Macarthur Wind Farm

{{Infobox power station

| name = Macarthur Wind Farm

| image =

| country = Australia

| location = Victoria

| image_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|-38.049005|142.1905876|region:AU_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| cost = A$1b

| owner = Morrison & Co / Malakoff

| operator = AGL Energy

| employees =

| status = Operational{{cite web| url=http://www.agl.com.au/macarthur| title=Macarthur Wind Farm| publisher=AGL Energy}}

| construction_began =

| commissioned = January 2013

| ps_units_operational = 140

| ps_units_manu_model = Vestas V112-3.0MW

| wind_hub_height = 85 metres

| wind_rotor_diameter = 112 metres

| wind_rated_speed =

| wind_farm_type = Onshore

| ps_site_elevation = 165 metres

| ps_electrical_capacity = 420 MW

| ps_electrical_cap_fac = 24.50% (average 2013-2023)

| ps_annual_generation = 901.2 GWh (average 2013-2023)

| website = {{URL|https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/renewable-energy/macarthur-wind-farm}}

}}

The Macarthur Wind Farm is a wind farm located in Macarthur, Victoria, Australia, near Hamilton, 260 km west of Melbourne. It is on a 5,500 ha site which has an installed capacity of 420 megawatts (MW).{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/business/agl-venture-plans-1b-wind-farm-20100812-121gi.html|title=AGL venture plans $1b wind farm|date=13 August 2010|work=Sydney Morning Herald}}{{cite web |url=http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/news/general/giant-turbine-blades-arrive-for-macarthur-farm/2360755.aspx# |title=Giant turbine blades arrive for Macarthur farm |author=Alexandra Weaver |date=17 November 2011 |work=The Standard }} Based on a capacity factor of around 35%, it is estimated that the long-term average generation will be approximately 1,250 GWh per year. Its actual capacity factor is much lower, with a historical average of 24.50% since 2013.

It is the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere generating enough power for 220,000 homes and abating 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, at a capacity factor of 35%.{{cite news| first=Michael| last=Perry| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/business/energy-environment/23green.html?_r=1&src=busln| title=Australia Steps Up Renewable Energy Efforts| work=New York Times| date=22 August 2010}} The wind farm comprises 140 Vestas V112-3.0MW wind turbines manufactured in Denmark.

The project cost about A$1 billion and was fully operational in January 2013. It was constructed by Vestas and Leighton Contractors.{{cite news|url=http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/wire-news-display/1242630423.html|title=AGL and New Zealand firm Meridian Energy to set up $1 billion Renewable energy in Victoria|date=16 August 2010|publisher=Power-Gen}} The first turbines were connected to the grid in September 2012.{{cite web| url=http://www.agk.com.au/macarthur/index.php/UpdateOct2012| title=Macarthur Wind Farm Update| date=October 2012| publisher=AGL| access-date=30 January 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419204455/http://www.agk.com.au/macarthur/index.php/UpdateOct2012| archive-date=19 April 2013| url-status=dead}} AGL Energy also invested an additional $27m in the substation, which is completely owned by the company.

History

The project was proposed in 2004 and approved by the Government of Victoria in October 2006.

The project was developed by a joint venture formed by AGL Energy and Meridian Energy, a New Zealand-based power generating company, with works starting in 2010. The project was fully operational in January 2013.

In 2013, Meridian sold its 50% share in the wind farm to Malaysian power company Malakoff Corporation Berhad for A$650 million.{{cite press release| url=http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/about-us/media-centre/media-releases/nzx-announcements/meridian-sells-its-share-in-macarthur-wind-farm/| title=Meridian sells its share in Macarthur wind farm| publisher=Meridian Energy| date=28 June 2013}}{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323873904578572572136501826/Article/| title=Malaysia's Malakoff Buys Stake in Australian Wind Farm| date=28 June 2013| publisher=Wall Street Journal}} In September 2015, AGL Energy sold its 50% stake in the wind farm to Morrison & Co for $532m.{{cite press release| url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/agl-sells-macarthur-wind-farm-stake/news-story/c83ae928d2b001437f2d6c62d3219072/| title=AGL sells Macarthur Wind Farm stake| publisher=The Australian| date=8 September 2015}}

AGL Energy will operate and maintain the wind farm in place of Morrison & Co and Malakoff. It also reserves the rights to all renewable energy certificates and electricity production until 2038.{{cite news| url=http://www.power-technology.com/projects/macarthur-farm/| title=Macarthur Wind Farm, Australia| publisher=Power-technology.com}}

Operations

The wind farm registered its first grid output in September 2012 and reached full output in March 2013. The generation table uses [http://nemlog.com.au/ eljmkt nemlog] to obtain generation values for each month.

class="wikitable"

|+Macarthur Wind Farm Generation (MWh)

!Year

!Total

!Jan

!Feb

!Mar

!Apr

!May

!Jun

!Jul

!Aug

!Sep

!Oct

!Nov

!Dec

2012

|130,077

|N/A

|26*

|16,862*

|36,463*

|76,726*

2013

|1,081,695

|64,870*

|71,095*

|89,292*

|65,862

|94,835

|69,212

|110,056

|161,313

|116,783

|123,371

|59,772

|55,234

2014

|921,516

|88,586

|64,894

|57,826

|67,697

|56,297

|91,760

|128,794

|59,464

|84,296

|84,224

|68,951

|68,727

2015

|999,626

|97,213

|61,516

|74,953

|57,059

|122,926

|74,144

|116,023

|94,537

|69,370

|84,615

|67,932

|79,338

2016

|1,020,744

|73,619

|52,313

|53,025

|69,527

|134,943

|92,693

|135,718

|102,208

|69,759

|91,122

|78,019

|67,798

2017

|888,669

|58,217

|62,226

|70,416

|36,579

|58,751

|42,026

|126,122

|103,920

|135,307

|74,841

|56,721

|63,543

2018

|1,069,469

|62,680

|73,665

|88,828

|57,723

|105,689

|86,562

|161,645

|132,595

|91,421

|81,484

|65,725

|61,452

2019

|977,014

|49,132

|70,374

|67,309

|70,299

|96,318

|91,265

|106,790

|114,631

|82,854

|72,786

|78,356

|76,900

2020

|779,604

|73,238

|14,531

|79,991

|70,096

|95,739

|66,404

|60,178

|78,541

|25,518

|80,581

|66,617

|68,170

2021

|803,007

|69,269

|44,864

|39,846

|56,501

|38,375

|71,864

|119,446

|98,291

|88,988

|69,269

|58,189

|48,105

2022

|588,086

|63,891

|57,449

|54,690

|14,087

|40,472

|81,791

|39,000

|47,056

|52,200

|59,521

|28,479

|49,450

2023

|784,107

|53,158

|48,769

|48,302

|34,018

|74,796

|111,592

|115,381

|47,077

|75,745

|77,327

|42,918

|55,024

Note: Asterisk indicates power output was limited during the month.

Performance

Macarthur has consistently been one of the worst performing wind farms since its construction in 2012.{{Cite web|last=Parkinson|first=Giles|date=2017-08-11|title=Australia's biggest wind farm is also its least productive|url=https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-biggest-wind-farm-is-also-its-least-productive-88611/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=RenewEconomy|language=en-AU}} It was intended to have a capacity factor around 34%{{Cite web|date=2015-09-07|title=AGL completes the sale of Macarthur Wind Farm|url=https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/asx-and-media-releases/2015/september/agl-completes-the-sale-of-macarthur-wind-farm|access-date=2020-11-24|website=AGL}} and generate 1240 GWh of energy per annum.

However, the most the farm has generated was 1081 GWh in 2013, and has consistently averaged around 901 GWh, which corresponds to a capacity factor of 24.50%.

References

External links

[http://www.agl.com.au/macarthur Macarthur Wind Farm] - AGL website
{{cite web |url=http://www.whit.com.au/aemo-registered-participants/|title=AEMO Participant Registration List |access-date=28 February 2018}}

Category:Wind farms in Victoria (state)

Category:2013 establishments in Australia