The Snowtown

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

s are located on the Barunga and

Hummocks In geology, a hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground.Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). “hummock.” Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241. They are typically less than in height and ...

ranges west of Snowtown in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, around north of the state capital,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. They were developed 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 ...

and owned by Tilt Renewables, which demerged from Trustpower in 2016. The first stage of 47 turbines was completed in 2008 and Stage 2 of 90 turbines became operational in 2014.Vorrath, Sophie
"South Australia’s 270MW Snowtown takes wind energy to new highs"
in ''RenewEconomy'', 3 November 2014 Stage 2 was sold by Tilt Renewables to Palisade Investment Partners in December 2019.

History

began investigating the site in 2002 and started construction of Stage 1 in 2006. Stage 1 was commissioned in 2008 with one additional turbine added in 2011. The first power generated by the wind turbines was received into the public grid in December 2007. The first stage of the wind farm, constructed by

Suzlon Energy Suzlon Energy Limited (NSE:SUZLONEQ, BSE:532667) is an India, Indian multinational wind turbine manufacturer based in Pune, India. It was formerly ranked by MAKE as the world's fifth largest wind turbine supplier.Source: MAKE Report: Global Win ...

Australia, was substantially completed by October 2008 and was officially opened on 2 November 2008. The second stage of 90 Siemens 3.0MW turbines was completed in June 2014 and officially opened in November 2014. It has a long-term power purchase contract with

Origin Energy Origin Energy an ASX listed public company with headquarters in Sydney. It is a major integrated electricity generator, and electricity and natural gas retailer. It operates Australia’s largest coal-fired power station at Lake Macquarie, Ne ...

and was sold to Palisade Investment Partners in December 2019 for . Tilt retained ownership of Stage 1, which does not have a power purchase agreement.

Site

The location of the wind farm, the

Barunga Range The Barunga Range is a range of hills in the northern Mount Lofty Ranges starting near Clements Gap and Merriton in South Australia's Mid North. At the range's southern end it merges with Hummock Range at Barunga Gap, approximately south wes ...

, is a north–south trending ridge of the northern

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

. It is generally treeless, rounded, and lies across the direction of the prevailing westerly winds. The Snowtown Wind Farm operates as three separate connections to the

National Electricity Market The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale el ...

. Stage 1 is a single line of turbines on the western side of the combined farm. Stage 2 has a southern section which mostly extends the line to the south, and a northern part which is adjacent on the east side of Stage 1.

References

External links

* * * * {{EnergySA Wind farms in South Australia 2007 establishments in Australia

History

Site

See also

References

External links