Oz utility takes its customers off-grid
After a devastating bushfire, one remote WA farming community takes steps towards a solar solution — and it’s cheaper, safer, and more reliable.
The deadly bushfire in a remote West Australian farming community has led to a renewable energy first in Australia.
A government-owned electricity company is taking customers off the grid by giving them standalone solar units, so they can pull down ageing and costly power lines.
In November 2015, bushfires swept through the Esperance region, 800 kilometres south-east of Perth.
Four people lost their lives, thousands of livestock perished, and 30,000 hectares of crops were destroyed.
More than 300 power poles were also burnt, leaving about 450 locals without power for months.
The natural disaster led Horizon Power to rethink the way it managed its electricity network.
Some Horizon Power customers affected by the fire were offered solar panels as a trial, instead of rebuilding the lines.
After the fire ripped through Scadden West farmer Peter Vermeersch’s properties, he had to use generators for electricity.
“Probably two or three months sitting there with generators going. Yeah, it was a bit of chaos for a while,” he said.
He was one of five Horizon Power customers who took up the offer of getting electricity from solar panels, batteries, and a backup generator instead of via poles and wires.
Initially, he was sceptical of the solar option.
“The main issue was wondering if the power supply was going to be reliable,” he said.
At first there was not enough battery capacity on the solar units, but Horizon quickly fixed this and the new system is now more reliable than being on the grid.
“They have been really good. I don’t think we have had an outage on them,” Mr Vermeersch said.
“There’s also the advantage of not having poles and wires through your properties. There’s not that risk of machinery running into power poles.”
First utility company in Australia to kick customers off the grid
Horizon Power is now installing 17 further solar units on farms east of Esperance, and will tear down about 60 kilometres of ageing power lines.
It is the first time a utility company has removed traditional infrastructure and convinced customers to get off the grid.
Horizon Power chief executive Stephanie Unwin said it would save customers money.
“You are not replacing poles and wires … we no longer have to send out our linesman to patrol the lines, so that’s great,” she said.
“Maintenance is much lower, we will only have to send someone out once a year [to check the solar units].”
20,000 to get off-grid in a decade
The WA Government is behind the move and the state’s Energy Minister Bill Johnston said off-the-grid, clean energy made sense.
“So this is good for remote and farming communities because it gives them better energy and more reliable power,” he said.
“But it’s good for …