SOUTH AUSTRALIA TO LEAD IN RENEWABLE ENERGY
In sustainability news, south Australia has put itself on the map as a powerhouse of renewable energy after being awarded a contract to a wind farm in the Mid North.
The Hornsdale Wind Farm that is under construction 220km north of Adelaide has won the contract to provide an additional 100 megawatts of power to the ACT.
Developed by leading French company Neoen, in partnership with Megawatt Capital Investments, Hornsdale’s latest success came in the ACT Government’s second large-scale wind reverse-auction process.
In this kind of dealings, companies are invited to put forward bids to the ACT government providing details as to how they could generate the most amount of renewable energy possible, at the lowest price.
Martin Hamilton-Smith, the South Australian Investment and Trade Minister Martin said that it would be possible to reach Australia’s lowest contacrt price at $77 per megawatt hour.
“Neoen expects the Hornsdale project to provide enough power for 56,000 Canberra homes and provide 13 per cent of the Australian Capital Territory’s projected electricity demand in 2020,” he said.
“Having 200 of the 270 megawatts now allocated means that construction jobs will be secured for the next three years over stages 1 and 2 of the wind farm build, which is great news for the Mid North region.
Construction of the wind farm near Jamestown is underway with commissioning expected to occur in 2017.
Hamilton-Smith said the Hornsdale project reinforced South Australia’s reputation as the nation’s leader in wind energy investment having attracted about 40 per cent of Australia’s installed capacity.