Australia's wind power potential

Australian electricity consumption

	Electricity consumption by state in 2006-07 (TWh) Data from ABARE
	Total Australian electricity consumption (TWh) Data from ABARE

The greatest consumption is generally roughly proportional to the population of each state, although Queensland and Tasmania seem to consume more than one would expect.

Tasmania has a higher proportion of renewable energy (mainly hydro) than any other state.

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This graph shows the total annual electricity consumption in Australia from the 1960-61 financial year to 2006-07.

Wind power potential in Australia

Wind resource map of Australia Image from Aust. Dept. of the Environment, Renewable Energy Atlas of Australia

The map shows that the best wind resources are:

• Around the coast of the southern half of the continent and around the entire coast of Tasmania;
• The area within about 100km of the coast from Shark Bay to Moora (about 100km north of Perth) in WA;
• A strip in southern WA extending north from Ravensthorpe about 300km;
• A smaller strip a little further east, extending north from about Esperance for about 150km;
• The peninsulas, Kangaroo Island, and the Mount Lofty/Flinders Ranges areas of South Australia;
• An area around Ballarat in Victoria;
• The Alps of eastern Victoria and southern NSW;
• A relatively small area near Goulburn in NSW;
• Sections of the coast of Queensland;
• Several areas of inland Queensland including, in particular, the Atherton Tablelands;
• Bass strait and its islands;
• Central Tasmania and the NE and NW corners of the island.

Wind farms have been proposed in the Hamilton and Colac areas of Victoria, the Broken Hill, Bathurst and New England areas of NSW. I have neglected these for the purpose of estimating Australia's wind resource, because the map indicates a second rate resource in these places and this page deals only with the areas having first rate wind resources.

Scientific American (March 2009) published figures for the estimated total wind power generation for the world, (see Sustainable Energy), these figures confirm that the estimates on this page are highly conservative.

Potential on-shore wind development in Australia (Starting at westernmost WA and moving anti-clockwise around the coast) State Region Length Rows Turbines Total MW WA West coast of WA Exmouth to Augusta, coast 1200km 1 4800 9600 Shark Bay to Moora hinterland 600km 3 7200 14400 South coast of WA Augusta to Esperance 650km 1 2600 5200 Ravensthorpe and north 300km 3 3600 7200 Esperance and north 150km 1 600 1200 Total for WA 18 800 37 600 SA West coast Eyre Peninsula 320km 4 5120 10240 West coast Yorke Peninsula 140km 4 2240 4480 Southern Flinders Ranges 100km 3 1200 2400 Mount Lofty Ranges 270km 2 2160 4320 South East coast 290km 1 1160 2320 Kangaroo Island 60km 4 960 1920 Total for SA 12 840 25 680 State Region Length Rows Turbines Total MW Victoria Coast 400km 1 1600 3200 Ballarat 80km 4 1280 2560 Alps 40km 2 320 640 Total for Victoria 3200 6400 Tasmania Coast 600km 1 2400 4800 Central 80km 4 1280 2560 Cape Barren Is. 30km 4 480 960 Flinders Is. 30km 4 480 960 King Is. 50km 4 800 1600 Total for Tasmania 5440 10 880 NSW Coast 200km 1 800 1600 Goulburn 50km 5 1000 2000 Total for NSW 1800 3600 Queensland Coast 600km 1 2400 4800 Atherton region 350km 1 1400 2800 Total for Queensland 3800 7600 Territory Region Length Rows Turbines Total MW ACT 0 0 0 0 NT 0 0 0 0 Total for Australia 45 880 91 760 91 760MW = 91.76GW. Using a capacity factor of 30% one can calculate that this would provide 241TWh of electricity per year. In Sustainable Energy I note that Scientific American published a figure of 167PWh/yr as the total wind energy that could, in principle, be harvested with current technology in the whole world. The land area of Australia is 5% that of the whole world, 5% of 167PWh is 8350TWh; presumably this would be a fair estimate of the full potential of Australia's wind power, if all, rather than just the best, resources were harnesed. (Also, my figure of 241TWh/yr is only for on-shore wind power.)

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In the table on the right wind resource regions are assessed according to the number of turbines each could support.

I have allowed for there being no wind power development in areas of relatively high population, high tourism value or in conservation or other parks.

Most of the areas shown on the wind potential map tend to be long and narrow. Consequently I have based the estimates on the length of each area and the number of rows of turbines that could be installed in that area. Again, these figures are in most cases very conservative; for example, the 'Shark Bay to Moora hinterland' area of high wind is some 40 to 100km wide, it most likely could support more than three rows of turbines.

Within each row I have assumed four 2MW turbines per kilometre, based on several existing wind farms in Mid North South Australia.

The total, 91 760MW installed capacity, using a capacity factor of 30%, gives an annual electricity generation of 241 TWh, not far short of the total Australian electricity consumption for the 2006-07 year, 262TWh.

Where do the best resources tend to be?

Highlands have better wind resources than lowlands: for example, the Victorian and NSW Alps and the Atherton Tablelands of north Queensland. The strip of high quality resource running north from Ravensthorpe in WA corresponds to a plateau.

Any line of hills that lies across the direction of the prevailing winds seems to have a particularly good resource: the north-south trending Mount Lofty/Flinders Ranges, for example, lie across the prevailing westerly winds of the area.

Kangaroo Island

I have listed Kangaroo Island as having potential for 4 rows of turbines each 60km long (960 turbines and 1920MW of installed power); this is very conservative, but follows the rule of thumb I have used elsewhere. I visited Kangaroo Island in January 2009 and am convinced that it could support several times as much wind power as this without compromising its excellent tourism and environmental values. An estimate of 4GW would still be conservative.

KI has a population of around 4500; assuming two people per houshold and 1kW power consumption per house we can calculate a domestic load for KI of 2.25MW. Assuming another 2.25MW for industry, the total load would probably be near 4.5MW; about one thousandth of the potential wind generation capacity for the island. Calculating $7000 land leasing fee for each 2MW turbine and 2000 turbines, the potential earning from this source alone for the island would be increased by $14 million annually; about $3100 per person. There would also be employment for the people needed to maintain the wind farms.

To deliver the power to a market (in Adelaide) would require a transmission line about 200km long.

Wind power potential and consumption, by state
Potential wind power in Australia, GW, by state From the data of the table above		Electricity consumption by state in 2006-07 (TWh/yr) Data from ABARE (Same graph as above)

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