An experiment on King Island offers a glimpse into a greener future
Eighty kilometres north-west of Tasmania is King Island, a rugged, windswept land with a population of about 1,600 people. Surrounded by wild seas and renowned for its exceptional produce, King Island experiences tumultuous currents and blustery winds that have claimed an. The same winds also help to power a world-leading, hybrid off-grid power system capable of generating 100% renewable energy for the island .
The KIREIP is a combination of several technologies, including the well-established renewable energy technologies of wind and solar. It also uses renewable enabling technologies – including battery energy storage, a diesel-backed uninterruptible power supply , a smart grid system and an advanced control system – and production can be tracked in
“This was the first time that a grid of this size, involving thousands of customers, with about 500 km of power lines, was able to reliably operate on 100% renewable energy,” he says.The project has been staged over many years, implementing several methods of powering King Island, including a wind farm and solar installation, as well as significant inputs from customer rooftop solar, and a private ocean power project.
In the 11 years since the project began, Hydro Tasmania has used its KIREIP experience to assist with projects in other isolated Australian communities, including