Renewable energy plan a game-changer

Published on 14 August 2020

Council has welcomed a plan by TransGrid that could see Broken Hill powered entirely by renewable energy.

Under the plan the city would become one of the world’s largest mini-grids supplied by solar, wind and grid-scale storage.

A Project Assessment Draft Report (PADR) by TransGrid recommends a new back-up supply arrangement that establishes grid-scale storage to leverage the wind and solar generation at Broken Hill.

“This is an opportunity to look at the technologies available today and give Broken Hill a state-of-the-art, twenty-first century renewable supply," said Andrew Kingsmill, TransGrid’s Head of Network Planning.

The plan would see the construction of large-scale storage facilities to support the existing wind and solar resources in the region.

TransGrid's preferred option is the construction of one of the world's largest compressed-air storage facilities with 1,550MWh of storage.

The upgrade would mean Broken Hill would no longer be reliant on diesel turbines for back up supply in the event of a power outage.

Mayor Darriea Turley AM said the project aligned perfectly with Council's vision to embrace the renewable energy industry.

"A big focus of our Advocacy Strategy is to enable renewable energy projects in our region, and our own Sustainability Strategy calls for Broken Hill to be entirely powered by renewables by 2030," she said.

"This project would catapult the city toward realising those goals."

The Chair of Council's ‘Our Environment’ Key Direction Working Group, Marion Browne, urged locals with an interest in the project to lodge a submission at TransGrid's website.

"This project could be an absolute game-changer for Broken Hill, and I encourage everyone to view the project in detail and have their say via the submission process."

Full details on the project and submission instructions can be found at https://www.transgrid.com.au/brokenhillsupply.