Waterloo Wind Farm

Waterloo wind farm is east of Manoora, South Australia. It is the largest wind farm operated by EnergyAustralia.

Waterloo Wind Farm
Turbines in 2010
CountryAustralia
LocationWaterloo, South Australia
Coordinates33°59′S 138°54′E
StatusOperational
Construction began2008
Commission dateNovember 2010 and November 2016
Owner(s)Palisade Investment Partners and Northleaf Capital
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Rotor diameter
  • 90 m (300 ft)
Rated wind speed
  • 15 m/s (49 ft/s)
Power generation
Units operational43
Make and modelVestas
Units planned37 × 3 MW
Nameplate capacity131 MW
External links
Websitehttp://waterloowindfarm.com.au/
CommonsRelated media on Commons

Site
External media
Images
image icon Generating power at Waterloo Wind Farm
Video
video icon Waterloo Wind Farm

The wind farm is positioned along a rocky north–south ridge on privately owned property at Waterloo.[1] The 111 megawatt wind farm spreads across five acres of land and cost about $350 million, it began construction in November, 2008 and has been operational since October 2010.

For about two months in 2013, the site was monitored by the Environmental Protection Authority. The wind farm's infrasound and low-frequency noise were both examined.[2] Acoustics firm Resonate conducted noise and meteorological monitoring in the area.[3]

Turbines

Waterloo wind farm opened with 37 Vestas V90-3MW turbines,[4] each 80 metres high, with each turbine blade 44 metres long and weighing about 8 tonnes. The tower sections weigh approximately 90 tonnes in total with the tower and blades combined weighing 125 tonnes. On average the blades turn at 16.2 rpm. There are four levels in a turbine and it takes about five minutes to get to the top.

Each wind turbine produces on average 24 megawatt hours of electricity each day. On a windy day three wind turbines can power the whole of Clare and the whole wind farm can power up to 163,000 homes or 5 to 10% of South Australia.

The wind farm was expanded with six additional Vestas V117 turbines in 2016 at a cost of A$43 million.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Waterloo Wind Farm". EnergyAustralia. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. Peter Hannam (14 May 2013). "Power giant cuts stake in controversial wind farm". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  3. "Waterloo Wind Farm Environmental Noise Study". Environmental Protection Authority (South Australia). Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  4. "Waterloo Wind Farm, a Roaring 40s success". EcoGeneration. Great Southern Press. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  5. "About Us". Waterloo Wind Farm. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
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