OST Energy (OST) has delivered Independent Energy Yield Assessments (EYAs) for two 100MW stages of the Hornsdale Wind Farm project under development by Neoen, in South Australia.
At Neoen’s 7,500-hectare Hornsdale site to the north of Jamestown, project development is taking place in phases, with a number of turbines already installed at the 100 MW Hornsdale 1 Wind Farm, and the 100 MW Hornsdale 2 Wind Farm currently under construction. Upon completion, the overall capacity of the project is set to be 309 MW. OST was engaged to provide EYA services, taking into account the unique topography and layout of both sites and their impact on expected generation. In particular, the proximity of the projects led to concerns regarding the wake effects of one wind farm site on the other. Similarly, the spacing of the turbines further increased the difficulty in assessing this wake impact, which if underestimated, risked creating potential generation shortfalls. Furthermore, a number of steep slopes across the site created areas of potential flow separation, adding further complexity to the task. In addition, OST undertook flow model validations, making use of existing remote sensing data to validate wind shear measurements from on-site masts.
