Coopers Gap Wind Farm

Coopers Gap Wind Farm is a 453[1] megawatt wind farm in the Western Downs and South Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately 175 km north-west of the state capital Brisbane, and 50 kilometres south-west of Kingaroy and 65 km north of Dalby.

Coopers Gap Wind Farm
CountryAustralia
LocationBilboa and Cooranga North, Queensland
Coordinates26.743°S 151.45°E / -26.743; 151.45
StatusCommissioned
Construction beganFebruary 2018
Commission date2020
Construction costA$850 million
Owner(s)AGL Energy
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Hub height110 metres (361 ft)
Rotor diameter130 metres (427 ft) and 137 metres (449 ft)
Site area10,200 hectares (102.00 km2)
Site elevation535 to 840 metres (1,755 to 2,756 ft)
Power generation
Units operational91 × 3.63 MW and 32 × 3.83 MW
Make and modelGeneral Electric 3.6-137 and General Electric 3.8-130
Nameplate capacity453 MW
Capacity factor38%
Annual net output1.51 TWh
External links
Websitehttps://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/how-we-source-energy/coopers-gap-wind-farm

A 60-metre (197 ft) wind-monitoring mast was installed in March 2006 in order to accurately measure wind speed and direction in the area.[2]

Site

The location for the wind farm is a hilly area to the west of the Bunya Mountains. The site area lies to the north and south of Niagara Road, starting approximately 3 km (2 miles) from the Bunya Highway, as well as to the west of Jarail Road. The site extends to Crowles Road to the south, Cooranga North-Niagara Road to the west, close to Nords Road and Diamondy Road to the North and close to Bunya Highway to the east.

The area is mostly cleared, cattle-grazing country and was originally planned to cover approximately 12,000 hectares (29,700 acres) in total,[3] however the site area was reduced later in the development process to 10,200 hectares (25,200 acres).[4] The site has an elevation of 535 to 840m.[5] The project falls within both the South Burnett Regional Council and Western Downs Regional Council jurisdictions.[6]

Project

Coopers Gap Wind Farm is the largest in Australia with a total generation capacity of up to 453 megawatts (607,000 hp) and annually is expected to generate 1.51 million megawatt hours of energy, with a corresponding capacity factor of 38%.[1] The wind farm consists of 123 turbines[1] extending across a series of ridge lines within the site. The wind turbines are approximately 180 metres (591 ft) in height from the tower base to the tip of the blade.[7][8] The tower will be approximately 113 metres (371 ft) high,[8] and the blades approximately 67 m (220 ft) in length[8] with a rotor diameter of 137 metres (449 ft).[8] The construction costs of the project were initially to be over $1.2 billion.[6] However the project was revised to include 115 turbines and only cost A$800 million.[9][10]

The electricity generated from each turbine is transmitted via underground or above ground cabling to a central cable marshalling point at the on site substation, which is located next to the 275 kV or 132 kV power lines that run through the site area. The sub station then connects directly into the grid network on site. It is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 2.2 million tonnes annually.[3]

In April 2011, some local landholders expressed concerns at a community forum related to health effects and the noise of the wind turbines, some of which will be less than a kilometre from homes.[9]

In March 2017, the project was approved by the Coordinator-General. The approved project consists of up to 115 turbines, with a maximum tip height of 180m, and a maximum rotor diameter of 140m.

The first turbine generated electricity to the grid on 24 June 2019. An emergency services drill was conducted involving someone having broken into the tower and occupied the turbine and threatening further harm to themselves and the equipment.[11]

Operations

The wind farm registered its first grid output in June 2019 and as of October 2020 has not yet been fully commissioned. It is planned to be commissioned late in 2020.[12] The generation table uses eljmkt nemlog to obtain generation values for each month. The URL must be formatted as: "http://nemlog.com.au/show/unit/YYYYMMDD/YYYYMMDD/?k1=GENCODE" Coopers Gap's code is COOPGWF1, so that is used.

Coopers Gap Wind Farm Generation (MWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2019 141,617 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 413* 3,134* 9,398* 21,843* 28,984* 38,725* 39,120*
2020 991,138 26,473* 30,890* 57,377* 48,224* 95,248* 87,140* 109,069* 98,270* 117,767* 119,562* 88,951* 112,167*
2021 113,633*

Note: Asterisk indicates power output was limited during the month.

See also

References
  1. "Coopers Gap Wind Farm". Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  2. Coopers Gap Wind Farm Archived 13 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Windlab Systems.
  3. "500 megawatt wind farm proposed for Queensland". Energy Matters. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  4. "Coopers Gap Wind Farm: Coordinator-General's evaluation report on the environmental impact statement" (PDF). March 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  5. "ASSESSMENT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE ISSUES FOR THE COOPERS GAP WIND FARM" (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  6. Petrina Berry (14 August 2008). "Wind farm to power 320,000 homes". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  7. Coopers Gap Wind Farm Information Brochure. Windlab Systems.
  8. "Giant Blades Power Coopers Gap Wind Farm". 24 June 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  9. "Graziers split over proposed location of wind turbines near Kingaroy". The Sunday Mail. Queensland Newspapers. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  10. "Application for Electricity Generation Authority" (PDF).
  11. "Community Newsletter" (PDF). Coopers Gap Wind Farm Project. AGL Energy. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  12. "Let it blow: Darling Downs becomes wind farm capital of Australia". InQueensland. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
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