Huxley Hill Wind Farm
{{Short description|Wind farm on King Island, Tasmania}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Huxley Hill Wind Farm
| name_official =
| image = Huxley Hill Wind Farm 2008.jpg
| image_caption =
| image_alt =
| location_map_caption = Location of Huxley Hill Wind Farm in Tasmania
| coordinates = {{coord|-39.94127825|143.87395767|type:landmark_region:AU-TAS|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref =
| country = Australia
| location = King Island, Tasmania
| status = O
| construction_began =
| commissioned = 1998
| decommissioned =
| cost =
| owner = Hydro Tasmania
| operator =
| ps_units_operational = 3 X 250 kW
2 X 850
| ps_units_manu_model = Nordex N26
Vestas
| wind_hub_height =
| wind_rotor_diameter =
| wind_rated_speed =
| wind_farm_type = onshore
| wind_site_elevation =
| wind_site_usage =
| wind_site_area =
| ps_electrical_capacity = 2.5 MW
| ps_electrical_cap_fac =
| website =}}
Huxley Hill Wind Farm (also known as the King Island Wind Farm) is a wind power station at King Island, Tasmania, Australia, of around 1,600 residents, owned by Hydro Tasmania, which supplements the four diesel generators with a combined capacity of 6 MW at Currie Power Station. King Island also has a 100 kW solar capacity provided with monocrystaline solar panels on dual-axis arrays.
The wind farm started generating in 1998, initially with three 250 kW Nordex N29 wind turbines at a cost of $2.5 M ($3,300/kW),[http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/1b8c61ae322dcbebca256c320024166b!OpenDocument ABS - Feature Article - King Island wind farm][http://web.archive.org/web/20220821083524/https://engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-06/eha-magazine-v1-6.pdf The Hydro after 100 Years] EHA Magazine March 2015 page 19 then in 2003 with two 850 kW Vestas Turbines, to provide a total wind generating capacity of 2.5 MW of electricity. Wind generation provides around 35% of the annual generation.[http://www.hydro.com.au/system/files/documents/PS_Factsheets/Currie_Power_Station-Fact-Sheets.pdf Currie Power Station] Hydro Tasmania
As a declared Community Service Obligation, the Tasmanian Government provides around $7 million per annum in funding support for the electricity supply equivalent to around $2,500 per resident per annum.[http://www.hydro.com.au/energy/bass-strait-islands Hydro Tasmania - Powering the Bass Strait islands]
Flow battery storage
During the 2003 expansion a vanadium redox flow battery was installed at a cost of $4M (or $20,000 per kW),{{cite web |url=http://ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/REcant.html |title=There is rapidly increasing understanding of the need to reduce use of fossil fuels |website=ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023060304/http://ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/REcant.html |archive-date=2007-10-23}} containing 55,000 litres of vanadium based electrolyte—one of the first such installations on a wind farm. This allowed up to 800 kWh of surplus electricity to be stored. The battery has an output power of 200 kW, making up around 3% of total capacity, and could be used to smooth the substantial variability in wind output over minutes to hours. When used in conjunction with a variable resistive load, a higher wind penetration is possible, permitting the substantial second to second variability to be controlled with the resistor, reducing the need to spill excess wind through throttling of the turbines. A short-term peak output of 400 kW can be supplied. As a result, there has been a substantial reduction in the use of diesel fuel, however the full diesel capacity must be maintained, including the need to maintain spinning reserve for system security.{{Cite web |url=http://esvc000085.wic012u.server-web.com/tas/King%20Island%20%20-%20Towards%20a%20sustainable%20energy%20future%20-%20Ryan%20Willems%20-%20Hydro%20Tasmania.pdf |title=King Island - Towards a sustainable energy future – presentation |access-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326014329/http://esvc000085.wic012u.server-web.com/tas/King%20Island%20%20-%20Towards%20a%20sustainable%20energy%20future%20-%20Ryan%20Willems%20-%20Hydro%20Tasmania.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2012 |url-status=dead }} However, the system proved to be not robust enough and failed after a relatively short life. It has been replaced with a 1.6 MWh "advanced lead acid technology" battery.[http://www.kingislandrenewableenergy.com.au/project-information/energy-storage-system King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project]
References
{{Reflist}}
{{EnergyTasmania}}
{{Wind farms in Australia}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1998
Category:King Island (Tasmania)