The equivalent of just under half of South Australia’s power was produced by its wind farms across last week as both it and Victoria smashed previous records for wind power during the blustery conditions.
Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh said SA’s wind farms produced the equivalent of 48 per cent of the state’s power needs over the week beginning 11 August, while Victoria’s wind farms hit 10 per cent for the first time.
“Strong winter winds last week caused many people in both states to button their coats tighter and hang on to their hats. The positive was the large amount of clean energy that was produced by the wind farms on Australia’s southern coastline, breaking records for the amount of wind power generated in a single week in South Australia and Victoria,” Mr Marsh said.
“What this shows is that wind power is working. It generates very useful amounts of power and also helps farmers who host wind turbines by providing them with income.
“The national figures are impressive as well, with wind power providing a record 7.6 per cent of all power generated across the entire National Electricity Market last week. This is the equivalent of powering more than 2.3 million homes during that period.
“AGL opened the Macarthur Wind Farm in western Victoria earlier this year – the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere – and this was clearly a factor in the excellent results. ”
Mr Marsh said renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy provided more than 13 per cent of power across the country in 2012.
“Wind power is currently the least expensive kind of renewable energy that can be rolled out on a large scale, and will be important to help us reach our target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020,” he said.
During the week beginning 11 August, wind power provided record amounts of power in Australia:
- South Australia’s wind farms provided enough power for the equivalent of 48 per cent of the state’s power.
- Victoria's wind farms provided the equivalent of 10 per cent of the state’s power for the first time.
- Wind farms across the country produced a record 7.6 per cent of the power demand in the National Electricity Market. This is the equivalent of powering more than 2.3 million Australian homes during this period.
- Tasmania and NSW had their second and third highest levels of wind power generation on record for the week in question.
This analysis was provided by consultancy and software firm IES using data sourced from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).