A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore.
Wind power is a renewable energy source that is generally used to generate electricity via wind turbines. With a total installed wind capacity of around 9,100 megawatts (MW), wind power constitutes 5% of Australia's total primary energy supply and 35% of its renewable energy supply. Abundant wind resources are located close to residential areas in the southern parts of the country and on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the east, with approximately half of Australia's wind farms located around the coast.
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.
The Bald Hills Wind Farm is an operating wind farm located approximately 10 km south east of Tarwin Lower in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The Bald Hills Wind Farm site covers approximately 1,750ha of largely cleared cattle and sheep grazing farmland. The turbines are located in three distinct areas, one to the west and one to the east of Tarwin Lower Waratah Road, and one near the end of Bald Hills Road.
WestWind Energy is an Australian company involved in development and operation of wind farms. Its origins were in Germany in the renewable energy sector. It is part of the WestWind Group of companies which has its headquarters in Kirchdorf, Lower Saxony, Germany.
China is the world leader in wind power generation, with the largest installed capacity of any nation and continued rapid growth in new wind facilities. With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind power resources: Wind power remained China's third-largest source of electricity at the end of 2021, accounting for 7.5% of total power generation.
The Snowtown wind farms are located on the Barunga and Hummocks ranges west of Snowtown in the Mid North of South Australia, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of the state capital, Adelaide. They were developed by Trustpower and owned by Tilt Renewables, which demerged from Trustpower in 2016. The first stage of 47 turbines was completed in 2008 and Stage 2 of 90 turbines became operational in 2014. Stage 2 was sold by Tilt Renewables to Palisade Investment Partners in December 2019.
Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., commonly known as Goldwind, is a Chinese multinational wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Beijing, China. Goldwind was a state-owned enterprise before 2007, with largest shareholders including Hexie Health Insurance, China Three Gorges Renewables Group, and the National Social Security Fund, state-controlled corporations holding almost 40% shares. Its founder, Wu Gang, is a Communist Party member and had a seat in the 12th National People's Congress.
Coopers Gap Wind Farm is a 453 megawatt wind farm in the Western Downs and South Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately 175 km north-west of the state capital Brisbane, and 50 kilometres south-west of Kingaroy and 65 kilometers north of Dalby. When construction was announced to be completed on 30 April 2020, it became the largest wind farm in Australia. This record was held until 10 December 2020 when the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm in Victoria was completed.
Waterloo wind farm is east of Manoora, South Australia. It is the largest wind farm operated by EnergyAustralia.
Stockyard Hill Wind Farm is a wind farm project in Victoria (Australia). In October 2022 the project completed its hold point tests, and was approved by the Australian Energy Market Operator and Network Services Provider to generate up to its maximum capacity of 511MW into the National Electricity Market.
The East Anglia Array is a proposed series of offshore wind farms located around 30 miles off the east coast of East Anglia, in the North Sea, England. It has begun with the currently operational East Anglia ONE, that has been developed in partnership by ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall. Up to six individual projects could be set up in the area with a maximum capacity of up to 7.2 GW. The first project, East Anglia ONE at 714 MW, received planning consent in June 2014 and contracts in April 2016. Offshore construction began in 2018 and the project was commissioned in July 2020. It is expected to cost £2.5 billion.
The Lincoln Gap Wind Farm is a wind farm in the vicinity of Lincoln Gap on northeastern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, Australia. It consists of 59 wind turbines and generates a total of 212 MW of electricity. Construction began in late 2017 and was initially expected to be commissioned in late 2018. Construction was delayed in July 2018 when unexploded ordnance was discovered on the site, left from historic military testing. The site is not far from the Cultana Training Area.
Cattle Hill Wind Farm is a wind farm project developed and constructed by Goldwind Australia, in Tasmania.
Sapphire Wind Farm is a 270 megawatt (MW) wind farm in the Australian state of New South Wales. When it was built in 2018, it was the largest wind farm in New South Wales. It is located in the New England region of northern New South Wales, 28 kilometres east of Inverell and 18 kilometres west of Glen Innes. The farm covers approximately 8921 hectares of cleared grazing land, and has an elevation of about 750 to 1100m. It is north of the Gwydir Highway. The White Rock and Glen Innes Wind Farms are south of the highway closer to Glen Innes. It is intended to be colocated with a 200 MW solar farm. The wind farm contains 75 Vestas V126 turbines, each of which can generate 3.6 MW of electricity. They each have a 137 metre hub height and 126 metre rotor diameter. The project is approved to build up to 109 wind turbines.
Gullen Range Wind Farm is a wind farm in the locality of Gurrundah in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It consists of 73 wind turbines and produces up to 165.5MW of electricity. It is owned by BJCE Australia and built and operated by Goldwind Australia. Gullen Range was BJCE Australia's first wind farm, when it bought the project in 2014.
Yandin Wind Farm is one of Western Australia's largest wind power stations, located in Dandaragan, Western Australia.
The Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility is a wind farm in the Amathole District Municipality, built within the wind energy generation zone located in the centre of Bedford, Cookhouse and Somerset East, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
