Generation starts at what will be South Australia’s biggest wind farm

Limited production has begun from the first stage of the 412 megawatt (MW) Goyder South wind project, which is destined to be the biggest wind farm in South Australia when completed.

The first output appears to have occurred in the late afternoon of Thursday, April 4, according to various NEM data sources, with up to 4MW produced by what is known as Goyder South 1A.

The first stage of the Goyder South project consists of two separate components, 1A and 1B, which are mostly dedicated to meeting contracts with the ACT government and Flow Power (1A), and a unique “baseload renewables” contract with BHP’s giant Olympic Dam mine (1B).

Project owner Neoen Australia earlier this week announced that the last of the 38 concrete foundations at the 209 MW 1A component have been completed, although it is not clear how many of the 5.5 MW wind turbines are fully installed and operating.

The installation of the 38 wind turbines at 1A started in October last year, and the substation serving both components was energised in December. The 203.5 MW 1B project, which will feature 37 turbines, is still at the stage of earthworks.

The addition of the Goyder South wind farm will propel South Australia closer to its accelerated target of reaching “net” 100 per cent renewables by 2027.

The state is already averaging 75 per cent wind and solar in the past year, according to the transmission company ElectraNet, which is world-leading for a grid of this size.

The completion of Goyder South will lift the state’s installed wind capacity to 2.8 gigawatts (GW) , with one quarter of that owned by Neoen, which also holds majority stakes in the three stages of the Hornsdale wind farm, and also owns the neighbouring Hornsdale Power Reserve, aka the original Tesla big battery.

Goyder South, which is located close to South Australia end of the new transmission link to NSW, may grow in size with plans for up to 1,200 MW of wind, 600 MW of solar, and 900 MW of battery capacity (with two to fours hours of storage).

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