Mount Emerald Wind Farm

Mount Emerald Wind Farm is a 180 MW wind farm situated on Mount Emerald, in Arriga, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia.[1] It is approximately 8 km WNW of Tolga, and 49 km SW of Cairns. The project is a joint venture between Port Bajool (land owner) and RATCH-Australia (wind farm developer and operator). RATCH-Australia bought the project from Transfield Services in July 2011.[2]

Mount Emerald Wind Farm
CountryAustralia
Coordinates17°11′S 145°22′E
StatusOperational
Construction began14 February 2017 (2017-02-14)
Commission dateAugust 2018 (2018-08)
Construction cost$400 million
Owner(s)
Operator(s)RATCH-Australia
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Hub height84 m (276 ft) Vestas V112
90 m (295 ft) Vestas V117
Rotor diameter112 m (367 ft)
117 m (384 ft)
Rated wind speed50 km/h (13.9 m/s)
Site area2,400 ha (24 km2)
Site elevation900 m (2,953 ft)
Power generation
Units operational16 × 3.3 MW
37 × 3.45 MW
Make and modelVestas V112-3.3MW
Vestas V117-3.45MW
Nameplate capacity180.5 MW
Annual net output500-600 GWh
External links
Websitemtemeraldwindfarm.com.au

Construction

The site was formerly used as a military training area in World War II so the site had to be carefully inspected to find any unexpoded ordnance; several were found and safely destroyed.[3]

Operations

The wind farm registered its first grid output in August 2018 and reached maximum output in January 2019. The electricity network around the wind farm is generally constrained; this has an impact on the total amount of electricity it can receive from the wind farm. Studies are being undertaken to increasing the capacity of the network using technologies such as synchronous condensers and grid-scale batteries.[4][5]

Mount Emerald Wind Farm Generation (MWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2018 114,356 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,239* 27,237* 19,132* 30,535* 35,213*
2019 455,639 39,124* 21,108* 33,043* 62,106 53,452 45,636 33,884 45,804 40,882 33,083 26,186 21,331
2020 348,260 20,204 10,891 36,588 38,551 48,914 56,223 17,879* 14,075* 33,172* 15,113* 37,952* 18,698*
2021 28,953 14,298 36,514 43,141 52,500 30,136 32,432 63,443 59,085 20,474 25,138 32,015
2022 21,812 23,242 26,568 50,452 29,027

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

Environmental impact

Environmental groups have claimed that the construction of roads and bases for the wind turbines caused significant destruction of the formerly untouched wilderness.[6]

See also

References
  1. "MT EMERALD WIND FARMREVISED A-WEIGHTED NOISE ASSESSMENT" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Mount Emerald Newsletter 3" (PDF). RATCH-Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  3. "Where the wild wind blows … on the job at the Mount Emerald Wind Farm |". EcoGeneration. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  4. Lee, Dan (30 June 2022). "On the fringes: the outer edges of the NEM remain the most prone to volatile MLFs". WattClarity. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  5. "Network Planning: North Queensland System Strength Constraints" (PDF). Powerlink Queensland. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  6. "'This is utter madness': The massive wind farms angering fans of renewable energy". ABC News. 11 December 2021.
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