
Windpower in Australia

Where are the Wind Farms?
Australia is a resource rich country, and has a large and powerful coal 
industry. Production is high and reserves are very large. Coal is a 
significant source of export dollars. Massive reserves of very cheap low-
grade brown coal in the southeast of the country are being extracted to 
fuel the Victorian electricity industry. Large industrial concerns such as an 
aluminium smelting industry result in electricity production averaging about 
4500 megawatts, or over 1000 watts CONTINUOUSLY for every person 
in the state of Victoria. A decade or more of capital investment in coal-
fired generating plant has resulted in a current situation of excess 
generating capacity, and low electricity prices, as the recently "dis-
aggregated" power stations compete for market share, through a market 
structure based on the British model. Unlike the situation in the USA and 
Europe, there is no government requirement for renewable energy 
sources to be fast-tracked or given financial incentives as a part of the 
overall energy mix.  Under these circumstances it is perhaps not surprising 
that there are no wind farms in Australia, with the exception of a 
2.5megawatt(MW) wind farm connected to a diesel power station 
(14MW) in the isolated Western Australian town of Esperance.  We did 
get close, when in 1993 a 10 megawatt wind  farm proposed by a private 
consortium for the Victorian coastline was shelved as uneconomic when 
no guaranteed price could be reached with the Victorian Government.

Australian Windpower: This is IT? 
Recent market research indicates that electricity customers want the 
choice of renewable power, and are prepared to pay for it. Unfortunately it 
appears that Australia is lagging well behind North America and Europe in 
developing a windpower industry.
The Breamlea wind generator, located on the southeast coast of 
Australia, is an Australian-made machine of a mere 60 kilowatts peak 
output, erected by the former State Electricity Commission of Victoria  in 
1987 at a cost of about AUD$200,000, as a "demonstration" project. 
Industry restructuring resulted in its sale by tender in 1994. The ATA's 
successful bid was AUD$18,000. A volunteer group of ATA members  
overhauled the mechanical, electrical and control systems of the wind 
generator. Damage to the mounting bolts of the slewing gearbox (the one 
that keeps the machine pointing into the wind)  meant that the machine 
was not operational when purchased. It ran very well for 2 months from 8 
December 1994. Then a faulty fuse in the local utility's distribution wires 
kept the machine out of action for most of  February and March 1995 (it 
took a long time to track-down this intermittent fault!). April on this region 
of the Australian coast is virtually becalmed as a regular seasonal 
phenomenon, and it was not until June, our winter in the southern 
hemisphere that the winds, and our electricity production finally reached 
acceptable levels.  Expected annual production is 100,000 kilowatt-hours, 
which saves 1.4 million kilograms of CO2 over ten years.

"Unique"
 Although there is one electricity utility in Sydney which owns and operates 
a 150 kW "WindMaster" wind turbine, the Alternative Technology 
Association believes it is the only community group in Australia  to be 
selling significant amounts of "Greenhouse-friendly" wind energy through 
the grid.

The role of Big Business
 Selling of power from a remote site to our customer CitiPOWER Ltd. (an 
electricity distribution company) in urban Melbourne is proving to be a 
fascinating case-study in the feasability of the radically re-structured 
electricity "free-market". It is exercising the minds of the regulatory 
authorities, and a resolution of remaining problems is expected shortly. In 
the process an important precedent will be set for the future marketing of 
embedded generation in the network, including generation from 
renewable sources. It is also encouraging to see a tentative relationship 
developing between big business and the environmental movement. Such 
relationships will hopefully become commonplace in the near future, with 
shareholders communicating their concerns  to corporate managers , and 
consumers demanding the choice of environmentally sustainable 
technologies. 

M. Gunter
13 October 1995
