Kalbarri Wind Farm

Verve Energy installed a wind farm, comprising two 850kW Enercon E48 wind turbines, at Kalbarri in 2008.

Using special voltage control equipment and suitable wind technology, Verve Energy was able to improve the quality and reliability of electricity supply to the town. 

Situated 25km south of Kalbarri, the wind farm is connected directly into the electricity grid, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

A transformer was installed near the base of each wind turbine to allow high voltage connection directly to the distribution lines. A special piece of equipment called a STATCOM smoothes the voltage on the high voltage electricity system. 

This type of installation – wind turbines installed together with a STATCOM – could be fitted at ‘end-of-grid’ locations anywhere in Australia, where quality of electricity supplies is an issue.

The wind farm produces about 5 GWh of clean, green electricity a year, or about one-third of the Kalbarri community’s demand. And it offsets about 5,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.