Australian renewable energy announcement welcomed

Western Australian Water Minister Bill Marmion and Energy Minister Peter Collier have finalised an agreement that will see the Water Corporation purchase the output of two renewable energy projects to offset the energy requirements from the new Southern Seawater Desalination Plant (SSDP) to be built near Geraldton in the State’s Mid-West.

Both renewable energy power plants involve Verve Energy working with private industry partners.

The two projects are the 10 MW Greenough River Solar Farm and the 55 MW Mumbida Wind Farm.

The Water Minister noted the plant would use energy recovery devices delivering an efficiency of greater than 96 per cent, reducing the overall energy required in membrane desalination by up to 60 per cent when compared with existing desalination plants.

The announcement was welcomed by the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA) as a demonstration of both the deployment of high energy efficiency in the desalination process, and use of renewable energy to deliver emissions free electricity to power the production of fresh water.

‘In moving to a sustainable energy future, we must both be better at energy management and more determined in sourcing emissions-free energy,’ says Prof Ray Wills, SEA CEO.

‘When we decide to use energy, we must first and foremost demand high efficiency in processes. Having decided to provide power at high-efficiency to any project, we must then choose to deliver energy from renewable sources,’ says Prof Wills.

SEA congratulates the Western Australian Government for ensuring that the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant will be both highly energy efficient and 100% renewably powered.

‘This is a great demonstration that Government procurement programs and purchasing strategies can be used as a powerful tool to create change in markets and to make renewable energy projects bankable,’ says Prof Wills.

Verve Energy and the Water Corporation are both members of the Sustainable Energy Association – one of Australia’s largest energy chambers.

http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/australian-renewable-energy-announcement-welcomed/5/99444