Wind power in Australia

File:Wind power installed capacity and generation in Australia.svg

Wind power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of September 2024, the grids of the eastern and southern Australia states has an installed wind capacity of around 13.3 GW,{{cite web |last1=McArdle |first1=Paul |title=An updated look at monthly NEM-wide wind statistics |url=https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2024/09/08sept-monthly-wind-statistics/ |website=WattClarity |language=en-AU |date=8 September 2024}} and output peaked at 9.2 GW in May 2025.{{cite web |last1=McArdle |first1=Paul |title=New all-time record for NEMwide production from Wind on Monday 26th May 2025 |url=https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2025/05/26may-wind-production-record/ |website=WattClarity |language=en-AU |date=26 May 2025}} Wind power accounted for 13.4% (or 31.9 TWh) of Australia's total electricity production in 2024.https://explore.openelectricity.org.au/energy/au/?range=all&interval=1y&view=discrete-time&group=Detailed

Wind resources

File:Australia Wind Power Density Map.png

The abundant wind resources in Australia provide for the country to grow its renewable energy sector. The southern coastline lies in the Roaring Forties. Sites have average wind speeds above 8–9 m/s at turbine hub height.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Australian wind farms produce an average capacity factor range of 30–35%.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Dan |title=Bigger or better: Are newer wind farms outperforming older ones? |url=https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2023/11/bigger-or-better-are-newer-wind-farms-outperforming-older-ones/ |website=WattClarity |language=en-AU |date=9 November 2023}} South Australia's large share (along with nearby Victoria) means most of Australia's current wind power occurs around the same time. On a wider scale, the correlation between South Australia and New South Wales is around 0.35, while the correlation between South Australia and Tasmania is 0.1—0.2. Queensland has near zero (or slightly negative) correlation with the other states,{{cite web|url= http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/do-australian-wind-turbines-all-blow-at-the-same-time-27486 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160727171727/http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/do-australian-wind-turbines-all-blow-at-the-same-time-27486 |title=Do Australian wind turbines all blow at the same time? |author=David Leitch |date=26 July 2016 |archive-date=27 July 2016 |work=Renew Economy |access-date=19 October 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=When the wind doesn’t blow here, maybe it’s blowing over there |url=https://reneweconomy.com.au/when-the-wind-doesnt-blow-here-maybe-its-blowing-over-there-84936/ |author=David Leitch |website=RenewEconomy |language=en-AU |date=26 July 2019}} but can be more negative during a week-long wind drought.{{cite web |last1=Brook |first1=Peter |title=Dunkelflaute writ large - May 2024? |url=https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/dunkelflaute-writ-large-may-2024/ |website=Australian Energy Council |language=en |date=15 August 2024}}

These numbers are lower than the inter-state correlation for solar.{{cite web |title=Sunny with a chance of wind |url=https://www.frontier-economics.com.au/documents/2020/03/sunny-with-a-chance-of-wind-bulletin.pdf |date=2020}}