WIND farms in the south-west powered up to 9 per cent of the state’s electricity needs last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Strong gales saw turbines more than double their output in Macarthur, Yambuk, Portland (including Cape Bridgewater) and Oaklands.
The figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show the four sites produced 72,094 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy between June 22 and June 28.
More than half of that came from the 140 turbines at the Macarthur wind farm.
“As a percentage contribution of total Victorian energy demand over the same period, these wind farms’ output peaked at 9 per cent (and averaged 5 per cent),” a spokeswoman said.
The figures do not include the Codrington wind farm.
A spokeswoman for Macarthur operator AGL said power generation increased significantly during the week.
“Macarthur wind farm, which is AGL’s flagship wind farm with 140 turbines in operation, saw generation increase by 128 per cent, producing 49.1GWh compared to 21.5GWh experienced the week prior,” the spokeswoman said.
“At Oaklands Hill wind farm, generation increased by 230 per cent generating 6.6GWh compared to 2.0GWh the week prior.”