| Mount Emerald Wind Farm | |
| Coordinates: | -17.1833°N 167°W |
| Country: | Australia |
| Status: | O |
| Cost: | $400 million |
| Operator: | RATCH-Australia |
| Ps Units Operational: | 16 × 3.3 MW 37 × 3.45 MW |
| Ps Units Manu Model: | Vestas V112-3.3MW Vestas V117-3.45MW |
| Wind Hub Height: | 840NaN0 Vestas V112 900NaN0 Vestas V117 |
| Wind Rotor Diameter: | 1120NaN0 1170NaN0 |
| Wind Rated Speed: | 501NaN1 |
| Wind Farm Type: | Onshore |
| Ps Site Elevation: | 9000NaN0 |
| Wind Site Usage: | Farm Land |
| Ps Site Area: | 24000NaN0 |
| Ps Electrical Capacity: | 180.5 MW |
| Ps Annual Generation: | 500-600 GWh |
Mount Emerald Wind Farm is a 180 MW wind farm situated on Mount Emerald, in Arriga, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia.[1] It is approximately 8 km WNW of Tolga, and 49 km SW of Cairns. The project is a joint venture between Port Bajool (land owner) and RATCH-Australia (wind farm developer and operator). RATCH-Australia bought the project from Transfield Services in July 2011.[2] The wind farm incorporates 53 turbines.[3]
Approval from the state government came in April 2015. Federal government approval happened in November 2015, subject to 35 conditions aimed at protecting native species.[4] The site was formerly used as a military training area in World War II so the site had to be carefully inspected to find any unexpoded ordnance; several were found and safely destroyed.[5]
The wind farm registered its first grid output in August 2018 and reached maximum output in January 2019. The electricity network around the wind farm is generally constrained; this has an impact on the total amount of electricity it can receive from the wind farm. Studies are being undertaken to increasing the capacity of the network using technologies such as synchronous condensers and grid-scale batteries.[6] [7]
| 2018 | 114,356 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2,239 | 27,237 | 19,132 | 30,535 | 35,213 | |
| 2019 | 455,639 | 39,124 | 21,108 | 33,043 | 62,106 | 53,452 | 45,636 | 33,884 | 45,804 | 40,882 | 33,083 | 26,186 | 21,331 | |
| 2020 | 348,260 | 20,204 | 10,891 | 36,588 | 38,551 | 48,914 | 56,223 | 17,879 | 14,075 | 33,172 | 15,113 | 37,952 | 18,698 | |
| 2021 | 28,953 | 14,298 | 36,514 | 43,141 | 52,500 | 30,136 | 32,432 | 63,443 | 59,085 | 20,474 | 25,138 | 32,015 | ||
| 2022 | 21,812 | 23,242 | 26,568 | 50,452 | 29,027 | 53,770 | 40,093 | 51,827 | 37,556 | 35,440 | 27,244 | 26,171 | ||
| 2023 | 18,820 | 28,533 | 23,251 | 32,791 | 58,862 | 43,962 | 54,560 | 56,183 | 61,325 |
Environmental groups have claimed that the construction of roads and bases for the wind turbines caused significant destruction of the formerly untouched wilderness.[8]