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Australia
The Wind Energy Project is part of an ongoing
project intended to help provide a clean, renewable
source of energy through the combination of existing
wind turbines technology and recent developments
in the fields of meteorology and fluid mechanics.
The Kyoto climate change summit has given great
focus to the issue of renewable alternative power
sources. From it has emerged the Australian Government's
Greenhouse Strategy that includes a commitment
to source 2% of the nation's energy requirements
from renewable resources by 2010. The community
is increasingly aware of the role of renewables
in meeting energy requirements with 'greenpower'
schemes gaining support. The Australian Greenhouse
Office projections for the expansion of the renewables
industry lists large scale grid-connected wind
as a major component of the renewable portfolio,
with an annual contribution of 1000 gigawatt hours
(GWhr) per year from an installed capacity of
500 megawatts (MW) by 2010...more>>
The Crookwell Wind Farm
The Crookwell wind farm is Australia's first
grid-connected wind farm. The wind farm was constructed
and began operating in 1998. The site consists
of eight Vestas 600 kW turbines with a total peak
output of roughly 5 MW - enough to power 3500
homes and displace 8000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions annually. This joint project between
Pacific Power and Great Southern Energy used CSIRO
Land and Water science and technology to determine
the optimum placement of the turbines, as well
as to predict energy yield...more>>
The Blayney Wind Farm
In October 2000, a new wind farm opened at Blayney,
west of Bathurst NSW. The farm consists of 15
turbines and is of 10MW capacity, twice the size
of the existing Crookwell wind farm. CSIRO Wind
Energy Research Unit conducted careful monitoring
and analysis over several years to determine the
best location and layout of the turbines. The
project was a joint effort with Pacific Power
and Advance Energy...more>>
| Potential Wind Resources: |
Total Electric Usage (1999) |
Population (2000) |
Energy usage /person/year |
| 7,928,700 GW |
178,300 GWh |
19,200,000 |
9.286 MWh |
The wind blowing across south western Wales could
supply 45 times Australia's energy needs (http://www.seda.nsw.gov.au/)
Energy Conversion:
| 1 TWh (terawatt-hour) |
1000 GWh (gigawatt-hour) |
| 1 GWh (gigawatt-hour) |
1000 MWh (megawatt-hour) |
| 1 MWh (megawatt-hour) |
1000 KWh (kilowatt-hour) |
| 1 KWh (kilowatt-hour) |
1000 Wh (watt-hour) |
References and Additional Information about Wind
Resources in Australia:
CSIRO Australia:
http://www.clw.csiro.au/products/windenergy/research/project.htm
CSIRO Australia Wind Energy Research Unit: http://www.clw.csiro.au/products/windenergy/index.html
SEDA Renewable Energy and Cogeneration: http://www.seda.nsw.gov.au/
Australia Energy: http://www.australiadaily.com/s/australiaenergy/
Renewable Energy World Australia: http://www.jxj.com/magsandj/rew/2001_06/climate_change.html
Energy Breakdown Chart of Australia: Energy
Chart
Energy Grid Map of Australia: Grid
Map
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