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16/10/09Australia's newest solar power farm makes Windorah clean and green
Australia's newest solar farm, which is making the outback Queensland town of Windorah one of the state's cleanest and greenest, has been officially opened.
Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Stephen Robertson said the Bligh Government project has saved more than 100 tonnes of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere.
"The Windorah Solar Farm is the first of its kind in Queensland, it is generating power that would otherwise have come from a diesel-powered generator," he said.
"The Bligh Government is developing a clean energy future for Queensland and projects such as Windorah demonstrate we are delivering on this goal.
"The project is a trial of Australian-developed technology and the Windorah site is the first time it has been integrated with a diesel power station in this way.
"The Bligh Government, through Ergon Energy, has invested more than $3.5 million to build the solar farm at Windorah, supported by a $1 million investment from the Commonwealth.
"Solar energy could revolutionise the way power is produced for remote communities that are not on the national electricity grid and rely on diesel power stations feeding into small local grids.
"The Windorah Solar Farm will produce around 300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and reduce diesel consumption in the town by more than 100,000 litres a year.
"Significantly, this will reduce the town's carbon footprint by an estimated 300 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year."
Mr Robertson said the solar farm uses five 14-metre diameter mirrored dishes to capture sunlight.
"It has generated more than 100,000 kiloWatt hours of clean emissions-free energy to date to help power local homes and businesses," he said.
"The giant dishes follow the sun as it tracks across the sky from sunrise to sunset.
"Different combinations of dishes are used at different times, with some being parked and not used while others are generating power, depending on the needs of the town."
While the solar farm is producing power, the town's diesel generators operate at reduced output.
At night, or when there is too much cloud for the dishes to generate power, the generators are seamlessly brought back up to sufficient capacity to supply the town's needs.
The system also includes batteries to cope with brief cloud cover without having to increase the diesel generators' output.
Modern controls and communications equipment allow for remote monitoring and control of the entire facility.
Federal funding support for major projects under the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program totals more than $50 million and has stimulated a total investment of more than $107 million in renewable generation projects around Australia.
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Last Updated 03 November 2009
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