Silverton Wind Farm

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Silverton Wind Farm
Silverton Wind Farm
CountryAustralia
Location Barrier Ranges, New South Wales
Coordinates 31°47′38″S141°15′29″E / 31.794°S 141.258°E / -31.794; 141.258
StatusCommissioned
Construction beganMay 2017
Commission date 2019
Construction costA$450 million
Owner(s) Powering Australian Renewables Fund
Operator(s) AGL Energy
Wind farm
Type Onshore
Hub height110 metres (361 ft)
Rotor diameter130 metres (427 ft)
Power generation
Units operational58 × 3.43 MW
Make and model General Electric 3.4-130
Nameplate capacity 199 MW
Capacity factor 44.7%
Annual net output 780 GWh
External links
Website www.agl.com.au/silverton/

The Silverton Wind Farm is a 199 megawatt wind farm situated on the Barrier Ranges in New South Wales, built for AGL Energy by Catcon and General Electric. [1]

Contents

On 3 June 2009, the project was approved by the Government of New South Wales. [2]

The project was initially set to begin construction in the first half of 2010, [3] yet several issues caused delays. To begin, the transmission line needed to connect the fully developed wind farm would need to be as long as 300 km, and due to multiple connection options, as well as an expected large cost of the infrastructure, the decision of the final solution was delayed. [4]

In 2012, the start-date for construction of the wind farm has been pushed back to 2014, after AGL Energy decided to give priority to building two solar photovoltaic plants which have received almost $200m in government funding. [5]

The project's planning approval was set to expire on 24 May 2016, however AGL submitted a Modification Application on 25 February 2016 with the sole aim to extend the project's Planning Approval expiry to 2021. On 3 June 2016 that application was granted, giving AGL the option to optimise and build the project within its Powering Australian Renewables Fund. [6] [7] The project secured a Power Purchase Agreement with EnergyAustralia for supply of 60% of its annual output until December 2030. [8]

On 16 May 2017, AGL announced construction had commenced. [9]

As of 2019, it had been completed and is now operating. [1] The project uses General Electric 3.43-130 wind turbines with a hub height of 110m. [10] It is expected to operate at a capacity factor of 44.7%, generating 780 GWh of energy annually.

Operations

The wind farm began grid output in May 2018 and was fully commissioned in May 2020 following long setbacks due to grid issues. [11] These problems are reflected in the energy generation until then, with the plant being constrained during the day reducing its capacity factor. The generation table uses eljmkt nemlog to obtain generation values for each month.

Silverton Wind Farm Generation (MWh)
YearTotalJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
201898,281N/AN/AN/AN/A1,173*8,291*9,773*16,620*13,393*12,587*16,547*19,897*
2019423,89125,034*23,497*19,293*24,920*35,078*36,616*43,479*54,842*37,470*38,784*38,730*46,148*
2020714,68852,541*51,637*53,098*45,626*62,276*55,90160,73656,35672,11463,33967,44273,622
202172,47768,65070,56046,16557,70159,79160,64352,25453,054

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

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Silverton Wind Farm". AGL Energy . Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  2. Silverton wind farm gets go ahead ABC News 3 June 2009
  3. "Construction timetable". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  4. "Community Update No. 6" (PDF). March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  5. Oliver Wagg (18 July 2012). "1GW Australian wind project put back as PV takes priority". Recharge News.
  6. "Silverton Wind (Mod 2)". Department of Planning & Environment. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  7. Westgate, Suzanne (25 February 2016). "Re: Silverton Wind Farm - Request for Extension to Lapse Date" (PDF). AGL Energy . Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  8. "Silverton Wind Farm, New South Wales, Australia"
  9. "AGL commences construction at Silverton wind farm : RenewEconomy". 16 May 2017.
  10. "Modification 3 Report" (PDF). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  11. "Silverton wind farm reaches full output after two years of delays and constraints". RenewEconomy. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.