Renewables boom a silver lining as the storm clouds clear

www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au
12 Aug 2010

The wild storms which lashed Victoria and South Australia over the last 24 hours helped deliver near-record levels of renewable energy and hydro. The winds, which reached up to 95km per hour, at their peak delivered more than 1,230MWs of electricity - comparable to the giant Hazelwood coal-fired power station. Over the past two days the National Electricity Market Management Company (in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania) averaged more than 1000MW coming from wind turbines, the same as a medium sized coal-fired power station. This electricity was generated by around 1,000 wind turbines located across the south east of Australia.

Initial estimates suggest the amount of rain that fell in hydro dams would be enough to power around 20,000 households for the next year. The Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council, Mr Matthew Warren, said the impressive generation numbers showed the renewable silver lining to the dark clouds of the last couple of days. "wind turbines were spinning in overdrive overnight", Mr Warren said. "Wild weather isn't all bad news. The beauty of renewable energy is it taps in to the natural forces of weather extremes". The CEC, the leading body representing Australia's clean energy sector, is an independent, not-for-profit organisation representing more than 350 member companies operating in renewable energy and energy efficiency.