Antarctic blast blows wind energy to new highs, smashes records for winter grid demand

New South Wales has bid auf wiedersehen to the recent dunkelflaute and notched up an all-time record for wind energy generation, with icy winds taking its contribution to the state’s grid to a high of almost 3GW at one point just after midnight on Monday.

According to Geoff Eldridge from Global Power Energy , the maximum instantaneous contribution of wind power in NSW reached a peak of 2,293.5 MW at 12:15am Tuesday, surpassing the previous record of 2,270.8 MW (an increase of 22.7 MW) that was around half an hour earlier at 23:45 on Monday night.

The new wind record, driven by the Antarctic blast and low-pressure system that has chilled eastern Australia over the past two days, beats the previous record of 2,179.0MW set on the morning of April 05, 2024.

Eldridge says a new record for maximum rolling one-day average was also set for NSW wind, at 1,914.3MW at 07:50am on Tuesday, exceeding the previous record of 1,863.4 MW (an increase of 50.9 MW), also recorded on April 05.

Image source: Geoff Eldridge, NEMlog

Meanwhile, the same polar cold snap that has driven the NSW wind records – and potential snowfall in Queensland – has also helped deliver a new record for winter operational demand on the National Electricity Market, hitting 33,381 MW at 18:30 hrs.

Eldridge, using data from NEMLog, says this beats the previous high of 32,387MW recorded on June 07, 2022, and the sixth highest daily maximum recorded, with the overall record being 35,440MW on 31 January 2020.

In Victoria, the freezing conditions have broken a 17-year winter record for maximum electricity demand, hitting a new high of 8,612MW at 6:00pm on Monday night. According to a tweet from the Australian Energy Market Operator, the previous record of 8,351MW was on July 17, 2007.

“These milestones underscore the significant contribution of wind power during the recent cold snap, which has driven energy demand to new heights across the region,” says Eldridge in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

“Key contributors to the [NSW wind energy generation record] included Rye Park Wind Farm, which increased by 106.6 MW to 363.3 MW, and Boco Rock Wind Farm, which increased by 97.1 MW to 105.3 MW,” he notes. “Collector Wind Farm 1 also contributed, increasing by 19.9 MW to 215.1 MW.”

Image Source: Geoff Eldridge, LinkedIn

And the wind record might have been higher, it seems, if not for what looks like the curtailment of some wind farms and the absence of others – Crookwell 2 Wind Farm dropped by 83.9 MW to 0 MW, Eldridge notes, while the 91MW Crookwell 2 Wind Farm has been out of service since early April.