OST Energy Assesses 200 Megawatts of Australian Wind

According to an article on Renewable Energy Magazine, Technical advisor for solar, wind and storage initiatives OST Energy has delivered Independent Energy Yield Assessments for two 100 megawatts stages of the Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia.

The 7,500-hectare Hornsdale wind power project is currently under development by international renewable energy developer Neoen and is located to the north of Jamestown in South Australia. Development of the site is progressing in stages with a number of wind turbines already installed at the 100 megawatt-hours Hornsdale 1 wind farm and the commencement of construction of the 100 megawatt-hours Hornsdale 2 wind farms. Once completed, the overall capacity of the project is set to be 309 megawatts.

Despite the many political hurdles, Australia’s wind power industry has expanded rapidly during the last ten years, with 76 wind farms producing a combined capacity of over 4,000 megawatts in 2015. As of last year, these sites provided 33.7% of the country’s clean energy production and 4.9% of its total electricity. South Australia, is suited for wind power because of its strong wind resources.

However, managing the impact of complex topography on the performance of wind farms in South Australia poses a challenge for many project developers to maximize most of this resource. OST was engaged to provide EYA services, considering the unique topography and layout of both sites and their impact on expected generation.

The proximity of the projects raised concerns about the wake effects of one wind farm site. Also, the turbine spacing further increased the difficulty in assessing this wake impact, if underestimated, will risk creating potential generation shortages. Also, a number of steep slopes across the site created areas of potential flow separation which add further complexity to the project.

Click here to read the full story on Renewable Energy Magazine

Featured Image Credit: Seiichi Ariga