Windy Hill Wind Farm is a

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

station near Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tableland,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It has 20

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 yea ...

s with a generating capacity of 12 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 describ ...

, providing enough power for about 3,500 homes. The cost of the project was A$20 million. It was the second wind farm to be constructed in Queensland after the 0.45Mw station on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

(1997). The power station was commissioned in 2000 and was initially operated by the Stanwell Corporation. In December 2007 Windy Hill was sold to Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund (TSIF) as part of the Queensland Government's ClimateSmart 2050 strategy. A new substation was built to allow the wind farm's power to connect to the existing 66 kV transmission line.

RATCH-Australia RATCH-Australia Corporation (RAC) is an Australian electricity generation company. It is a subsidiary of RATCH Group (formerly known as Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Company), a public company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailan ...

bought TSIF in 2011.

Wind turbines

The construction contractor for the wind farm was Powercorp. The wind turbines are located on private land that continues to be used as a dairy farm. Each tower is high. The turbines used at the facility are

Enercon Enercon GmbH is a wind turbine manufacturer based in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. It has been the market leader in Germany since the mid-1990s. Enercon has production facilities in Germany (Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg), Brazil, India, Canada, ...

E40. They can rotate at speeds between 14 rpm to 38 rpm. Power from the turbines is carried by underground cable to the electricity grid.

References

Buildings and structures in Far North Queensland Energy infrastructure completed in 2000 Wind farms in Queensland 2000 establishments in Australia {{Queensland-struct-stub

Wind turbines

See also

References