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The proposed Sapphire Wind Farm will be located 18km west of Glen Innes and 28km east of Inverell, in New South Wales.
Our proposal comprises of a wind farm with two potential design layouts; one consisting of 125 x 3.4 MW wind turbines and the other 159 x 1.5 MW wind turbines spread over 22 different properties. A range of machines will be under consideration for the project, with these sizes representing the upper and lower limits respectively. Each wind turbine could be up to 156m to blade tip, consisting of a tower section 80-100m in height and blades up to 56m in length.
Ultimately the choice between these two design layouts is largely dependent on the availability of wind turbines to the project. However it is important to note that the same envelope of land will be utilised irrespective of the final selection. Based on these numbers the installed capacity of the wind farm could therefore range between 238 to 425 megawatts (MW).
| Number of turbines |
159 |
|
| Rating of turbines |
2 |
MW |
| Wind farm size |
318 |
MW |
| Predicted output |
974,988 |
MWhr p.a. |
| Average Households supplied |
140,772 |
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| Carbon dioxide saved |
818,990 |
tonnes p.a. |
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The capacity factor used in these calculations is 35.00%.
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Calculations
All the calculations used to estimate annual wind farm output, the number of households it will supply and the CO2 emissions saved, are generic figures based upon the calculations below.
1. Average Output
Wind Farm Capacity in MW x Capacity Factor (%) x Annual Hours (8760) = Wind Farm Output (gross yield in MWhr per year)
2. Households Supplied
Predicted Output / Average Australian Electricity Consumption per Household p.a. (6.926 MWhr*) = Number of Households
3. CO2 Emissions Avoided
Wind Farm Output x CO2 Savings per kWhr = CO2 Emissions Avoided
Our minimum and maximum emissions figures, in kilograms of CO2 emitted per MWhr, were obtained from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change (Jan 2008) National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors. A link to the site from which this came is also provided below:
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/workbook/
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