WESTERN Australia can attain its ambitious target of achieving 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, but only if it embraces a broader spread of renewable technologies, delegates at a Perth energy forum have been told.
WESTERN Australia can attain its ambitious target of achieving 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, but only if it embraces a broader spread of renewable technologies, delegates at a Perth energy forum have been told.
WESTERN Australia can attain its ambitious target of achieving 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, but only if it embraces a broader spread of renewable technologies, delegates at a Perth energy forum have been told.
Cyber security will also be a key area of concern due to the resulting need for a ‘smart grid’ able to cater for the different load characteristics of various renewable and conventional energy sources.
Speaking at the Future Directions International Energy Forum last week, Western Power’s general manager system management, Ken Brown, said the state had to look beyond wind farms to achieve its renewable targets.
In particular, too much wind generation could cause major problems for the state’s transmission network, meaning more focus should be put on technologies with a more constant capacity.
“Our state can probably take between seven and 12 per cent wind but not much more, so I think we really need to get in the game with solar thermal, geothermal and wave energy,” Mr Brown told the forum.
It was these types of renewable energy that were best able to promise regular supplies, with less fluctuation, at the times when demand was highest, he said. In comparison, the best wind conditions in WA generally occurred at night, when extra capacity was not required.
That means state generator Verve Energy must shut down a significant portion of its base load capacity to make room on the transmission system for the incoming wind energy. That significantly increases the cost of power to WA taxpayers, because base load generators need to run constantly to achieve peak efficiency.
And with no other means available to commercialise the surplus power supplied by wind, as happens in Europe where surplus energy can be transmitted to neighbouring countries, wind generators are generally incapable of sending out more than 20 per cent of their nominal generation capacity.
Mr Brown said WA’s entire power system was designed to cope with a “one-in-ten-year hot summer day” meaning renewable supplies must be able to deliver maximum power at peak demand times if they are to be effective.
Managing the specific characteristics of a variety of energy sources would also require the development of an integrated smart grid, he said. But that, in turn, would make cyber security a critical issue given the potential impact of any outside infiltration of the network.
“If we are going to have 900,000 meters ... connected by a massive communications network with one control room, cyber security is ... our single biggest issue,” Mr Brown said.