Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

But you could have a vote now. It is very easy; you just have to jump the fence! As you would know, Mr Deputy Speaker, Home Island is part of the Cocos group, and Cocos is around 3½ thousand kilometres north-west of Perth and around the same distance, roughly—or a little further—from Darwin. Approximately 480 people live on the island.

A Darwin based company, Powercorp, was responsible for installing a new power station on the island. What is significant about this is the nature of the power station and the systems that were used. The system comprises a 1.28 megawatt diesel fuel generator and an 80 kilowatt wind farm which work together. Powercorp developed a number of technologies to enable better utilisation of wind plants in wind diesel systems. Traditionally, wind power has contributed small amounts of power to these systems, with little or no adverse effect. It is when the level of contribution increases that the power fluctuation generated by the wind plant causes unacceptable instability and, therefore, reliability. Battery systems and controls have been unsuccessful in solving the problem. It was not until Powercorp began its intense research at the Denham test site that the real nature of the problem was uncovered. Short-term power fluctuations—up to 80 per cent of rated power loss over two to three seconds and recovery to full power, for example—were recognised as the cause of instability. If you could solve this problem, you could get wind penetration rates of over 90 per cent; they are certainly possible.

Powercorp began with its Dynamic Grid Interface and inverter system designed to very rapidly sink energy into discretionary loads such as boilers for space heating. The secret here was the high-speed control which differentiates the technology from load dump systems. The progression was to develop its Low Load Diesel system from which long-term energy support could be drawn. The ultimate solution is to use PowerStore to provide grid stabilisation. The selection of which PowerStore product is best for the site is based on the configuration, size and load profile of the site. Powercorp engineers model the system and advise which system is best.

Powercorp is a company which was formed in 1988 in Darwin to automate the wide variety of diesel generator power stations in the Northern Territory and Northern Australia for the Power and Water Corporation. This program encompassed some 60 communities, and work was extended throughout Australia. Now they operate internationally.

With the success of the automation program came the need to integrate renewable energy for fuel saving. This work, and the demand-side management capability—you will recall those words again, Mr Deputy Speaker: demand, supply; in this case we are talking about the demand-side management—of the control system led to advanced wind diesel systems in Western Australia for Western Power Corporation. After winning a Renewable Energy Showcase grant from the federal government, Powercorp pioneered high-penetration wind diesel systems through the late 1990s.

The chief problem facing wind diesel systems—and, indeed, any renewable energy fuel-saving technology when connected to isolated grids—is the instability caused, as I said earlier, by power surging. Such surges and frequent losses of power can be caused by wind gusts and lulls, or cloud cover in the case of solar systems. It is not possible for conventional generators to cope with these power instability issues, and blackouts usually result. Even when the wind flow is low, the fluctuations in wind speed can cause an unacceptable generator response called ‘hunting’, which uses more fuel and can cause engine damage.

This grid instability issue is seen in many small grids and at the end of long distribution lines. In the mining sector, large electrical equipment such as winders and crushers can cause power fluctuations much the same as those seen in a renewable plant. PowerStore, the company’s flywheel inverter system, can absorb and deliver power very quickly, to dampen all instability and maintain the grid specifications to utility standards. It is important that we understand the significance of this. Powercorp has developed expertise in inverter technology, specialising in high-speed bidirectional control to solve the grid’s instability problem. With these solutions now a commercial reality—and this is very important—Powercorp stands to be the most advanced high-penetration renewable energy company in the world. This is just a small company based in Darwin. Its work has expanded to encompass mine sites and industrial complexes.

It is worth pointing out where Powercorp’s projects are. It has projects in the Cocos Islands, Hopetoun in Western Australia, Denham in Western Australia, Bremer Bay in Western Australia, Leinster in the goldfields, Mount Mueller in Western Australia, Albany in Western Australia and Windy Hill in Queensland. It has a manufacturing base in Darwin and Low Load Diesel sites at Bremer Bay, the Cocos Islands and Rottnest Island. It is responsible for 36 automated power stations in the Northern Territory and operates in Malaysia, Alaska, Antarctica and the coast of Portugal. This company is doing something that we all ought to applaud—that is, providing us with the capacity to use alternative energy sources in conjunction with more conventional energy sources. I think it is worth while pointing out that Alan Langworthy, who I think was a geologist, is the managing director of this company and his head of research and development is Juergen Zimmermann. These people are innovators and should be recognised for the work they do.

The second project I want to talk about in some minor detail is a small one called the Alice Springs Cool Living House. The reason I want to raise this is that it shows just how we can address energy issues at home. The cool living house was built in 1974 as a conventional housing commission home. It was rented to tenants until 1999 and then sold to private owners Simon Murphy and Margaret Carew. They did substantial renovations, and they used mechanisms in house design and product use to conserve energy. They were able to substantially reduce their reliance on energy to such an extent that in 2003 the energy and water bills were $1,258 less than for an average house. These are quite substantial savings, and it is important that we note that this sort of innovation can be done with technologies that are currently available. These are the sorts of things we should be promoting throughout the community.

This requires a bit of thinking outside the square but it says to us that, whilst we have on us all these pressures about the use of energy and the high costs associated with that, we should use the innovation strengths that currently exist in our community. We should use the design parameters that people have been able to establish for making houses cooler in summer and warmer in winter and we should make better use of water. You can do those things within a domestic environment and provide substantial savings in not only energy use but also, as in the case of this house in Alice Springs, water use. When the Prime Minister made his energy statement, these among others are the sorts of things he should have been talking about.

I know that the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister responsible for this area, the member for Batman, Martin Ferguson, have talked extensively about how we might decrease our dependence on overseas oil. I want to briefly mention the work that is being undertaken in the Northern Territory and the potential capacity for the Northern Territory to provide substantial gas and oil resources to the Australian community. In 2005 there were two record oil and gas discoveries off the Northern Territory. These are important. Phillips built a huge LNG plant, which was commissioned, in Darwin in 2006. That plant has the capacity to do a great deal more than it does currently, but we have seen the extensive exploration capacity that has been promoted in the northern waters. Ultimately, with the investment being made by the private sector, there is the capacity for the Australian community to benefit quite substantially.

I do want to mention one recent agreement—which has been signed, as I understand it—and that is an arrangement between the Power and Water Corporation of the Northern Territory and ENI, an Italian company, for the development of the Blacktip gas field. That is located in the Permian Keyling formation of sandstone in the south-eastern Bonaparte Basin. What that will do is provide substantial gas inputs into the Northern Territory grid and potentially great savings for the Northern Territory community. I say to the Prime Minister: you need to do something far broader and far better if you are to have a satisfying, real discussion on Australia’s energy needs.

Debate (on motion by Mr Cameron Thompson) adjourned.

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