Tasmania blows down wind energy records in July, Queensland shines with solar

Tasmania has blown away its wind production records in July, a month when all four of its big wind farms delivered extraordinarily high capacity factors of between 50 and 60 per cent.

Rystad Energy’s latest monthly “top 20” performance rankings of wind and solar farms in Australia, reveal  Tasmania recorded its highest month of wind generation on record (238 gigawatt hours) exceeding the previous record set in May 2023 of 193 GWh.

More remarkable was the fact that all four of the state’s utility wind assets recorded capacity factors of more than 50 per cent. Wind assets typically have capacity factors of between 30 and 40 per cent, depending on location and season.

The top wind assets were the Cattle Hill and Granville Harbour wind farms (both with 59.0% CF), closely followed by the Musselroe wind farm (58.1 per cent) and the Woolnorth wind farm also came in with a CF above 50 per cent.

All the other top 20 wind assets for the month were located in South Australia and Victoria, reflecting the strong weather systems that blow through the southern states in the month. Only two NSW wind farms – in the south of the state – were in the top 20.

On the solar PV side, the top 20 for the month of July were predictably again dominated by Queensland, where the winter sun shone brighest.

The best performing solar assets assets for the month the Blue Grass solar farm in Queensland (23.6% CF), followed by the Rugby Run stage 1 solar farm and the Moree solar farm in New South Wales (21.8% CF).

Moree was the first solar farm in the country to install solar tracking technology and consistently ranks as one of the best performing solar assets.

Rystad’s David Dixon says Australian utility PV and wind assets generated a total of 4,053 GWh in July, an 18 per cent jump from 3,441 GWh in July, 2022.

Victoria led the way with 1,339 GWh, almost all of it from wind. It generated just 89 GWh from its portfolio of utility PV and 1,250 GWh from wind.