The Blayney wind farm is a
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
station at
Lake Carcoar, south of
Blayney,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It was acquired by
Trustpower
Manawa Energy Limited, formerly Trustpower, is a New Zealand electricity generation company that offers bespoke electricity products to commercial and industrial customers across New Zealand. Manawa Energy has 26 hydro-electricity schemes, with a ...
in 2014, and is now owned by
Tilt Renewables
Tilt Renewables Pty Ltd is an Australian electricity generation company. It was previously dual listed on the New Zealand stock exchange and Australian stock exchange. As of 2022, the Powering Australian Renewables has merged with Tilt Renewable ...
. Blayney has fifteen
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...
s, with a total
nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station, of 9.9
MW of
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
.
Technical information
Pacific Power International developed the wind farm, and Consolidated Power Projects Australia was the construction contractor.
Project cost was
A$18 million.
The Minister for Energy,
Kim Yeadon
Kimberley ("Kim") Maxwell Yeadon (born 25 July 1956) is a former Australian politician, who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. from 1990 to 2007, representing the Electoral district of Granville as a member of the ...
, opened the wind farm in October, 2000.
The wind farm will avoid the emission of 400,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
over the 20 year life
of the project, compared to the equivalent
electricity generation from coal.
At the time of construction in 2000, Blayney was the largest wind farm in Australia,
but has since been exceeded by several other Australian wind farms, and is fairly small by modern world standards as wind farm sizes grew rapidly through the 2000s. The wind turbines are
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Uni ...
V47-660 kW models, with hub height and rotor diameter.
The wind farm stands above Lake Carcoar and the Carcoar dam, a popular recreational area. A public viewing area and interpretive centre is
open to visitors.
The wind farm is on two properties whose families have grazed livestock for many years, and royalty payments to the landowners supplement their incomes. Livestock continue to graze the land up to the turbine tower bases. Pacific Power International conducted an environmental impact study before construction, to minimise impacts on human activities and wildlife.
The wind farm's output feeds the grid, and creates
renewable energy credit
A Renewable energy credit (REC) is a certificate corresponding to the environmental attributes of energy produced from renewable sources such as wind or solar. RECs were created as a means to track progress towards and compliance with states' Rene ...
s.
Gallery
Image:BlayneyWindFarm.jpg, Blayney Wind Farm
Image:BlayneyWindfarm.jpg, Viewing area
See also
*
List of wind farms in Australia
This is a list of wind farms in Australia, with a generating capacity of more than 50 MW, which are operating, under construction, or for which planning approval has been received.
Operating
Under construction
Large wind farms approved and und ...
*
Wind power in Australia
Wind power is one of the main renewable energy sources in Australia contributing 10% of Australia's total electricity supply in 2020, and making up 37.5% of it's renewable energy supply. Wind resource testing conditions in Australia are opti ...
References
External links
*
Eraring Energy
Eraring Energy was an electricity generation company in Australia that was owned by the Government of New South Wales, and had a portfolio of generating sites using thermal coal, wind, and hydroelectric power. It was sold to Origin Energy i ...
page o
Blayney Wind Farm
{{Wind farms in Australia
Wind farms in New South Wales
Blayney Shire
Blayney, New South Wales