Ararat Wind Farm is a wind farm in western Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately 180km northwest of Melbourne.[1] It was officially opened on 27 June 2017 and was the third-largest wind farm in Australia at that time, with capacity to generate 240MW from 75 turbines.[2]
| Ararat Wind Farm | |
|---|---|
 Ararat Wind Farm in 2017 | |
 | |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | 9-17km northeast of Ararat, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 37°14′S 142°59′E / 37.24°S 142.98°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | August 2015 |
| Commission date | April 2017 |
| Construction cost | A$450 million |
| Owner(s) | Partners Group, RES Australia, OPTrust, GE |
| Operator(s) | Windlab |
| Wind farm | |
| Type | Onshore |
| Hub height | 85 metres (279 ft) |
| Rotor diameter | 103 metres (338 ft) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 75 × 3.2 MW |
| Make and model | General Electric 3.2-103 |
| Nameplate capacity | 240 MW |
| Capacity factor | 27.49% (average 2018-2021) |
| Annual net output | 578.0 GWh (average 2018-2021) |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
The farm has General Electric turbines that have a rated capacity of 3.2 MW,[3] a hub height of 85 metres,[4] 103 metre rotor diameter,[1] and a tip height of 135 metres.[1]
Of the 75 turbines, 70 are in the Rural City of Ararat and five are in the Shire of Northern Grampians.[5]
Operations
The wind farm began grid output in August 2016[6] and reached full output in June 2017[7] 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 75,683 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 716* | 8,266* | 18,075* | 22,087* | 26,539* |
| 2017 | 474,810 | 30,091* | 36,563* | 36,941* | 34,929* | 33,736* | 16,404* | 50,732 | 45,204 | 55,910 | 45,690 | 38,293 | 50,317 |
| 2018 | 592,510 | 53,655 | 46,062 | 56,475 | 30,700 | 54,112 | 38,952 | 63,663 | 56,214 | 44,039 | 53,829 | 48,864 | 45,945 |
| 2019 | 576,679 | 50,997 | 41,975 | 40,628 | 32,156 | 49,759 | 50,346 | 51,941 | 58,583 | 45,636 | 45,893 | 51,321 | 57,444 |
| 2020 | 589,419 | 53,954 | 46,572 | 62,532 | 39,658 | 55,387 | 37,301 | 37,466 | 50,866 | 56,740 | 52,194 | 42,836 | 53,913 |
| 2021 | 553,226 | 61,029 | 43,860 | 41,105 | 30,585 | 44,109 | 41,653 | 51,395 | 45,724 | 43,136 | 48,326 | 50,474 | 51,830 |
Note: Asterisk indicates power output was limited during the month.