Denham is an isolated town on the west coast of Western Australia, about 900km north of Perth.
A a single 230kW Enercon wind turbine was installed by the D&WS team at Denham in 1998. Following the wind turbine's success with displacing diesel fuel, the Australian Greenhouse Office provided a $1million Renewable Energy Showcase grant which enabled the system to become a world first in high wind energy penetration. Two additional Enercon wind turbines and a 250kW Low Load Diesel (LLDTM) generator were installed and the town could then source about 36% of its electrical energy from the wind. 
A second larger LLDTM (320kW) was installed in June 2005, and continued load growth has resulted in plans to add additional capacity in 2006/07.
Denham is a unique wind/diesel system which allows new equipment to be tested with the wind farm and a diesel generator, without affecting the customers in the town. Hence, Denham is a valuable test site for D&WS.
The system in Denham currently comprises 3 Enercon E-30 wind turbines (total capacity 690kW), two Low Load Diesel (570kW total), four conventional diesel engines (1,720kW total), two Boiler Grid Interfaces (100kW each), and the power station control system. This was the first installation of Low Load Diesel generator technology and the system has significantly increased wind energy penetration. The contribution of the LLDTM's to the Denhan system is illustrated below.
The second LLDTM has increased the wind energy penetration in the Denham system by about the same proportion as the increase from the first unit. It is expected that the annual average wind energy penetration in Denham will exceed 44% as a result of this LLDTM generator technology.
For more details check our brochure in the Downloads section.