Australia wind output breaks through 5,000MW for first time

Australia’s wind energy output broke through the 5,000MW for the first time late last Friday – little more than a year after it broke through the 4,000MW milestone.

According to website Watt Clarity, owned by Global Roam who also provide the popular NEM Watch widget on RenewEconomy, the total wind output reached 5,030MW around 10pm on Friday evening, despite the reduced output from the two main wind farms in Queensland due to another failed transmission line that limited exports to NSW, and ongoing constraints in South Australia.

At the time, wind energy was providing around 21.1 per cent of total supply in Australia’s main grid (which excludes W.A. and the Northern Territory and isolated regions elsewhere), while in South Australia – despite the constraints – it was providing 74 per cent of total supply.

During the day on both Friday and Saturday, wind and solar combined to deliver more than 100 per cent of demand in South Australia, with the excess being exported to Victoria.

At the time of the 5,000MW record, wind was providing one third of the supply in Victoria, 23 per cent in Tasmania and 16 per cent in NSW, and just 4.2 per cent in Queensland.