Wind farms add green touch to WA's energy mix

Prospect Magazine
01/01/2008 Page: 20

Western Australia's commitment to cleaner, greener energy has been boosted by the recent official opening of another wind farm project at Hopetoun, near the State's south coast, about 175 kilometres west of Esperance. The Hopetoun wind-diesel Project involved the construction of a new power station and a second 600 kilowatt wind turbine for the progressive town. The first turbine was commissioned in 2004.

Verve Energy undertook the $7.5 million project, with Horizon Power investing $1.5 million to connect the new power station to the local distribution network. The project was also supported by the Australian Government, through the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program. This program was funded from diesel excise paid in Western Australia.

The new power station will ensure that Hopetoun has a reliable power supply as it accommodates an increasing number of new houses, as well as commercial and industrial customers. Most of the town's growth stems from the development of BHP Billiton's nearby $2.8 billion Ravensthorpe nickel project. The Hopetoun project follows the commissioning of a $180 million wind farm at Emu Downs about 30 km inland from Cervantes in the State's Mid West region.

The wind farm is a joint venture between Griffin Energy and Stanwell Corporation Limited and comprises 48 turbines that are capable of producing 80 megawatts of electricity for the State's main power grid. That's enough to meet the power requirements of 50,000 WA homes.

There are now nine recognised wind farm sites in Western Australia which collectively produce 198 MW of electricity. Most of the energy is fed into Verve Energy's South West Interconnected System (SWIS) power grid. The State has a total electricity generating capacity of about 6700MW, including about 5300MW for the SWIS grid. Around 3 to 4 per cent of the State's electricity currently comes from renewable energy sources.

The Western Australian Government is on track to meet its renewable energy target of 6 per cent for the SWIS system by 2010, with the announcement of Synergy's decision to purchase power from a new bioenergy venture in Bridgetown. In addition, the State has set further targets for the SWIS of 15 per cent by 2020 and 20 per cent by 2025.

Victoria is currently the only State or Territory with a legislated renewable energy target scheme of 10 per cent by 2016, although the New South Wales parliament is considering a bill for a similar scheme.