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Flinders Island to be Asia Pacific benchmark for renewable energy-powered remote communities

Renewable energy and potable water for Flinders Island community
ABC Rural By Rosemary Grant 22 Apr 15 The Bass Strait community of Flinders Island says two major projects to deliver clean water and electricity represent the future for remote settlements.
Over the 18 months, $25 million will be spent; half on a renewable energy scheme, and the rest on potable water for the main towns of Whitemark and Lady Barron.

Flinders Mayor Carol Cox said replacing old fossil fuel power stations with a new lower carbon energy source was a global aim.

Mrs Cox said it was the third time the council had tried to get a reliable renewable electricity system, and the funding commitment would make Flinders Island the benchmark for remote communities………

Mrs Cox said existing wind power would be integrated with a new wind energy generator, solar energy panels at the airport and a new solar energy field around the power station.

Hydro Tasmania will design and install the new $12.9 million multi-source renewable electricity system on Flinders Island.

Project manager Simon Gamble said it was an exciting prototype that would be the benchmark for remote communities in the Pacific and Asia.

He said it builds on the system replacing diesel generated electricity that was completed on King Island in 2014 and was being fine-tuned now. Mr Gamble said as well as saving up to 65 per cent of the diesel used to power both islands, he expected the renewable energy system would become an export earner for the state.

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AUDIO: Simon Gamble, project manager with Hydro Tasmania(ABC Rural)
“This is the deployment model that we’re looking to take to the rest of the world, so Flinders is vitally important,” Mr Gamble said.

“As a community they will be demonstrating essentially how these systems should be deployed throughout Australia and, we hope, through the Pacific and South East Asia.

“We’ve had a lot of visitation for King Island in particular.

“We’ve had delegations from China, we’ve had delegations from a number of Pacific nations, and also most of the utilities operating off-grid systems in Australia.

“So certainly it is a model we’re looking for others to adopt and use that as an opportunity to provide services or technologies to these other customers.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-22/flinders-renewable-energy-infrastructure/6412240

April 23, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | solar, Tasmania, wind