windorah solar farm
tags: gift, high quality, print, queensland, solar farm, windorah .
ergon energy says its pilot solar farm at windorah, in western queensland, has worked effectively, despite some teething problems .
an innovative solar farm is nearing completion in the channel country in western queensland .
only one of the five 14. 5 - metre high solar collection dishes at windorah' s solar farm has been working and now it has broken down again .
windorah' s solar farm was supposed to track with the moving sun and generate 300, 000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year .
windorah' s solar farm broken down again. only one of five collector dishes is now working. dishes are pointing in every direction .
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 .
while the solar farm is producing power, the town’s diesel generators operate at reduced output .
windorah' s solar farm was opened in 2009 by a queensland prime minister, a queensland premier and a queensland energy minister as a flagship project leading queensland to a solar dawn .
windorah may be setting, but solar energy may have a new dawn in outback queensland .
mr robertson said the solar farm uses five 14 - metre diameter mirrored dishes to capture sunlight .
he said the windorah solar plant had
potential
, but said ergon' s solar technology was now, not particularly sophisticated .
in ideal conditions, the windorah solar farm will generate enough electricity to supply the entire daytime needs of the town. power will switch to the existing diesel power station when solar energy runs low .
queensland mines and energy minister geoff wilson today told parliament that windorah, with a population 100, would be home to the state' s first solar farm .
“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 .
“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 .
however mr o' brien said the windorah' s solar plant now does not feature in windorah' s future planning and they did not contribute any money towards its maintenance .
he says there have been issues with dust and birds affecting the mirrored dishes and solar cells at the farm .
windorah will soon be the first town in queensland to use solar power for all of its daytime electricity .
“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 .
the farm on the outskirts of windorah is being built by ergon energy and once completed will be capable of powering the entire town during sunshine hours .
councillor scott says the solar farm will also trial new technology and locals hope it will begin generating electricity for the town soon .
windorah is part of barcoo shire council and chief executive officer bob o' brien said the solar energy had plenty of potential in outback queensland, where many rooftops have solar panels .
the windorah solar farm will produce around 300, 000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually and reduce diesel consumption in the town by 100, 000 litres a year ,
then - energy minister stephen robertson said .
solar eyes are now looking towards barcaldine, where the private company, elecnor, last month started construction of queensland' s largest solar farm, a $ 70 million, 25 - megawatt solar plant built on 90 hectares just outside barcaldine .
stage one of the solar farm was completed in july 2013, when 40 dishes on a carwarp sheep farm 30 minutes outside mildura began feeding 1. 5 megawatts of electricity into the grid - enough power for 500 homes .
prime minister kevin rudd and queensland premier anna bligh are in western queensland to watch the official start of a new solar plant operation in windorah .
it' s an exciting day for windorah as their town becomes the first queensland town to be fully solar powered ,
she said .
they wouldn' t re - start, a computer glitch ,
a windorah person familiar with the solar plant' s operation said .
the barcaldine regional community solar farm is built close to a transmission substation and gas power station on the capricorn highway, five kilometres east of barcaldine .
he says the five massive mirrored dishes that make up the farm are creating lots of interest .
the pilot farm south - west of longreach opened in 2009 and was ergon' s first use of technology to integrate solar power with a diesel power station .
he said five solar dishes had been installed at windorah and would act like giant sunflowers, facing and following the sun to capture as much sunlight as possible .
first launched in the mid - 2000s, the solar farm project has weathered numerous setbacks including the proponent company solar systems going into voluntary administration during the global financial crisis. silex systems then bought the project, which was originally due to be completed last year .
to give you a sense, this is a 20 megawatt solar farm which is by far the biggest in queensland to date ,
arena' s chief executive, ivor frischknecht said .
customers are still taking advantage of the old 44 - cents per kilowatt, solar feed - in tariff introduced by labor in 2008 to encourage solar energy .
silex systems announced on monday that it would suspend its proposed 2000 - dish solar farm near mildura, which had been billed as being capable of producing enough electricity to run 30, 000 homes .
the windorah solar farm is made up of 5 mirrored dishes that reflect and concentrate sunlight on to a high - capacity solar cell in a central point at the front of the dish. each cell generates approximately 26kw of electricity, depending upon season, time of day and cloud cover. ergon energy' s road - side sign says that the solar farm, commissioned in 2009, “has the capacity to generate up to 360, 000 kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricty each year – electricity that would otherwise have required 100, 000 litres of diesel to be used by the town' s generators” .
“the bligh government is developing a clean energy future for queensland and projects such as windorah demonstrate we are delivering on this goal .
there was even a new' airport' opened at windorah for kevin rudd, anna bligh and stephen robertson for the opening in october 2009 .
“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 .
ms bligh says the community of 100 residents will be the first queensland town to be totally reliant on solar power .
they' ll produce 180 - odd kilowatts of energy which will virtually drive windorah' s energy requirements in the daylight hours for about nine or 10 months of the year .
we' re very proud of it and we' re very proud of the fact that windorah and the barcoo shire were chosen as a site in queensland for this to happen .
a south - west queensland town will be the first in the state to rely on solar power for all its daytime electricity .
we don' t have any plans to do any further solar farms of this nature in the future ,
he said .
ergon energy spokesman bob pleash says it cost nearly $ 5 million and there are no plans at this stage to construct more solar farms .
“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 .
it' s an exciting day for queensland, as premier i want us to move from being the sunshine state of australia to being the solar state of australia .
the company planning to build one of the country’s largest solar farms has walked away from the project amid uncertainty over federal government support for a long - term renewable energy target .
i think from memory the solar power station was due for commissioning around about the end of august 2008, so i suspect the next couple of months it will be up and running ,
he said .
we saw a fortnight ago the lifting of the solar reflectors on top of the 13 metre masts, that will support them, that are going to rotate 360 degrees to follow the sun around ,
he said .
so it doesn' t assist us at all. it just keeps the cost of the diesel down. we don' t get any direct power off the solar at all. it' s been like that since it was built .
barcoo mayor bruce scott says it is hoped the plant will be commissioned within months .
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it is a great place, and it is living up to its aboriginal name as a big fish in the climate change stakes ,
mr wilson said .
she says it marks the end of the town' s reliance on diesel .
that' s been one of the problems we have found and it' s not only been dust but certainly birds have caused a little bit of an issue from time to time for us ,
he said .
you do have to keep the collectors clean so that you are getting the maximum amount of efficiency to generate power .
we have had a few teething problems with a few pieces of equipment, that has been sorted out and it is operating very effectively .
it is a substantial cost - this project represents an outlay of around $ 5 million .
in the current climate, whilst it is all well and good from an environmental point of view, ergon' s focus is very much about driving a focus on affordability .
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each dish can generate about 26 kilowatts of electricity, depending on the season, time of day and cloud cover, in theory .
however, according to ergon, it has generated just 942, 000 kilowatts of power since 2009, a little over one - third its expectations. it has however offset
almost 250, 000 litres of diesel since it was commissioned ,
ergon says .
one collector dish at the plant, now run by ergon, broke down
last friday
, two others broke down
the friday before
and another
a bit before that .
another local source said it once sat idle for 12 months between 2012 and 2014 without ever operating .
it was a monument to tourists really ,
that source said, with a laugh .
one local said the collection dishes have not worked effectively since it opened in 2009 .
when the government built it – and it was taken over by ergon obviously - it was built as a test model basically ,
the person said .
all it does is ramp the (diesel) generators down. but we still don' t generate any power. we can' t feed back into the grid .
it is of no benefit to the consumer, put it that way ,
the person said .
the facility continues to generate electricity at the moment but not at full capacity ,
a spokesperson said .
a technician flew from cairns yesterday and is undertaking repairs ,
he said .
it is expected most dishes will be operational by the end of the week ,
he said .
from time to time some of the dishes are out of service due to regular servicing requirements and the need to source parts .
mr o' brien said he was unaware only one of the five collector dishes was operating and said on his two visits to the plant
two or three
of the five collector dishes were operating .
but it' s really got nothing to do with us, it' s an ergon plant ,
he said .
it is supported by a $ 22. 8 million grant from the australian renewable energy agency (arena) and could provide electricity for 5300 homes around central queensland .
and australia - wide there' s a total of about 240 megawatts either under construction or installed, so that gives you a sense of scale ,
he told the abc in december 2015 .
chief executive michael goldsworthy said the combination of uncertainty about the target, which requires 41, 000 gigawatt hours of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and low wholesale power prices, meant the $ 420 million project would not go ahead .
he said a government - commissioned review of the target being conducted by businessman dick warburton had affected the market’s enthusiasm for sourcing renewable energy .
in a statement to the stock exchange on monday, the company said it would consider a smaller project at the mildura site .
more than $ 110 million in state and federal government funding for the project will be forfeited .
however, the company said it would continue discussions with state and federal governments over its plans for a smaller project, including potential funding arrangements .
acting chief executive of the clean energy council kane thornton said the warburton review had affected confidence .
'' the industry is basically on hold because of the uncertainty of the review... it’s also affecting mature businesses like pacific hydro and hydro tasmania and there’s no question it makes it harder for the newer companies as well,'' he said .
mr thornton said 21, 000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector. if the target was slashed many businesses would close and thousands of people would lose their jobs, he said .
'' you' d have to be pretty reckless to make a decision that ultimately doesn’t save anyone any money on their power bills, is at distinct odds with what 99 per cent of people have asked for and will seriously damage investments and put people out of jobs,'' he said .
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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 .
“significantly, this will reduce the town’s carbon footprint by an estimated 300 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year. ”
”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. ”
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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the windorah solar farm is ergon energy 's first solar farm trial near the town of windorah in queensland . the plant uses five concentrated solar dishes or reflectors which were manufactured and installed by solar systems . this is expected to save up to 100,000 litres of diesel fuel per year . the integration of solar farm and diesel power is a first for ergon energy . the dishes contain 112 square mirrors each measuring 1.1 m across . the five solar reflectors sit atop 13 m masts and can rotate 360 ° . the array will produce about 180 kilowatts of electricity for up to 10 months of the year . the total cost of the project was a$ 4.5 million with $ 1 million being provided by the federal government . the solar farm was opened in december 2008 , and on sunny days will supply the total daytime electricity requirements for the town of windorah , with a population of 100 . when the solar power runs low the existing diesel power station provides electricity . not all of the dishes are used all the time . some dishes are parked depending on the town 's energy requirements . in 2013 , ergon energy reported that the plant was operating effectively , with environmental conditions such as dust and wildlife having some impact on the reliability of the solar farm . 
the windorah solar farm is ergon energy's first solar farm trial near the town of windorah in queensland. the plant uses five concentrated solar dishes or reflectors which were manufactured and installed by solar systems. this is expected to save up to 100,000 litres of diesel fuel per year. the integration of solar farm and diesel power is a first for ergon energy. the dishes contain 112 square mirrors each measuring 1.1 m across. the five solar reflectors sit atop 13 m masts and can rotate 360 °. the array will produce about 180 kilowatts of electricity for up to 10 months of the year. the total cost of the project was a$ 4.5 million with $ 1 million being provided by the federal government. the solar farm was opened in december 2008, and on sunny days will supply the total daytime electricity requirements for the town of windorah, with a population of 100. when the solar power runs low the existing diesel power station provides electricity. not all of the dishes are used all the time. some dishes are parked depending on the town's energy requirements. in 2013, ergon energy reported that the plant was operating effectively, with environmental conditions such as dust and wildlife having some impact on the reliability of the solar farm.
the windorah solar farm is ergon energy's first solar farm trial near the town of windorah in queensland. the plant uses five concentrated solar dishes or reflectors which were manufactured and installed by solar systems. this is expected to save up to 100,000 litres of diesel fuel per year. the integration of solar farm and diesel power is a first for ergon energy. the dishes contain 112 square mirrors each measuring 1.1 m across. the five solar reflectors sit atop 13 m masts and can rotate 360 °. the array will produce about 180 kilowatts of electricity for up to 10 months of the year. the total cost of the project was a$ 4.5 million with $ 1 million being provided by the federal government. the solar farm was opened in december 2008, and on sunny days will supply the total daytime electricity requirements for the town of windorah, with a population of 100. when the solar power runs low the existing diesel power station provides electricity. not all of the dishes are used all the time. some dishes are parked depending on the town's energy requirements. in 2013, ergon energy reported that the plant was operating effectively, with environmental conditions such as dust and wildlife having some impact on the reliability of the solar farm.