Hallett Wind Farm facts for kids
The Hallett Wind Farm is a group of four large wind farms located near the town of Hallett, South Australia. These farms use the power of wind to create electricity, which is a clean and renewable energy source. They are owned and operated by a company called AGL Energy. Together, these wind farms help power homes and businesses in Australia.
Quick facts for kids Hallett Wind Farms |
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|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Hallett, South Australia, South Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°22′4″S 138°43′43″E / 33.36778°S 138.72861°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | 2008 |
| Owner(s) | AGL Energy |
| Operator(s) | AGL Energy |
Contents
What are the Hallett Wind Farms?
The Hallett Wind Farm is actually a collection of four different wind farms. Each one has many wind turbines that spin in the wind to generate electricity. They were built over several years and are known by different names:
- Brown Hill (Hallett 1): This farm can produce 95 megawatts (MW) of power. It was finished in June 2008.
- Hallett Hill (Hallett 2): This farm can produce 71 MW of power. It was finished in September 2009.
- North Brown Hill (Hallett 4): This farm is the largest, able to produce 132 MW. It was finished in December 2010.
- Bluff Range (Hallett 5): This farm can produce 53 MW of power. It was finished in December 2011.
You might notice there's no "Hallett 3." That's because a planned wind farm called Mount Bryan was never built. It had some planning issues and the project was eventually cancelled in 2012.
Brown Hill Wind Farm
Brown Hill Wind Farm, also called Hallett 1, has 45 large wind turbines. These turbines were made by a company called Suzlon Energy. Each turbine can create 2.1 megawatts (MW) of power. This means the whole farm can make about 95 MW of electricity.
This wind farm is located in the Mid-North part of South Australia. It's built next to an existing power plant that uses gas. The builders used a clever way to support the turbines, which needed less concrete than usual.
Hallett Hill Wind Farm
Hallett Hill Wind Farm, known as Hallett 2, was finished in late 2009. It has 34 Suzlon turbines, each able to produce 2.1 MW of power. In total, this farm can generate 71.4 MW.
At one point, people living nearby could hear a humming sound from the turbines in certain wind conditions. The company installed special parts called resonance dampers to fix this. Tests showed that this permanent fix solved the noise issue. The turbines are spread out over an area about 10 kilometers long, west of Mount Bryan.
North Brown Hill Wind Farm
North Brown Hill Wind Farm, also known as Hallett 4, is the biggest of the Hallett wind farms. It has 63 turbines and can produce a total of 132 MW of electricity. Building this farm cost about A$334 million.
The first electricity from this farm started flowing into the power grid in August 2010. By early 2011, the project was fully working. The turbines are spread over 14 kilometers of the Brown Hill Ranges, near Jamestown.
Bluff Range Wind Farm
Bluff Range Wind Farm, also called Hallett 5, has 25 Suzlon turbines. Each of these turbines can produce 2.1 MW of power. This means the whole farm can generate 52.5 MW.
The total cost to build this project was $120 million. It was completed in early 2012. The turbines are spread out over 8 kilometers of the Porcupine Range.
