Summary
Sapphire Wind Farm is a 270 megawatt (MW) wind farm in the Australian state of New South Wales. When it was built in 2018, it was the largest wind farm in New South Wales. It is located in the New England region of northern New South Wales, 28 kilometres east of Inverell and 18 kilometres west of Glen Innes.[1] The farm covers approximately 8921 hectares of cleared grazing land, and has an elevation of about 750 to 1100m.[2] It is north of the Gwydir Highway. The White Rock and Glen Innes Wind Farms are south of the highway closer to Glen Innes.[3] It is intended to be colocated with a 200 MW solar farm.[4] The wind farm contains 75 Vestas V126 turbines, each of which can generate 3.6 MW of electricity. They each have a 137 metre hub height and 126 metre rotor diameter.[5] The project is approved to build up to 109 wind turbines.[6]
| Sapphire Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Swan Vale, New South Wales |
| Coordinates | 29°42′S 151°25′E / 29.70°S 151.41°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | January 2017 |
| Commission date | December 2017 |
| Construction cost | A$590m |
| Operator(s) | CWP Renewables |
| Wind farm | |
| Type | Onshore |
| Hub height | 137 metres (449 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 126 metres (413 ft) |
| Site area | 8,921 hectares (89.21 km2) |
| Site elevation | 750 to 1,100 metres (2,460 to 3,610 ft) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 75 × 3.6 MW |
| Make and model | Vestas V126 |
| Nameplate capacity | 270 MW |
| Capacity factor | 34.29% (average 2019-2022) |
| Annual net output | 811 GWh (average 2019-2022) |
| External links | |
| Website | https://www.sapphirewindfarm.com.au/ |
Operations edit
The wind farm began grid commissioning in February 2018 and was fully commissioned in November 2018[1] and has operated continuously since then. The generation table uses eljmkt nemlog to obtain generation values for each month.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 393,832 | N/A | 7,017* | 16,704* | 15,825* | 11,046* | 22,676* | 27,450* | 42,688* | 49,170* | 56,579* | 71,738* | 72,939 |
| 2019 | 799,631 | 49,773 | 84,005 | 76,554 | 82,732 | 65,551 | 53,708 | 64,703 | 56,076 | 66,872 | 59,143 | 67,655 | 72,859 |
| 2020 | 792,937 | 59,109 | 72,791 | 80,528 | 52,023 | 63,037 | 48,551 | 64,676 | 68,845 | 81,472 | 62,813 | 61,515 | 77,577 |
| 2021 | 788,221 | 68,573 | 71,741 | 73,914 | 55,524 | 41,764 | 62,921 | 74,631 | 56,785 | 61,003 | 68,573 | 88,420 | 64,372 |
| 2022 | 863,155 | 86,376 | 79,266 | 67,680 | 76,687 | 83,479 | 43,829 | 63,663 | 65,396 | 62,441 | 82,674 | 75,692 | 75,972 |
Note: Asterisk indicates power output was limited during the month.
References edit
- ^ a b "Sapphire Wind Farm". CWP Renewables. Archived from the original on 4 October 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "Compliance Report Sapphire Wind Farm, NSW EPBC 2011/5854" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ "Sapphire Wind Farm Map" (PDF). CWP Renewables. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "Sapphire Solar". CWP Renewables. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- ^ "Video - Sarens Tops the Tallest Turbine in Australia – Heavy Lift News". www.heavyliftnews.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ "Sapphire Wind Farm". Inverell Shire Council. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.