Mount Emerald Wind Farm
Mount Emerald Wind Farm is a 180 MW wind farm situated on Mount Emerald, approximately 8 km WNW of Tolga, and 49 km SW of Cairns, in Queensland, Australia.[1] The project is a joint venture between Port Bajool (land owner) and RATCH-Australia (wind farm developer and operator). RATCH-Australia bought the project from Transfield Services in July 2011.[2]
| Mount Emerald Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 17°11′S 145°22′E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 14 February 2017 |
| Construction cost | $400 million |
| Owner(s) | |
| Operator(s) | RATCH-Australia |
| Wind farm | |
| Type | Onshore |
| Hub height | 84 m (276 ft) Vestas V112 90 m (295 ft) Vestas V117 |
| Rotor diameter | 112 m (367 ft) 117 m (384 ft) |
| Rated wind speed | 50 km/h (13.9 m/s) |
| Site area | 2,400 ha (24 km2) |
| Site elevation | 900 m (2,953 ft) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 16 × 3.3 MW 37 × 3.45 MW |
| Make and model | Vestas V112-3.3MW Vestas V117-3.45MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 180.5 MW |
| Annual net output | 500-600 GWh |
| External links | |
| Website | mtemeraldwindfarm |
Environmental impact
The roads and bases for the turbines caused significant destruction of the formerly untouched wilderness.[3]
Operations
The wind farm registered its first grid output in August 2018 and reached maximum output in January 2019. The network around the wind farm is generally constrained; this has an impact on the total amount of electricity it can generate.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 114,356 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2,239* | 27,237* | 19,132* | 30,535* | 35,213* |
| 2019 | 455,639 | 39,124* | 21,108* | 33,043* | 62,106 | 53,452 | 45,636 | 33,884 | 45,804 | 40,882 | 33,083 | 26,186 | 21,331 |
| 2020 | 348,260 | 20,204 | 10,891 | 36,588 | 38,551 | 48,914 | 56,223 | 17,879* | 14,075* | 33,172* | 15,113* | 37,952* | 18,698* |
| 2021 | 28,953 | 14,298 | 36,514 | 43,141 | 52,500 | 30,136 | 32,432 | 63,443 | 59,085 |
Note: Asterisk indicates power output was limited during the month.
References
- "MT EMERALD WIND FARMREVISED A-WEIGHTED NOISE ASSESSMENT" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Mount Emerald Newsletter 3" (PDF). RATCH-Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- "'This is utter madness': The massive wind farms angering fans of renewable energy". ABC News. 11 December 2021.


