farm of all those in SA. The turbines can just be seen from the top of Winter's Hill, Port Lincoln, but you would need a good telephoto lens to get a mediocre photo.



Visiting Mount Millar Wind Farm, Cowell-Cleve

Mount Millar Wind Farm
Fully operational

Location

In the hills between Cowell and Cleve on northern Eyre Peninsula

Accommodation

Caravan parks at Cowell, motels at Cowell and Cleve.

Accessibility

Sealed road part way from either Cleve or Cowell, then unsealed roads. Roughly equal distances from either of these towns (25-30km).

Photography notes

There is only one road well placed for photographing; it runs most of the length of the wind farm and is very close to some of the turbines. The turbines are on the top of one of the highest ridges in the area, the land is mostly cleared but there is some scrub. There is a viewing area very close to the base of one turbine.
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Visiting Snowtown Wind Farm

Operating

Location

On the range of hills west of Lochiel and Snowtown about 130km north of Adelaide on the Port Augusta road

Accommodation

Motel at Lochiel. Hotel and caravan park at Snowtown.

Accessibility

Photography notes




Visiting Starfish Hill wind farm

Starfish Hill with sea mist
Some of the Starfish Hill turbines with a sea mist
 
Wind turbines at Starfish Hill, Fleurieu Peninsula
Starfish Hill turbines - these on Salt Creek Hill - silhouetted against Saint Vincent Gulf
Fully operational

Location

At the south-western end of Fleurieu Peninsula, between Cape Jervis and Second Valley

Accommodation

Caravan park at Second Valley (allows dogs), cabins at Sunset Cove Resort, holiday units at Cape Jervis.

Accessibility

Sealed road then unsealed roads from Cape Jervis and Second Valley. There is a viewing area very close to the base of one turbine. The turbines are on two ridges - the higher is Starfish Hill, the lower is Salt Creek Hill - overlooking Saint Vincent Gulf. The two hills are accessed from separate unsealed roads running off the main (sealed) Cape Jervis road.

Photography notes

There are 8 turbines on Starfish hill and 15 on Salt Creek Hill. Starfish hill provides the best photographic opportunities from near the roads. Trees can provide a useful foreground on Salt Creek Hill. The Salt Creek turbines can be silhouetted against the sea if you photograph from Starfish Hill. Sea-mists can give a useful atmosphere.



Visiting Wattle Point wind farm

Wattle Point wind turbines
Fully operational

Location

A few kilometres south-west of Edithburgh on the southern extremity of Yorke Peninsula

Accommodation

Caravan parks at Edithburgh and Coobowie. Hotel and motel at Edithburgh. Cabin/units at both Edithburgh and Coobowie.

Accessibility

Sealed road to Edithburgh, then several unsealed roads pass through the wind farm, which is on flat ground.

Photography notes

The topography is flat, but various shrubs, trees and wind-pumps can provide useful foregrounds.



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Power interconnectors

Several interconnectors (high capacity high voltage long distance power lines) have been built between SA and the eastern states over the last few years. Their purpose was mainly to import power into SA, but if the proposed generation capacity is developed then these interconnectors could be used for exportation of green power from SA to the eastern states. To July 2009 no long-distance power transmission line has been built in Australia specifically for renewable energy.

ConnectorOwner/Manager CapacityConnection Points
HeywoodElectraNet SA 500MW import
300MW export
Lower SE SA to Portland Vic.
Murray-LinktransEnergie 200MWRedcliff Vic. to Monash SA
Proposed
SA-NSW Interconnector (SNI) 1
NEMCO ??
Proposed
SA-NSW Interconnector (SNI) 2
Transgrid ?SA/NSW border to Robertstown via Monash

Connectors (extracted from Beyond Logic and elsewhere) are listed in the table above.




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The big blow of 2005/01/03 (3rd Jan. 2005)

At the date above there was a very destructive wind in the Port Pirie/Crystal Brook/Red Hill area. From the large number of trees blown down I estimated that it was similar in strength to two previous very damaging winds; one about 1980 and the other around 1999. I wondered if there would be any likelihood of such a wind damaging wind turbines.

Ken Jack of Stanwell (the proposers of Barn Hill Wind Farm, Red Hill - Wandearah area) kindly informed me of the wind velocities that he recorded. As some wind farm operators treat their wind velocity records as confidential, it would be unfair for me to publish the exact figure here. However, I can say that the strongest gust was well below the sort of wind that might be expected to bring down a wind turbine.






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News

This section was added August 2007.
I intend to add interesting bits of information that come my way from time to time.

2009/06/04

The SA Government stated that it planned to increase the state's renewable energy target to 33% by the year 2020. However, Greens MP Mark Parnell criticised the government for not writing the target into legislation.

2009/02/03

There was a fire in one of the Cathedral Rocks turbines. ABC On-line news reported that the fire was seen from a nearby boat at 1am (third Feb.) Damages have been estimated at $6 million. It seems the fire has not spread to nearby scrub.





Index

Links to subjects on this page...

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On this page...
Allendale East Wind Farm
Barn Hill Wind Farm
Big blow of 3rd Jan 05
Bluff Range Wind Farm
Brown Hill Range Wind Farm
Canunda Wind Farm
Capacities of conventional power stations
Carmodys Hill Wind Farm
Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm
Clements Gap Wind Farm
Collaby Hill Wind Farm
Colour coding for wind farm status-Table
Contents
Coober Pedy wind turbine
Elliston Stage 1 Wind Farm
Elliston Stage 2 Wind Farm
Eyre Peninsula wind project
Future of wind power
Generation duration for SA wind-Graph
Green Point Wind Farm
Growth of the SA wind industry
Gulnare Wind Farm
Hallett #1
Hallett #2
Hallett #3
Hallett #4
Hallett Hill Wind Farm
Hallett_Map
Hallett wind farms
Installed wind power in SA
Installed wind power, by wind farm-Table
Introduction
Kemmis Hill Wind Farm
Kongorong Wind Farm
Kulpara Wind Farm
Lake Bonney Stage 1 Wind Farm
Lake Bonney Stage 2 Wind Farm
Lake Bonney Stage 3 Wind Farm
Lake Bonney Wind Farms
Lake George Wind Farm
Lake Hamilton-Sheringa Wind Farm
Lincoln Gap Wind Farm
Monthly wind farm generation in SA-Graph
Mount Benson Wind Farm
Mount Hill Wind Farm
Mount Millar Wind Farm
Mount Bryan Wind Farm
Myponga-Sellicks Hill Wind Farm
News
North Brown Hill Wind Farm
Operating SA wind farms-Graph
Other proposed wind farms
Port Augusta Wind Farm
Power interconnectors
Robe Wind Farm
Robertstown Wind Farm
Sheoak Flat Wind Farm
Sheringa Beach Wind Farm
Skillogalee Wind Farm
Snowtown Wind Farm
South Australian wind farms
Starfish Hill Wind Farm
Stony Gap Wind Farm
Top
Thompson Beach Wind Farm
Troubridge Point Wind Farm
Uley Wind Farm
Vincent North Wind Farm
Visiting Brown Hill Range Wind Farm
Visiting Canunda Wind Farm
Visiting Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm
Visiting Lake Bonney Wind Farm
Visiting Mount Millar Wind Farm
Visiting SA wind-farms
Visiting Snowtown Wind Farm
Visiting Starfish Hill Wind Farm
Visiting Wattle Point Wind Farm
Waitpinga Wind Farm
Waterloo Wind Farm
Wattle Point Stage 2 Wind Farm
Wattle Point Wind Farm
Weymouth Hill Wind Farm
Willogoleche Hill Wind Farm
Wind energy contribution to SA power
Wind farm generation data
Wind farms by region
Wind output at high demand periods-Graph
Wind power in SA
Woakwine Range Wind Farm
Worlds End Wind Farm
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