Explained: How wind farms work

Plans to connect one of the world’s largest wind farms in Queensland to the grid sparked plenty of questions about how wind farms worked. Here’s everything you need to know.

The federal government’s clean energy investment arm has agreed to cover the multimillion-dollar cost of connecting one of the world’s largest wind farms, the Macintyre Wind Precinct in Queensland’s Southern Downs, to the grid.

Here are your questions answered.

Who owns the Macintyre Wind Precinct?

The 923MW Macintyre Wind Farm is being developed by Spanish company Acciona and Korea Zinc while the 103MW Karara Wind Farm will be owned by Queensland’s state-owned CleanCo.

The latest Queensland state budget has estimated the Karara Wind Farm will ultimately cost $254m.

The federal government’s clean energy investment arm also announced on Thursday it would put $160m toward critical grid infrastructure to connect the precinct to the electricity network.

How do windfarms work?

There are four main parts to a wind turbine; the base, tower, generator and blades.

The blades catch the wind currents, causing them to turn and spin a series of gears connected to the generator.

The generator then converts the wind’s energy into electricity, which then makes its way to the grid.

Wind farms work by converting the wind’s energy into electricity, which then makes its way to the grid.

What happens at night/when there is no wind?

Queensland’s north is a hotspot for wind projects for the geographic quirk of the wind blowing at night time, which means renewable energy is being produced at a time solar is not an option.

For example, the 180MW wind farm in Mt Emerald, south of Cairns, starts ramping up production in the late afternoon before hitting a peak around 7.30am.

In terms of the Macintyre Wind Precinct — in southern Queensland near Warwick — the state government has previously pointed to “consistent winds” especially in the evening as a factor for why the site had been selected.

If the wind isn’t blowing, then electricity isn’t being generated — just as solar power isn’t being generated if there isn’t sunlight, and energy from gas isn’t generated when it isn’t combusted.

But batteries exist in part so energy can be stored and deployed when needed.

How does it affect wildlife? Will it kill birds?

Yes, wind farms kill birds. The volume of peer-reviewed studies on the bird death toll caused by wind farms is much larger overseas, but in Australia experts tend to land on an average of 1-2 birds per turbine per year.

Wind farms are usually built on top of mountains or vast expanses to take advantage of natural wind.

By comparison, a single pet cat can kill an average of 110 native animals a year — 38 of those birds.

The environmental conditions set by the government for the transmission section of the Macintyre Wind Precinct includes a long list of rules that includes the need for the proponents to “compensate” for clearing habitat through environmental offsets.

Why are they building it in the countryside – why not build them in our capital cities?

Wind farms, by definition, need wind so they’re usually built on top of mountains or vast expanses to take advantage of natural wind.

The federal government also recently declared Australia’s first offshore wind zone, paving the way for wind farm projects out at sea.

Wind turbines are also massive. The ones used at the Macintyre Wind Precinct are set to be 230m tall from base to the highest wing tip.

To put that into perspective, Brisbane’s Tower of Power from base to its highest point is 260m.