Hobart Mercury
Wednesday 2/5/2007 Page: 16
A SOLAR energy project on King Island could play a role in solving the island's power woes. A trial project could soon be under way after a deal was struck between Australian company CBD Energy Limited and German company Solon AG. CBD is already working with Hydro Tasmania on energy projects for King Island and the new deal could help expedite the process. A 100 kilowatt solar energy plant is to be built on the island, supplementing diesel and wind generation.
CBD executive chairman Gerry McGowan said the developments reflected productive business partnerships with Hydro Tasmania and Solon. The King Island projects will also include a remote area power system including CBD's energy storage technology. The technology involves storage in graphite blocks and Mr McGowan said that represented a breakthrough in energy markets where energy storage wasn't commercially available.
Hydro Tasmania's technology manager John Titchen said the storage project had been the focus of work with CBD. "The technology is of value to us because we have quite a bit of wind energy, but can't always use it at its peak," Mr Titchen said. "We have been looking at ways to capture it so it doesn't go to waste." He said the CBD proposal for a solar power installation was quite interesting for Hydro Tasmania.
"It is in keeping with King Island's role in renewables, as the first location in Tasmania using wind energy," he said. "It is a good place to try these new types of generation because of the high cost of supply." He said Hydro was aiming to do whatever it could to displace diesel with clean energy. "Working on this on King Island gives us an opportunity to try it, get a foothold and possibly go further in the future. "This would be our first solar project so it's quite exciting." Solon is a major producer of solar power modules in Europe. employing more than 500 people across Europe.
The deal means Solon becomes a major CBD shareholder, investing about $4.9 million.
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