Love the Smell of Wind in the Morning

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In an uncharacteristic move, I got up early a few days ago. (We usually like to stay in bed till we have to get up — retirement has to have some rewards.) So, I thought I would check the NEM Widget and see where our electricity was coming from at about dawn. It is summer in Australia, so dawn is before 5:00 am. During the day, solar dominates the grid. At dawn, wind is making a significant impact.

South Australia leads, with over 90% of its power coming from wind. Victoria was at about 50%, with significant amounts being generated in Western Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania. New South Wales, strangely, was lagging behind. A complete listing, with commentary, can be found here.

It is difficult to assess wind’s progress due to changes in government and different policy settings across states. However, one can see from the screenshots that wind is definitely making an impact. And more is on the way.

Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy recently raised over AU$1 billion to expand the Clarke Creek Wind Farm in Queensland. Stage one of the project (450 MW) began generating from its 100 Goldwind turbines in October. The completed project will be one of the largest wind generation sites in Australia — though, I am sure it won’t be long before someone builds a bigger one. You can read previous articles about Clarke Creek here.

Eighty-eight (88) more turbines will be added for Clarke Creek stage 2, creating a capacity of 704 MW. Squadron reports: “Together, stage one and two of the Clarke Creek Wind Farm would be one of the largest wind projects in Australia, expected to generate more than 1GW of green energy, powering more than 700,000 homes and investing around $20 million in community benefits over the life of the projects.” Stage 1 is already preventing 738,000 tonnes of carbon pollution each year. 

Down south in Victoria, the community of Meering West has been working towards a farmer-driven wind farm since 15 cropping families got together in 2021. They took control of the process — putting the proposed wind farm out to tender. The project was set to cover 20,100 hectares of farming land and designed to minimise the impact on cropping capacity. Virya Energy won the tender. 

Virya is planning to install 164 turbines with a maximum tip height of 300 meters. The company is building its social licence with generous payments, power bill discounts, and community sponsorships. For example, those dwelling within 2.5 km of a turbine will receive a payment of AU$8,000 per year. Those who are within 10 km of a turbine will receive a discount of AU$50 per month from their electricity bill. The local shire economy is expected to receive AU$2.1 million in operating payments. Everybody wins, including the local sporting clubs and museum. Who knows, it might even become a tourist spot, including a visit to Lake Meering on the border with NSW. Here’s a map, for those of you, like me, who had no idea where it was.

More good news for wind in South Australia: Aula Energy has announced that it has reached financial close for its Carmody’s Hill wind project. Construction is expected to begin early next year. This is Aula’s second wind project within the last two years. It’s first was Boulder Creek in Queensland.

“Carmody’s Hill Wind Farm will generate 256.2 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity using 42 turbines, delivered via a 12.8km of 275 kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting into the existing Davenport to Brinkworth 275kV line. Aula may also add a 123 MW battery energy storage system to the wind farm at a later date.” 

Chad Hymas, the CEO of Aula Energy, said: “Aula Energy extends its appreciation to local communities for their valuable input throughout the development phase. Community feedback has helped shape this project, and we’re grateful for the strong engagement and support. We look forward to continuing this partnership as construction begins and well into the future.”

Just a few days earlier, Tilt Renewables announced that “the investment drought for new projects in Australia is finally breaking.” Tilt Renewables CEO Anthony Fowler said, “This will be the first wind farm to reach a Final Investment Decision in 2025.” Construction is committed to start in 2026, with commercial operation in 2028. The 108 MW Waddi Wind Farm will be built 150 km north of Perth, in the wheat belt of Western Australia. Waddi will be Tilt’s first renewable energy project in Western Australia.

“Our team have worked tirelessly to ensure the project minimises impacts on local flora and fauna as well as on our neighbours. This is reflected in the changes we made to the project design and in our commitment to share benefits with our local community,” Mr Fowler said.

“Once constructed the generation from Waddi Wind Farm will be equivalent to powering around 68,000 West Australian homes per year with clean electricity. The project will facilitate more than 150 new jobs in construction and six permanent jobs during operations as well as over $3.9 million in community benefit funding over the life of the project.”

Community engagement and shared benefits are playing a role in the success of these new projects. Hopefully this will be the standard going forward.

Australia’s premier science organisation (CSIRO) has published its latest GenCost report consultation draft. “Consistent with previous report findings, the draft 2025-26 GenCost Report finds that solar PV and onshore wind form the basis for the least cost electricity generation mix for Australia.”

Facebook armchair keyboard experts continue to decry renewables. But the biggest failures currently on Australia’s grid are the aging coal-fired power stations. They are no longer fit for purpose and requiring replacement or massive maintenance bills. These misinformed miscreants seem to be unaware of the cost structures ably pointed out in the CSIRO report, viz:

“Generation prices are currently around 33% of retail prices. Transmission is around 7%, distribution around 34% with the remainder made up of metering, retail services and government programs. The biggest recent increases have been in coal and gas open cycle costs… The biggest recent increases have been in coal and gas open cycle costs. This reflects general increases in gas turbine and steam turbine costs. Battery costs have performed the best in terms of delivering consecutive cost reductions. Onshore wind costs are showing tentative signs of stabilising after experiencing the largest increase in 2022-23.”

Perhaps the armchair consultants should be asking questions about the costs of distribution. Why does it cost so much to get the power to the people? Could some fat be trimmed here?

On the down side, Rystad Energy’s David Dixon reports that “the 2025 calendar year is shaping up to be the lowest for new construction starts in a decade.” Less than 300 MW of new capacity will have begun construction in 2025. The good news on the horizon is three new wind farms getting close to a go-ahead for construction.

I wonder if the ever-decreasing cost of batteries is dissuading investment in the building of wind farms? In the meantime, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and in the interim, batteries are filling up. Progress is being made, if not as fast as we would like.