Northern Territory News
Thursday 5/3/2009 Page: 3
TERRITORY electricity users who sign up for the new Green Power scheme will not get any more power from renewable sources than they did beforehand. The Government and Power and Water have announced people will soon be able to pay an extra $1 per week for renewable energy. Essential Services Minister Rob Knight said it was a "fantastic opportunity" to help the environment. "Territorians can opt to buy some or all of their electricity from renewable energy sources for as little as $1 a week." he said.
But anyone who signs up will get the same power from the grid as they did last year - coming from the same sources as everyone who does not sign up. Power and Water general manager of retail Jim Bamber yesterday said this would be generated from a combination of gas, diesel generators and renewable energy from the Shoal Bay biomass generator. He said no one would be able to get all their power from renewable energy sources.
"The whole green power scheme is a voluntary scheme," he said. "But we've got to start somewhere." PWC figures show at peak periods 30% of Darwin's electricity comes from diesel generators at Channel Island power station. In cooler periods - during the monsoon - this dropped down to 15 % . Mr Bamber said the biomass power generator at Shoal Bay has been adding 9000 MW hours of power per year into the Darwin-Katherine grid for several years.
The biomass generator could provide 13,000 homes with 10% of their power. Mr Bamber said the extra $1 per week from customers was a way people could show their support for renewable energy and drive further Territory investment. Environment Centre co-ordinator Stuart Blanch said the NT had nowhere near the amount of green power production capacity to meet demand if users took up the option en masse.
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