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The Aboriginal community of Yungngora in the West Kimberley is now powered partly by solar. Solar panels delivering 200 kilowatts of power and a short term energy storage system have been installed by Horizon Power at the community, formerly known as Noonkanbah station. The solar farm was commissioned two weeks ago and has been running smoothly since. The diesel power station at Yungngora was built by Horizon Power in 2013 as part of the Aboriginal and Remote Communities Power Supply Project, at the same time as the community network was upgraded and pre-payment meters were installed. Horizon Power’s Power System Services Project Director Brett Whisson said the solar farm had been welcomed by the community because using energy from the sun meant less diesel fuel would need to be burned to power the community’s electricity needs. Horizon Power contracted MPower to design and install the fit for purpose technical specification. The solar farm comprises 200 kW of PV panels and includes a “solar smoothing energy storage” or SSES system, which is equipped with battery energy storage, to allow the system to ride through cloud events while another diesel generator is started to respond to the loss of solar power. Collectively the PV, plus the SSES, will reduce the amount of fuel that needs to be burned for the community’s power needs. “The system has been designed to maximise the use of all of the available solar energy in order to reduce the amount of diesel being burned which will also result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Whisson said. MPower said Yungngora was another milestone in the company’s focus on renewable energy for off grid applications. “Completing the Yungngora project leave us with a sense of satisfaction, not only for helping remote communities become less reliant on fossil fuels but also having an Australian- based MPower engineering team continue to progress this important technology,” MPower Projects Managing Director Anthony Csillag said. Scott Beck with, Horizon Power’s Manager Kimberley Business said: “This solar farm will save significant amounts of diesel fuel and also diesel engine hours. This new model is a great example of what can be done with renewable energy with ever improving technology and decreasing prices.” For more information, contact the medialine on 1800 799 745. |