Renewable Energy - Major WA Initiatives

Search all WA Government Sites

Print this page

Hydro
Western Australia has a 30 MW hydro power station located at the Ord River dam on Lake Argyle, 80 km south of Kununurra. The power station is owned and operated by Pacific Hydro.

Wind
The largest wind farm in Western Australia is Alinta's Walkaway wind farm 25km south east of Geraldton. Walkaway consists of 54 1650kW wind turbines and has a total capacity of 90MW. The turbines have 78m towers and 41m long blades. The wind farm began operating in August 2005 and is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 300,000 tonnes per year. The wind farm will be capable of supplying power to approximately 60,000 homes.

The most recently constructed wind farm in Western Australia is the Emu Downs Wind Farm 30km east of Cervantes. The Emu Downs Wind Farm, a joint venture between Stanwell Corporation Limited and Griffin Energy, commenced operation in 2006. The 48 1650kW turbines give the wind farm a total capacity of 80MW. It is expected that Emu Downs will produce enough electricity to power 50,000 homes per year and produce carbon dioxide emission reductions of about 280,000 tonnes per year.

The Albany wind farm is owned by Verve Energy and consists of twelve 1800 kW wind turbines connected to the electricity grid. The turbines have a 65m tower and a 35m long blade. The project was officially opened in October 2001 and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 76,000 tonnes per year.

Verve Energy also owns and operates the first commercial sized wind farm built in Australia. Located at Ten Mile Lagoon, near Esperance, it consists of nine 225 kW Vestas variable pitch wind turbines and is connected to Esperance's gas fired power station via a 33 kV power line. A second wind farm, consisting of six 600kW Enercon wind turbines, was built at Nine Mile Beach and further contributes to the use of wind energy in Esperence.

Another Verve Energy wind project is located at Denham in Shark Bay. The project consists of three 230 kW variable speed wind turbines which are connected to a diesel system. The Denham project began with the construction of a single wind turbine in mid 1998. By the end of 1999, two identical wind turbines had been installed and commissioned adjacent to the first turbine. After initia experimenting with a flywheel energy storage system, Verve Energy installed two low load diesels to maximise wind energy usage. With this technology, at certain times it is possible for the wind turbines to provide around 90% of Denham's electricity supply.

Verve Energy also owns and operates wind/diesel systems at Hopetoun and Bremer Bay and has installed a system on Rottnest Island for the Rottnest Island Authority. Each of these systems incorporates a 600kW Enercon wind turbine and low load diesels. These three systems, along with the Nine Miles Beach wind farm, were supported by the Australian Government through the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program

For further information on Verve Energy's wind projects visit their website.

Biomass
Biomass is the term used to describe any type of biological matter that can be used for fuel and includes energy crops, and agricultural, commercial and domestic wastes. There are a number of biomass applications within Western Australia, mainly utilising landfill gas, wastewater and bagasse.

Landfill gas, produced from the anaerobic decomposition of commercial, industrial and domestic wastes, is used in a number of power stations in the Perth metropolitan area. The total installed capacity of the stations is around 24MW.

Biogas, produced from the decomposition of sewerage, is used in the Water Corporation's Woodman Point wastewater treatment plant to generate around 6GWh of electricity per year. Two 600 kW reciprocating engine generator sets, fuelled by the biogas, provide electricity for use on site with the excess exported to the grid. Waste heat from the engines is also recovered and used for optimising digester temperature.

In July 2001, the Water Corporation completed commissioning of an innovative plant at its Subiaco wastewater treatment facility which produces fuel oil from sludge. While the fuel oil is currently being used off-site for heating purposes, consideration is being given to using it for generating electricity.

Solar Energy - Photovoltaics
Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. Applications of PV within WA include grid-connected and stand alone power systems, remote telecommunications infrastructure and water pumping systems. PV modules are also utilised in many niche applications, including emergency telephones, street and other outdoor lighting, and marine navigation buoys.

Australia's first large grid connected PV system, owned and operated by Verve Energy, is located at Kalbarri. The 20 kW tracking system was commissioned in 1995. In another first, a 20 kW photovoltaic trough concentrator system was installed at the Rockingham Campus of Murdoch University in 2000. Using only a relatively small number of photovoltaic cells, the system uses 40 pairs of parabolic mirrors, mounted on a tracking system, to concentrate solar energy on the PV cells. The system is owned by Verve Energy and was developed in conjunction with local industry.

The largest off-grid PV system began operation in August 2006 near Laverton. The Western Australian Department of Corrective Services has installed the 32 kW system at its Mount Morgan work camp. The system will reduce the camp's reliance on diesel generated power saving about 30,000 litres of diesel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 89 tonnes each year.

Another large system in Western Australia is the 31kW photovoltaic system installed by Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd at Hamersley Station in 2005. The hybrid solar/diesel system consists of 260 solar panels, a 40kVA inverter, 552kWh battery bank and 53kVA diesel generator. The solar array contributes an estimated 130kWh per day to help meet the station's power needs.

For further information on Verve Energy's PV projects visit their website.

Solar Energy - Solar Thermal
Solar thermal energy is heat from the sun. In Western Australia large amounts of solar thermal energy are used in the salt industry based in the north west of the State.

Solar thermal energy is also used extensively in solar hot water systems.

Wave energy technology
Wave energy is a clean, renewable source of energy, from which electricity can be generated without producing greenhouse gas emissions. Wave energy could potentially play a role in meeting our future energy and water needs. Wave power has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the State, given Western Australia's excellent wave energy resource.

There are presently a number of wave energy technology companies seeking to establish projects in Western Australia.

A new and innovative wave energy technology has been developed in Fremantle by Seapower Pacific and its UK parent company, Renewable Energy Holdings. In 2006 the companies completed the successful ocean testing of their CETO I demonstration unit. As a result of the trial of the CETO I demonstration unit, the design of the unit was updated and an array of nine of the CETO II units is proposed to be installed in the ocean off Rous Head for testing.

Another wave energy project in Western Australia has been proposed by Ocean Power Technologies. A feasibility study is currently underway for a 100MW project north of Perth.