Bremer Bay wind power gets go ahead

28/7/04
Bremer Bay, on the Western Australian south coast, will have electricity generated by the wind after funding was finalised today on a Western Power project to build a single, 600 kW wind turbine at the town, 400km south-east of Perth.
Announcing the $5.2million project, Energy Minister Eric Ripper said it was the latest in a series of new power plants across regional WA to improve the quality and reliability of local electricity supplies.
Mr Ripper said wind power was an effective renewable energy technology to supply some regional and remote towns with electricity and would help the fight against environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
"Wind power is an abundant renewable resource in Western Australia and we have a lot of local expertise, particularly in Western Power which built Australia's first wind farm at Esperance in 1988," he said.
A new diesel power station would be installed in conjunction with the wind turbine to replace the previous grid power supply, which was subject to frequent disruptions.
"The new wind diesel system will provide a reliable, high quality power supply to Bremer Bay with a 40 per cent contribution from renewable energy," the Minister said.
"It will see a reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions by 900 tonnes a year."
Mr Ripper said Western Power hoped to have the wind turbine operating by Christmas.
Financial assistance of $1.6million has been committed to the project through the Australian Government's Renewable Remote Power Generation Program and implemented in WA by the Sustainable Energy Development Office. This program is financed from the proceeds of diesel fuel excise paid by Western Power.
State-of-the-art electronic control equipment developed by Western Power and Northern Territory company, Powercorp, will manage the variable output of the wind turbine and the interaction between the diesel power station and the wind turbine to ensure they operate seamlessly.
Western Power is a leading wind energy operator in Australia, with 34 wind turbines ranging in size from 20 kW to 1800 kW in wind farms already operating in Albany, Esperance, Denham, Exmouth and Hopetoun and a total generating capacity of 29 MW.
Bremer Bay's wind turbine will be mounted on a 46m high tower and will carry three 22m long blades. It will be identical to the wind turbines recently installed at Esperance and Hopetoun.
Minister's office: 9222 8788