Wind farms in New South Wales

Introduction

Well over half of the NSW wind farms that appear likely to be built in the near future (as of April 2009) are within a 90km radius of Goulburn. This situation, where such a large proportion of a state's wind farms have been proposed in a single area, is unique in Australia. A map showing most of these is below.

Colour coding for wind farm status
Proposed
Approved
Under construction
Operating

I will be pleased to hear from any reader who believes that anything in any of these pages is incorrect or substantially incomplete. Please send details, with appropriate references, to the email address above. Any suggestions on how these pages can be more informative will also be appreciated.

Acknowledgements are listed on the WindPower page.

Note: Latitudes and Longitudes are given below in decimal degrees. They are given to two decimal places because this defines the location to ±1km; a wind farm is a large thing and typically covers a number of kilometres.

Note that the wind farms listed here as proposed or approved will not necessarily ever be built. You can't be sure that any wind farm is going to be built until it starts happening.

Wind farms by region

Windfarms in the Goulburn Area
Acknowledgement: Epuron Note that the status of some of these wind farms have changed since this map was produced.

Operational NSW wind farms

Operational NSW wind farms, MegaWatts

Note that as of 2009/06/23 I have not been able to confirm whether Capital and Cullerin Range farms are entirely operational.

Ben Lomond wind farm

Black Springs wind farm

ABC Central West NSW OnLine reported 2009/03/27 that the falling water level in the Oberon reservoir could cause the fast-tracking of construction of this wind farm. (The wind farm does not need water from the dam, apparently the alternative is a fossil-fuelled power station that does need cooling water.) Mark Fogarty, director of Wind Corporation, is reported as having said that "he is hopefull construction can start early next year" (2010). It was reported that the project will generate 32 jobs at the construction stage.

Blayney wind farm

A beautiful photo of part of Blayney wind farm by Dave Bassett; his Flickr name, tassie303.

Silverton wind farm

Also called Broken Hill wind farm

Capital wind farm

Also called Bungendore and Capital Hill wind farm

Conroy's Gap wind farm

Crookwell wind farm

Further data on Crookwell Owner/operator Eraring Tower height 45m Tower weight 36t Turbine type Vestas V44-600kW Turbine diameter 44m Blade material Fibreglass Start-up wind speed 4.2m/sec (15km/hr) Shut-down wind speed 20m/sec (72km/hr) Rotation rate 28 revolutions per minute Greenhouse gas saving Estimated at 8000 tonnes CO2 p.a.

Crookwell wind farm Source www.argylecounty.com.au

Crookwell 2 wind farm

Cullerin Range wind farm

Turbine blade arriving at the Cullerin Range wind farm Photo credit Origin

Cullerin Range wind farm under construction Photo credit Origin

Additional data on Cullerin Range wind farm Owner/operator Origin Project cost Aus$50 million Turbine brand Repower Tower height 80m Blade length up to 46m Nacelle and generator weight 72 tonnes Hub weight 17 tonnes Footing 380 cubic metres in size and containting 650 tonnes of concrete and 40 tonnes of reinforcing steel Capacity factor 44% expected Greenhouse abatement 95 000 tonnes CO2/yr expected Altitude Around 700m Some of the above information came from Wind Energy News and other from the Goulburn Post (2009/03/13). Home Wind home Index Top   Updated 2009/07/10 Gullen Range wind farm ABC online news reported (2007/11/14) that this windfarm, to be built on 14 properties along a ridge-line between Goulburn and Crookwell, was proposed by Epuron, who have a Net page on the project. The properties are at Kialla, Bannister, Pomeroy and Gurrundah. The location is shown on the Goulburn area map. ABC reported that the turbine towers would be 85m high with blades nearly 47m long. It was announced on 3rd July 2009 that planning approval had been given by Planning Minister Kristina Keneally. At the same time it was mentioned that there were to be 73 turbines. I have not been able to find out the exact installed power of each turbine, and the figure for 190MW (below) for the whole farm was back-calculated from the expeced annual CO2 abatement. Summary data, Gullen Range wind farm Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat Long Approved 73 2.5 - 3 About 190 Undecided Approx. S 34.57° E 149.59° Additional data, Gullen Range wind farm Expected CO2 abatement 511 000 tonnes/year Project cost $250 million Home Wind home Index Top   Updated 2009/06/05 Gunning wind farm This wind farm is proposed to extend from a point about 20km WNW of Goulburn to about 35km NW of Goulburn. It is about 20km NE of Gunning and 10km NE of the proposed Cullerin Range wind farm; the location is shown on the Goulburn area map. The developer is Acciona Energy. Summary data, Gunning wind farm Status #Turbines MW each Total MW Construction beginning Lat. Long. Proposed 31 1.5 46.5 4th quarter 2009 Approx. S 34.66° E 149.40° Much of the above information came from the NEMMCO Net page. I believe that construction is scheduled to commence in the 4th quarter this year, and the size is 46.5MW being 31×1.5MW" wind turbines. Julian Law of Macquarie Generation informed me that completion is due by the winter of 2010. Home Wind home Index Top Hampton Park wind farm Hampton Wind Park is a two hour drive from Sydney, just off the Jenolan Caves road in the Blue Mountains. It was financed by Wind Corporation Australia and supplies electricity to Integral Energy's green power customers. Summary data on Hampton Park wind farm Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Commissioned Lat. Long. Operating 2 0.66 1.32 Sept. 2001 S 33.65° E 150.05° Additional data on Hampton Park wind farm Tower height 50m Rotor diameter 47m Rotation Fixed rate, 28.4 revolutions per minute Start-up wind speed 4m/sec, 14km/hr Full power wind speed 13-16m/sec, 46-58km/hr Shut-down wind speed 25m/sec, 90km/hr Capital cost Aus$2.5 million The information above is from several sources including the NSW Dept. Energy, Utilities and Sustainability and Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, (RISE). I have been unable to find an Internet page devoted to this wind farm. Wikipedia (on its page 'List of wind farms in NSW') indicates that this farm is owned by Wind Corporation. Kyoto Energy Park wind farm Proposed by Pamada to be built near Scone in the upper Hunter Valley. Pamada has a Net page on the project. Summary data, Kyoto Energy Park wind farm Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat Long Proposed 42 2.1 to 3 86 to 126 Undecided Approx. S 32.01° E 150.78° The turbines are to be in two areas, Mountain Station is about latitude S 32.07° and longitude E 150.74°, and Middlebrook Station is about latitude S 31.95° and longitude E 150.78°. This is a particularly interesting and unusual project because beyond the wind turbines it is to include from 3 to 10MW of solar (photovoltaic) collectors and a closed-loop mini hydro-electric plant. Pamada hopes that the project will have a total generating capacity of 137MW. I have been informed by Danielle Ecuyer, Project Manager for Pamada, that they hope to submit an application for planning approval before the end of 2008. Kooragang wind farm Kooragang wind farm consists of a single turbine on Kooragang Island near Newcastle. Summary data on Kooragang Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Commissioned Lat. Long. Operating 1 0.6 0.6 1997 S 32.88° E 151.75° The information above is from several sources including the NSW Dept. Energy, Utilities and Sustainability. Home Wind home Index Top   Updated 2009/06/09 Paling Yards wind farm Paling Yards wind farm was proposed by TME Australia P.L. and Gamesa Energy Australia P.L. Later Union Fenosa Wind Australia took over all the TME wind farm portfolio. The turbines will be built on both sides of the Goulburn to Oberon Road, 45km south of Oberon, 30km north of Taralga, and 70km north of Goulburn. Union Fenosa's pdf fact sheet states that "It is expected that the environmental impact statement will be finalised by mid to late 2009." It goes on to say that "If approved, it is anticipated construction will commence in early 2011 and will continue for approximately 12 months." Summary data on Paling Yards Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat. Long. Proposed 40 to 50 2 80 to 100 Possibly early 2011 S 34.15° E 149.81° Further data on Paling Yards wind farm Greenhouse gas abatement Estimated at 320 000t of CO2 Tubines Gamesa Eolica 2MW Tower height 78m Blade length 45m Total height 123m Tower diameter at base About 4m TME have employed environmental planning consultants to undertake an environmental impact assesment. TME wrote that they expected the environmental impact statement to be finalised by the end of 2007. It is expected that construction will take around nine months. As of October 2008 there seems to have been no new public information on this wind farm for at least a year. Snowy Plains wind farm Also called Berridale wind farm Proposed by Epuron; since sold to Origin; Epuron retains an interest and has a Net page on the project. This project was approved by the local council several years ago. Andrew Durran of Epuron stated that as of 2009/01/05 a construction date had not yet been decided (the Epuron Net page gives "Initial startup 2008/2009"). Summary data on Snowy Plains wind farm Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat. Long. Approved 16 2? Maximum of 30 Undecided S 36.19° E 148.58° Further data on Snowy Plains wind farm Greenhouse gas abatement 81 000 tonnes/year Taralga wind farm Proposed by RES Southern Cross, the project was approved by NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor and his decision was later upheld by the NSW Land and Environment Court (Feb. 2007). The location is shown on the Goulburn area map. Summary data on Taralga wind farm Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat. Long. Approved 54 to 62 2? 105 to 124? Undecided Approx. S 34.41° E 149.82° Further data on Taralga wind farm Project cost Aus$185 million In Feb. 2008 the ABC reported that the RES Southern Cross had applied to increase the size of the turbines it proposes to use in this wind farm. On 2008/04/20 I asked RES Southern Cross for more information on the questions relating to this wind farm, but received no reply. The Goulburn Post reported on 2008/08/29 that there will be 61 turbines and that they will be 131.5m tall.   The proposed Yass wind farms are shown in blue, the much smaller Conroy's Gap wind farm in purple   Updated 2009/06/13 Yass wind farms Proposed by Epuron. This very big wind farm project incorporates Marilba Hills, Coppabella Range and Carrolls Ridge, it is south of Binalong, roughly 25km west of Yass and 100km west of Goulburn. (The map is extracted from Epuron's Community Information Newsletter #1; the town at the top of the map is Binalong, Yass is a little off the map to the right. The northern highway is the Burley Griffin Way, that nearer the centre is the Hume.) A Preliminary Environmental Assessment and Project Application have been lodged. It is expected that the wind farms will save about a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in a typical year by replacing fossil-fuel generated electricity. Epuron's postal address is Epuron PL., Level 11, 75 Miller St., North Sydney 2060. The project manager is Julian Kasby, phone 02 8456 7400, fax 02 9922 6645, email Yass-projects@epuron.com.au. Summary data on Yass wind farms Status # Turbines MW each Total MW Construction date Lat. Long. Proposed 186 Likely 2 to 3.6 372 to 670? 2011? Approx. S 34.76° E 148.68° Update The Yass Tribune published an article on 2009/04/15 stating that Epuron was intending to build "86 wind turbines in the Copperbella Hills area near Binalong, 66 towers across Marilba Hills and a further 34 at Carrols Ridge, near Burrinjuck Dam." The article went on: "We can expect this proposal to be on public exhibition mid-year, [2009]" Mr Davey said. "If all goes well we would start construction by 2011 and complete the project by 2013." "On an average week we could lay two foundations and erect two turbines." Epuron estimates each of the wind turbine foundations would contain 250 cubic metres of concrete.

Home Wind home Index Top

Other proposed wind farms