Wind farm may ease water worries: Turbines could power desalination

Times Victor Harbor
Thursday 15/3/2007 Page: 7

A wind farm development near Myponga may help to ease the state's water worries. Both the state government and opposition are currently investigating the viability of developing a desalination plant to sustain Adelaide's water supplies, and decrease the city's reliance on the River Murray. The former oil refinery at Port Stanvac has been earmarked as a potential site, and the New Zealand developers of a wind farm near Myponga are putting up their hands to power up such a plant.

New Zealand company TrustPower's proposal to build a $60 million, 20-turbine wind farm on the hills in and around Mount Terrible, Mount Jeffcott and south of Sellicks Hill, was approved by the state government in November of 2003. It would be capable of producing about 60 megawatts of power, more than enough to power a nearby desalination plant.

However, since its approval the wind farm project has been in hiatus because the Federal Government's Mandatory Renewable Energy Target has not been extended, making it financially difficult for the wind farm to compete commercially with conventionally- produced electricity, according to TrustPower.

The government currently has a desalination plant in Western Australia under the microscope to see if the project could be replicated in South Australia. The Perth Seawater reverse-osmosis Plant, located in Kwinana (25km south of Perth) was opened November 2006. It supplies 17 per cent of Perth's water needs, and draws power from the new Emu Downs Wind Farm.

It is TrustPower's wish to similarly provide power to a desalination plant at Port Stanvac or at some location further south. The water produced could be pumped to the Myponga Reservoir, where it could enter the reticulation system. It would take about 29 months to build a desalination plant matching Perth's in South Australia, and 20 months to build a wind faun, if both projects were to go ahead. The wind farm would employ up to 30 people during the construction stage on the site, and once completed, would employ up to 12 people on an ongoing basis up to 12 people.

TrustPower is New Zealand's fourth largest electricity retailer, and in April will begin development of a $200 million wind farm near Snowtown. It also owns and operates the Tararua wind farm in New Zealand, one of the largest wind farms in the Southern Hemisphere.