Australia’s two biggest wind projects inject first power into the grid

The two biggest wind projects in Australia have begun injecting their first power into the grid, as they start on what can be a lengthy commissioning process.

The 923 megawatt MacIntyre wind project in Queensland, and the 1,330 MW Golden Plains wind project in Victoria are competing for the title of the biggest in the country – and both are significantly bigger than the current title holder, the 530 MW Stockyard Hill wind farm in Victoria.

The claims to be the “biggest” are often complicated, and in this case it is because MacIntyre is being built in one stage, while Golden Plains is being built over two.

Both will have a significant impact on their respective state grids: MacIntyre will nearly double the wind capacity in Queensland, while Golden Plains will boost Victoria’s wind capacity by around 30 per cent.

Still, the MacIntyre precinct – majority owned by Spanish giant Acciona – could double in size given it is seeking to build the 1 GW Herries project next door, as the country turns increasingly to gigawatt-scale projects, to save money on turbine efficiency, planning and connection approvals, and supply chain issues.

MacIntyre and Golden Plains are beginning their commissioning process around the same time, although MacIntyre started construction nearly a year earlier.

It, however, has had issues with the costs and connections which led the state-owned CleanCo to cancel its proposed 103 MW Karara wind component, which would have take the total size to 1.026 GW.

Golden Plains – majority owned by Portugal-based Tag Energy – boasted a rapid connection process of just 5 months, compared to the normal 9 months, for the first 756 MW stage of the project, while the second stage is already under construction.

Golden Plains is using Vestas turbines, while Acciona is using Nordex. Both wind farms have been limited to outputs of 1.5 MW or less, according to Geoff Eldridge from data analysts GPE NEMLog, as they conduct initial tests before moving to their next “hold point” as they work through the commissioning process.

That could take many months, although some new wind and solar projects have managed to reach full capacity within just a few months of entering the market operator’s management system and obtaining registration.

Eldridge observes that the 330 MW Wellington North solar farm in NSW has already reached full output in just over 3 months since it entered the system in late May, as has the 89 MW Hawkesdale wind farm in Victoria.

However, the 56 MW Cromwell wind farm, which entered the system around the same time, has only achieved a maximum output of 7 MW, according to Eldridge, while two projects registered in July, the 76 MW Gilgarre solar farm and the 205 MW Ryan Corner wind farm in Victoria, have got to 17.5 MW and 61.5 MW respectively.

One project that is still held up is Metlen Energy’s 40 MW Kingaroy solar project in Queensland, where commissioning was due to start last October, but still shows no sign of activity. Another long delayed facility that is finally showing some signs of activity is the 46 MW, one hour Tailem Bend battery in South Australia.