APY solar generator lying idle

Adelaide Advertiser
4 February 2011, Page: 39

A solar power station in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the state's Far North has been idle for more than a year, leaving it out of action for four of the past seven years. The Government owned $3.7 million power plant at Umuwa was upgraded in 2008, but was switched off just over a year later because of safety concerns.

Originally built in 2003, it also was shut down in 2005, for three years, before receiving a $1.2 million taxpayer funded upgrade. The 715 MW station was built to cut the community's dependence on diesel and was supposed to save 140,000 litres of diesel and 400 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Opposition MP Steven Marshall, who is a member of the Aboriginal Lands Committee, said the Government needed to fix the problem before "moving on to the next photo opportunity". "This is an example of complete ineptitude, wrong priorities and tokenism,.. combining to leave Aboriginal people at a disadvantage", he said.

Uniting Care Wesley indigenous policy officer Jonathan Nicholls said he had been "frustrated" a request for information on the project's status last year from Aboriginal Affairs Minister Grace Portolesi had been unanswered. "We accept it is difficult to repair and maintain certain things in remote communities, but we are not comfortable with this sweeping things under the carpet", he said.

Ms Portolesi said the plant had been out of action because of "complex issues relating to meteorological conditions", including electrical storms and wind blown dust. She said maintenance of the plant had been the responsibility of a private company which went into administration about a year ago.