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Category: Electricity Energy and Utilities / Solar Energy / Alternative Energy

WA town looks to renewables for power solution

Wednesday, 2 Mar 2016 18:27:55 | Bonnie Christian

A wind turbine at Kalbarri that would be used to power the proposed electricity micro-grid planned by the State Government. (ABC Open: Chris Lewis)

The WA Government has announced it will commit $300,000 to investigate a way to build an energy micro-grid powered by renewables for the coastal town of Kalbarri.

Kalbarri has experienced several extended power outages over the past two years, costing local businesses thousands of dollars in lost trade and tourism.

The outages had been blamed on a build up of dust and salt on the 140-kilometre-long feeder line that delivers power to the town from Geraldton.

Local business owner Alanna Johnson said the cafe she co-owned had to shut down completely in 2014 after a series of power outages over a 10-day period.

"That's a lot of income that you're missing out on and unfortunately there's no compensation for it either," Ms Johnson said.

She said the uncertainty over the reliability of the power supply was frustrating.

"Especially when it was halfway through trade and then the power would go off," Ms Johnson said.

"People would be left without meals because you'd have to be refunding and not knowing how long the power was going to be out for was a really big issue.

"So we would have to assume it would be out for an extended period.

"Then we had to pack everything away and that's a big job especially when you've got no power when [things like] the dishwasher doesn't work."

Rebuilding trust in power supply

Western Power chief executive Paul Italiano said if the new grid did go ahead it would be the largest of its kind in Australia.

"What we're proposing to do here is evaluating the feasibility of building a micro-grid in Kalbarri that has a combination of solar, perhaps wind, and large scale battery storage that work together to create a level of self-sufficiency for the town," he said.

"This particular trial — if we're able to pull it off — will be the largest in Australia.

"There'll be lessons from this that we can apply to the rest of Western Australia. But more importantly for the whole power industry nationally."

Kalbarri Visitors Centre manager Tracy Grosvenor said she was glad something was finally being done.

"A lot of local businesses have suffered and I think Kalbarri relies on a lot of repeat visitation," she said.

"So word of mouth is going a long way to turn people from not coming back because of the power failures.

"I think it will restore the faith in the community, we'll start having a bit more trust in our power."

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