Sunny skies spark powerful future in Alice Springs

16 Apr 2007

Alice Springs was confirmed as a Solar City today under the $75.3 million Solar Cities project.

Solar Cities is designed to demonstrate how solar power, smart meters, energy efficiency and new approaches to electricity pricing can combine to provide a sustainable energy future in urban locations throughout Australia. It is also a partnership approach that involves all levels of Government, the private sector and the local community.

In 2005 Alice Springs Town Council lodged a formal Expression of Interest to become a Solar City, supported by a range of stakeholders including the NT Government, Power and Water, Desert Knowledge, Tangentyre Council, Arid Land Environment Centre, Chamber of Commerce, Central Australian Tourism and others.

Power and Water will offer support to the project in a number of strategically focused areas, including cost reflective pricing, buy back rates and `smart metering’. A major plank of the Solar Cities project is the provision of price signals to customers to help them manage their energy account as well as installation of up to 300 rooftop PV systems in Alice Springs over seven years.

Adelaide, Townsville and Blacktown were the first three solar cities announced in Australia. With $45 million of funding from the Solar Cities initiative, the Blacktown, Adelaide and Townsville Solar City consortia are working with industry, businesses and their local communities to rethink the way they produce and use energy.

The Power and Water Corporation has long been considering and implementing innovative solutions in providing its essential services.

Two remote communities, Bulman in Arnhem Land and Kings Canyon in the Centre, are being used to test the viability of flat-plate solar photovoltaic technology to reduce the consumption of distillate. They add approximately 30 per cent capacity to the power plant in an efficient way, as peak demand in the Northern Territory closely matches the availability of solar power over the course of a day.

Once installed, solar panels reduce the need for diesel, reduce greenhouse emissions and contain the cost of power generation. The Bulman project was completed in November 2002 and generates 56kW peak, saving approximately 70 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. The Kings Canyon project completed in December 2003 and generates 241kW peak to support the electricity needs of this resort community.

The focus of the Alice Springs program is to deliver a series of strategies that will help change the behaviour and attitudes of householders, businesses, financial institutions and government agencies in their use of electricity.

Power and Water’s work and investment in solar power has the potential to take a huge leap forward now that the Alice Springs Solar Cities bid has been successful.