Increasing wind power in Australia

An investigation of the impacts of increased power supply to the national grid by wind generators on the Australian electricity industry: ARC Linkage Project (LP110200957, 2011-2014)

Significant increases in Australian power generation using wind are planned for the coming years. This project will answer urgent questions concerning the capability of the existing power grid to cope with a volatile source of supply, required grid modifications, impacts on the national electricity market (NEM), the optimal placement of wind farms, impacts of carbon pricing and the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET). This is, necessarily, an interdisciplinary project involving economists, electrical engineers and climate scientists with very strong support from the wind generators. A coherent government policy to phase in renewable energy in a cost effective manner will not be possible without high quality research of this kind.

Funding partners

Project publications

Journal publications

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), Wind speed and electricity demand correlation analysis in the Australian National Electricity Market: Determining wind turbine generators’ ability to meet electricity demand without energy storage, Economic Analysis & Policy, Vol. In Press, doi:10.1016/j.eap.2015.11.009

Wild, P, Bell, WP and Foster, J, (2015) Impact of Carbon Prices on Wholesale Electricity Prices and Carbon Pass-Through Rates in the Australian National Electricity Market. The Energy Journal, 36 3: doi:10.5547/01956574.36.3.pwil

Final reports

Wild, P, Bell, WP, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), Australian National Electricity Market Model version 1.10, EEMG Working Paper 2-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), The effect of increasing the number of wind turbine generators on transmission line congestion in the Australian National Electricity Market from 2014 to 2025, EEMG Working Paper 3-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), The effect of increasing the number of wind turbine generators on wholesale spot prices in the Australian National Electricity Market from 2014 to 2025, EEMG Working Paper 4-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), The effect of increasing the number of wind turbine generators on carbon dioxide emissions in the Australian National Electricity Market from 2014 to 2025, EEMG Working Paper 5-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), The effect of increasing the number of wind turbine generators on generator energy in the Australian National Electricity Market from 2014 to 2025, EEMG Working Paper 6-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), NEMLink: Augmenting the Australian National Electricity Market transmission grid to facilitate increased wind turbine generation and its effect on transmission congestion, EEMG Working Paper 9-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Bell, WP, Wild, P, Foster, J, and Hewson, M (2015), NEMLink: Augmenting the Australian National Electricity Market transmission grid to facilitate increased wind turbine generation and its effect on wholesale spot prices, EEMG Working Paper 10-2015, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Interim reports

Wild, P, Bell, WP and Foster, J (2014), Impact of Transmission Network Augmentation Options on Operational Wind Generation in the Australian National Electricity Market over 2007-2012, EEMG Working Paper 11-2014, School of Economics, The University of Queensland

Wild, P, Bell, WP and Foster, J (2014), Impact of increased penetration of wind generation in the Australian National Electricity Market, EEMG Working Paper 10-2014, School of Economics, The University of Queensland

Wild, P, Bell, WP and Foster, J (2014), Impact of Operational Wind Generation in the Australian National Electricity Market over 2007-2012. EEMG Working Paper 1-2014, School of Economics, The University of Queensland