Scholar

Mike Sandiford

H-index: 60
Geology 34%
Environmental science 28%
msandifo.bsky.social
hmmm - should read "wind farm distance from coastline."
msandifo.bsky.social
to simplify - it says "go inland, go north for best returns on wind farm investment."

all about inland nocturnal wind intensification associated with the development of heat toughs (aka drylines).

No reason to suspect we have anywhere near the best sites to pick up low level nocturnal jets!
msandifo.bsky.social
One of the most intriguing diagrams I have produced in a while ... at least for NEM/RE aficionados.
N* (y-axis) is ratio of midnight ± 3 hours to midday ±3 hours generation for QLD, NSW and VIC wind farms over the 12 months to end June 2025.
x-axis is wind farm dance from coastline.
msandifo.bsky.social
so would appear Rhodos is tilting north down, south up - which is not at all surprising given it sits above the eastern end of the Aegean slab. (Nice earthquake record on the south coast)
msandifo.bsky.social
which contrasts inland wind which has a prominent nocturnal peak*, and therefore will suffer less economic curtailment (but currently lacks transmission ...) *best exemplified by QLD but is true also of inland NSW and VIC
msandifo.bsky.social
partly because southern coast wind production shows little diurnal variability ...
msandifo.bsky.social
presumably - also reflecting the increases in economic curtailment of wind, which is an emerging issue especially for southern coast wind farms ...
msandifo.bsky.social
cf. north coast Rhodos, where solution notches are at, and below, sea level- eg. Kopria Beach
msandifo.bsky.social
Elevated Solution notches - Lindos (south coast of Rhodos)
msandifo.bsky.social
The Accursed Mountains (Peaks of the Balkans Trail) - Valbonё – Çerem, Albania, (photo taken on side track to Vusanje, Montenegro)
msandifo.bsky.social
Laugevegur trail - Markarfljótsgljúfur Canyon at Emstrur
msandifo.bsky.social
Laugavegur Trail - view over Lake Álftavatn (on trail section from Hrafntinnusker to Álftavatn)
msandifo.bsky.social
VIC1 spot and prices and demand, by hour of day (y-axis) and day of year (x-axis), for 12 months to end June '25.
msandifo.bsky.social
The amazing Channel country rivers in flood (courtesy Copernicus browser Sentinel-2).
msandifo.bsky.social
Western desert magic (Sentinel 2, L2A Moisture Index)
msandifo.bsky.social
whereas the former is dominated by southern ocean storms, the latter is dominated by low level nocturnal jets associated with the development of the northern Australian dryline.
msandifo.bsky.social
Cf southern VIC wind farm forecast generation v inland QLD across 2024/ location matters
msandifo.bsky.social
Stay tuned as the www.superpowerinstitute.com.au delves into the wonders of LLNJs (low level nocturnal jets).
msandifo.bsky.social
The complimentarity between inland nocturnal winds and daytime solar, especially so in central Queensland (and I suspect inland NW WA), there should be much to excite new investment … and provide new guidelines for appropriate transmission investment to capture the opportunity.
msandifo.bsky.social
So what gives? Why does nocturnal wind generation correlate with diatnce from coast? Has to do with the development of low level nocturnal jets associated with inland drylines, as invetsigated by Arnup and Reeder "The structure and evolution of the northern Australian dryline”, amongst others.
msandifo.bsky.social
Similar relations hold for the Victorian farms. Turns out the further inland you go, the more the wind farms produce at night.
msandifo.bsky.social
So what gives with wind farm production? Here is the yearly average by time of day for NSW and QLD wind farms (expressed in capacity factor terms) and ordered by distance from the coast.
msandifo.bsky.social
Anyone who follows the NEM surprised by this? (shouldn’t be)

N* - Ratio of wind farm forecast dispatch overnight to daytime.

% VWP - volume weighted price of (forecast) wind farm dispatch.

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Updated 1m