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Hopetoun Wind-Diesel Power Station Takes Shape
Release Date: 22 December 2006
After many months of preparation, the new $7.5 million wind-diesel power station at Hopetoun on the south coast of WA is beginning to take shape.
One wind turbine has been operating successfully for nearly 3 years, and last week Verve Energy installed the second wind turbine and six new diesel generating units.
After the Christmas break, construction will continue and technicians will spend up to two months commissioning, testing and connecting the new facility that will supply Hopetoun’s electricity. It will be operating in March 2007 for a proving period over at least 2 months, after which the old power station will be dismantled.
The modern, efficient and environmentally friendlier wind-diesel power station is being built by Verve Energy to supply Horizon Power and to replace the town’s ageing diesel power station. The new facility can be expanded to cater for any population increase. Horizon Power is upgrading the distribution network in the town at a cost of over $1.5 million.
The new wind-diesel system will mean that on average about 40 percent of Hopetoun’s power will be clean, green wind energy from the wind turbines, while the diesel generators will pick up the remainder.
Verve Energy has developed the award-winning wind-diesel systems to maximise the contribution of the wind, backed up by the diesels and so save more diesel fuel and lower emissions.
Hopetoun’s wind-diesel system will reduce greenhouse emissions by about 2100 tonnes and save up to 700,000 litres of fuel a year.
Verve Energy has installed a similar wind-diesel system at Bremer Bay, on the south coast; where local residents sing its praises loudly. At Denham, on Shark Bay, up to 90 percent of the town’s electricity is from wind energy and the remainder is made up by the special low-load diesels. The technology also is used on the Mawson Antarctic base and Rottnest and will be installed at the popular holiday destination of Coral Bay.
At Hopetoun, erecting the 50m tower and installing the heavy nacelle, generator, rotor and three 20m blades on top, six transformers and the six diesel generating units in their special sound proofed containers at the new power station site took six days. A control and switchroom built in South Australia and weighing 15 tonnes was also installed.
The earthworks for Hopetoun’s new wind -diesel power station about 4kms north of town, were done by local contractors and the concrete works by a Geraldton company with extensive experience building large foundations for wind turbines.
The 600kW wind turbines at Hopetoun are a smaller version of the big turbines at Albany and built in Germany by one of the biggest wind turbine manufacturers in the world; with the tower fabricated in South Australia. The standard diesel engines were made in the US, and developed into containerised low load diesel generators in Darwin.
Any queries from the media are directed to Verve Energy's Corporate Relations branch.
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