Energy in the Australian Capital Territory

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Royalla Solar Farm Royalla Solar Farm 4.JPG
Royalla Solar Farm
Mount Majura solar farm Mount Majura solar farm and Majura Parkway.jpg
Mount Majura solar farm
Mugga Lane Solar Park Mugga Lane solar farm.jpg
Mugga Lane Solar Park
Willamsdale solar farm Willamsdale solar farm.jpg
Willamsdale solar farm

Energy produced in the Australian Capital Territory mainly consists of solar electricity. Electricity consumed in the Australian Capital Territory mainly comes from the national power grid through substations at Holt and Fyshwick (via Queanbeyan). [1] The ACT currently mandates that 100 percent of its electricity, will be supplied from renewable sources by 2020. [2] The ACT has five solar farms capable of generating about 56.3 megawatts. From 1913 until the mid 1950s some power was produced from the Kingston Powerhouse, a thermal power station in Kingston.

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When its renewable sources are insufficient the ACT receives reserve power from suppliers in NSW, including from non renewable sources. Conversely, when the ACT’s renewable generation exceeds usage in the ACT, renewably-sourced electricity is supplied to the Australian electricity grid for consumption in other states.

Renewable power supply targets

The ACT government announced in 2013 that under the ACT's Electricity Feed in (Large Scale Renewable Energy Generation) Act, the ACT would mandate that 90 percent of its electricity would be supplied from renewable sources by 2020. [3] This will raise the target from 210 to 550 megawatts. [4] It announced in February 2015 that three wind farms in Victoria and South Australia would supply 200 megawatts of capacity; these are expected to be operational by 2017. They are Ararat Wind Farm (80.5 MW, $87.00/MWh), Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm (19.4 MW, $81.50/MWh) and Hornsdale Wind Farm (100 MW, $92.00/MWh). [5] Contracts for the purchase of an additional 200 megawatts of power from two wind farms in South Australia and New South Wales were announced in December 2015 and March 2016. These were Hornsdale Wind Farm (100 MW, $77.00/MWh) and Sapphire Wind Farm (100 MW, $89.10/MWh). [6] [7] The ACT government announced in 2014 that up to 23 megawatts of feed-in-tariff entitlements would be made available for the establishment of a facility in the ACT or surrounding region for burning household and business waste to produce electricity by 2020. [8]

Solar power

The ACT has five major solar farms with a total rated capacity of 56.3 megawatts, which were opened between 2014 and 2021.

The Royalla Solar Farm is rated at 20 megawatts and was described at its opening as the largest photovoltaic solar farm in Australia. It was officially opened at Royalla on 3 September 2014. [9] The plant features 82,000 solar panels, installed on 41 kilometers of fixed structures. It was developed by the Spanish company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV). [10] [11]

The Mount Majura Solar Farm was opened in Majura on 6 October 2016. [12] It is rated at 2.3 megawatt and is owned and operated by the Impact Investment Group. [13]

The Majura Community Energy Project was opened in April 2021. It is a 1.2 megawatt facility, owned by SolarShare Community Energy Ltd. Set on a 3-hectare property, the solar farm features 4,200 bi-facial solar modules, producing enough power for up to 260 ACT homes each year. SolarShare raised $2.54 million from approximately 350 local ACT investors to fund the project. [14]

The Mugga Lane Solar Park at Mugga Lane, Hume is owned by the Maoneng Group, which has been contracted by the ACT Government to produce up to 24,600 megawatt hours each year for up to $4.38 million. It has a rated output of 13 megawatts and contains 53,000 solar PV panels. It was completed in March 2017. [15] [16]

The Williamsdale Solar Farm is an 11 megawatt solar farm at Williamsdale. It uses a single axis sun-tracking system and is owned by Impact Investment Group. Construction was completed on in October 2017. [17] [18] This was originally planned to be built at Uriarra but faced local opposition. [19] [20]

In addition numerous houses in Canberra have photovoltaic panels and/or solar hot water systems. Power produced by rooftop panels in 2015–16 is set out below. Note that the power produced by retail supported systems was only included if it was fed back into the grid. Power consumed locally was not recorded.

Rooftop solar power capacity in the ACT in 2015–16 [21]
Feed-in tariff supportedRetailer supportedTotal
No of Generators10,3047,40617,710
Installed capacity (MW)26.325.251.5
Production (MWh)34,91028,81563,725

Thermal Power

Kingston Powerhouse Kingston Powerhouse.jpg
Kingston Powerhouse

Power was first supplied from a thermal plant built in 1913, near the Molonglo River, but this was finally closed in 1957. [22] [23] This was built as a coal-fired thermal power station, but an additional oil fired-generator was also installed at the same site in the post-war period.

Other sources of electricity

Some limited local renewable power is produced via a hydro generator on the main water supply pipeline for Canberra at Mount Stromlo and methane plants at waste landfill sites at Belconnen and Mugga Lane. [24] [25] There are currently no wind-power generators in Canberra, but several have been built in nearby New South Wales, such as the 140.7 megawatt Capital Wind Farm.

Related Research Articles

Uriarra Village is a town in the district of Coree, in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. It is situated on the western side of the Australian Capital Territory, about 30 minutes from Canberra, established in 1928 at the foothills of the Australian Alps. A nearby area to the north of the border in New South Wales is also called Uriarra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Australia</span>

Solar power is a fast-growing industry in Australia. As of September 2023, Australia's over 3.60 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 32.9 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 3,823 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind power in South Australia</span> South Australian use of wind turbines to generate electricity

Wind power became a significant energy source within South Australia over the first two decades of the 21st century. In 2015, there was an installed capacity of 1,475 MW, which accounted for 34% of electricity production in the state. This accounted for 35% of Australia's installed wind power capacity. In 2021, there was an installed capacity of 2052.95 MW, which accounted for 42.1% of the electricity production in the state in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Bonney Wind Farm</span>

Lake Bonney Wind Farm is a wind farm near Millicent, South Australia, Australia. The wind farm is south of, and contiguous with, Canunda Wind Farm. Both are built along the Woakwine Range - a line of stabilised sand dunes that once were coastal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind power in the United States</span>

Wind power is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly in the United States over the last several years. From January through December 2023, 425.2 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 10.18% of electricity in the United States. The average wind turbine generates enough electricity in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind power in Texas</span> Electricity from wind in one U.S. state

Wind power in Texas, a portion of total energy in Texas, consists of over 150 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 30,000 MW. If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world: The installed wind capacity in Texas exceeds installed wind capacity in all countries but China, the United States, Germany and India. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), wind power accounted for at least 15.7% of the electricity generated in Texas during 2017, as wind was 17.4% of electricity generated in ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas's power. ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7 GW at 7:19 pm Central Standard Time on Monday, January 21, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of renewable energy in the United Kingdom

Renewable energy in the United Kingdom contributes to production for electricity, heat, and transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in New Jersey</span> Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of New Jersey

New Jersey has over 4,700 MW of installed solar power capacity as of January 2024, which provides more than 7% of the state's electricity consumption. The's state's growth of solar power is aided by a renewable portfolio standard that requires that 22.5% of New Jersey's electricity come from renewable resources by 2021 and 50% by 2030, by incentives provided for generation of solar power, and by one of the most favorable net metering standards in the country, allowing customers of any size array to use net metering, although generation may not exceed annual demand. As of 2018, New Jersey has the sixth-largest installed solar capacity of all U.S. states and the largest installed solar capacity of the Northeastern States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Hawaii</span> Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of Hawaii

The energy sector in Hawaii has rapidly adopted solar power due to the high costs of electricity, and good solar resources, and has one of the highest per capita rates of solar power in the United States. Hawaii's imported energy costs, mostly for imported petroleum and coal, are three to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Hawaii was the first state in the United States to reach grid parity for photovoltaics. Its tropical location provides abundant ambient energy.

Wind power in Indiana was limited to a few small water-pumping windmills on farms until 2008 with construction of Indiana's first utility-scale wind power facility, Goodland with a nameplate capacity of 130 MW. As of March of 2024, Indiana had a total of 2,743 MW of wind power capacity installed, ranking it 12th among U.S. states. Wind power was responsible for 4.8% of in-state electricity production in 2016.

South Australia is a leader in utility-scale renewable energy generation, and also produces gas and uranium for electricity generation. Gas production is mostly concentrated in the Cooper Basin in the state's north-east. Gas is delivered from these fields by pipeline to users interstate and to Port Adelaide where it fuels three separate gas-fired power plants. Uranium is also mined in South Australia, though nuclear power generation is prohibited nationally. The Olympic Dam mine is the world's single largest known deposit of uranium and represents 30% of the world's total uranium resource. Many utility-scale wind farms and solar farms have been commissioned during the 21st century and geology with potential for geothermal energy has also been identified but is yet to be developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Mexico</span> Overview of solar power in Mexico

Solar power in Mexico has the potential to produce vast amounts of energy. 70% of the country has an insolation of greater than 4.5 kWh/m2/day. Using 15% efficient photovoltaics, a square 25 km (16 mi) on each side in the state of Chihuahua or the Sonoran Desert could supply all of Mexico's electricity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infigen Energy</span>

Infigen Energy (Infigen), operating under this name since 29 April 2009, is a developer, owner and operator of renewable energy generation assets in Australia. Infigen's wind farm portfolio has an installed capacity of 557 MW. Most of Infigen's assets generate electricity from renewable sources and are eligible to sell Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) under the mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme, which operates in Australia under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000. Since 2020, Infigen Energy has been a subsidiary of Iberdrola.

In 2022 Chile produced about 18% of its electricity from solar power, up from 7% in 2018. As of 2022, Chile produces the highest percentage of its electricity from solar in the world. At the end of 2021 Chile was ranked 22nd in the world in terms of installed solar energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity sector in Australia</span>

The electricity sector in Australia has been historically dominated by coal-fired power stations, but renewables are forming a rapidly growing fraction of supply. In 2021, Australia's electricity production reached 265 TWh, with coal accounting for 52.9% and natural gas for 18.8%. Renewable sources, comprising solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy with waste, collectively made up 26.7% of the total electricity generation mix.

The Hornsdale Wind Farm is an electricity generator in the locality of Hornsdale in the south-west of the Narien Range, north of Jamestown, South Australia. It consists of 99 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 315 megawatts (422,000 hp). The plant is owned and operated by Neoen, a French renewable energy company.

Neoen is a French producer of exclusively renewable energy headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 2008, it develops, finances, builds and operates solar power plants, wind farms and energy storage solutions. As at 30 June 2023, the company's total capacity was 7 GW, made up of 47% solar, 34% wind and 19% battery storage. Neoen aims to attain 10 GW in operation or under construction by 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mugga Lane Solar Park</span> Solar power station

Mugga Lane Solar Park is a photovoltaic solar power station at Hume in the Australian Capital Territory.

Hornsdale Power Reserve is a 150 MW grid-connected energy storage system owned by Neoen co-located with the Hornsdale Wind Farm in the Mid North region of South Australia, also owned by Neoen.

The Dalrymple ESCRI battery is a 30 MW / 8 MW·h grid-connected battery array near Stansbury on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Its role is to provide improved reliability and stability to the electricity network on Yorke Peninsula and South Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (October 2003). "Review of Contestable Electricity Infrastructure Workshop" (PDF). p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  2. ↑ ACT Government. "Renewable energy target legislation and reporting" . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "ACT sets 90% renewable energy target in law" (Press release). ACT Government. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Large scale feed-in tariff law expanded to meet 90% renewables target" (Press release). ACT Government. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Wind auction result delivers renewable energy and economic benefits to the ACT" (Press release). ACT Government. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Hornsdale achieves new record price in ACT's second wind auction" (Press release). ACT Government. 21 December 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "New wind farm set to power more than just Canberra homes" (Press release). ACT Government. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Turning waste into energy" (Press release). ACT Government. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Australia's largest solar farm opens in the ACT" (Press release). ACT Government. 3 September 2014. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Royalla Solar Farm". Fotowatio Renewable Ventures. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "RFV 20 MW Royalla Solar Farm". Acciona Australia. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Mount Majura Solar Farm powers up in ACT". Solar Choice. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Mt Majura Solar Farm will 'save lives', operators say". The Canberra Times. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  14. ↑ Frost, Harry (11 March 2021). "Australia's largest community-owned solar farm begins powering homes in Canberra". ABC News. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "Mugga Lane solar farm opens, bringing ACT to 35 per cent renewable energy". The Canberra Times. 2 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Overview of the Mugga Lane Solar Park". Mugga Lane Solar Park. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  17. ↑ "Government unveils 36,000 new solar panels at Williamsdale". The Canberra Times. 5 October 2017. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  18. ↑ "The Impact Investment Group's Williamsdale Solar Farm". Diamond Energy. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Uriarra residents fail to heritage list village, stop solar farm". ABC News . 22 January 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  20. ↑ "Uriarra solar farm relocated to Williamsdale". The Canberra Times . 24 March 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  21. ↑ "2015–16 Annual Feed-in Tariff Report" (PDF). ACT Government. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "The Founding of Canberra". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 March 1913. p. 5. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014.
  23. ↑ "20048. Kingston Powerhouse Historic Precinct (Entry to the ACT Heritage Register)" (PDF). ACT Heritage Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  24. ↑ "Open the floodgates... Hydroelectricity". ActewAGL. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  25. ↑ "Renewable gas sources". ActewAGL. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
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