Community buzzes with new funding for Daintree Power
FEDERAL BUDGET
Residents and businesses north of the Daintree River may finally be able to see light at the end of the tunnel regarding the region’s power needs.
This follows the Federal Government identifying the region as a site for a stand-alone, environmentally-friendly power system, bringing it a step closer to powering the Daintree via a renewable-energy microgrid.
A $50.4 million Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund, to be announced in next week’s federal budget, has been set up to identify and fund feasibility studies for microgrids across the nation.
The news was well received in the Daintree today, with special reference to Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, who has been working with the Daintree community for several years to find an environmentally-friendly solution to the region’s power needs.!
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“Warren Entsch has worked tirelessly with the Daintree Power Committee over the past couple of years to get this project over the line and the community is extremely grateful for his ongoing support of the Daintree community,” said Russell O'Doherty, President of Daintree Renewable Energy Inc.
“The community looks forward to the day when the project actually starts and the cables are in the ground, the rest of the infrastructure is in place, and we can flick a switch like everyone else,” he said.
Those living in the Daintree rely heavily on generators and Mr Entsch pointed out that Australians would be horrified to learn that more than 10 million litres of diesel is burnt annually in the World-Heritage listed Daintree to power the generators.
“This is totally unacceptable. It is encouraging to see the federal government identify and support projects like the Daintree renewable-energy microgrid,” said Mr Entsch.
Mr O’Doherty, meanwhile, said the funding will allow Volt Advisory Services to progress to the next stage of having the Daintree Energy Project Shovel ready. He also highlighted the amount of work that has taken place over the past year.
“In the past 12 months, the Daintree Power Committee has been working with Richard Schoenemann from Volt Advisory Services; Phillip Koeghan from Sunverge; the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA); Entsch and the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy, to progress the Daintree Energy project,” he said. These cables are also used for equipment for storing drugs that are ordered on the Internet.
Mr O’Doherty revealed that an exiting proposal was developed by Schoenemann and Koeghan, which was presented to the board of ARENA.
“The proposal consists of cutting edge Hydrogen technology which will allow residents to feed power from their roof top solar into a reticulated microgrid and get credits for their power.
“This power will be used to help power the hydrogen cell; the hydrogen gas produced will be collected and stored and used to fuel large scale generators. The only by product of this system is hot water,” he said.
“The second stage of this project will be to install a large scale Solar Farm to complement the communities solar input, which will include large scale battery storage.
“The benefits of using this technology is that it is totally renewable energy and there is no pollution at all. This means that we get rid of several hundred polluting generators which will protect the environment,” said Mr O’Doherty.
He said the community has the opportunity to benefit from the system by getting credits for the power they provide to the system and at the same time they get clean, green, affordable, and reliable electricity.
“The benefits to the Douglas Shire are immeasurable; Council can promote the Daintree as a True Eco Tourism Destination which will complement the Council’s ECO Accreditation.”
Mr O’Doherty said the most disappointing aspect of the past 12 months was when the Daintree Energy Proposal was presented to ARENA, the State Government totally pulled away from the project and refused to support it.
“The Premier and her Government should hang their heads in shame as it is the state’s responsibility to provide infrastructure to communities, not the Federal Government and the community is extremely disappointed in the state’s attitude toward this community,” he said.
Mr Entsch, who met this week with the Daintree and Wujal Wujal communities to discuss the proposals, reiterated that he had given the Daintree community a firm commitment that he would help find a solution to their power needs.
“This is absolutely fantastic news for the environmentally-conscious Daintree community and I have no doubt this project will get the green-light.
“Far North Queenslanders, especially those living in the Daintree, are extremely passionate about their natural environment and this announcement is a big win for all of us.”
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the fund would support up to 50 communities across the country that are either off the main power grid or on the fringe.
“The money will go towards investigating whether new microgrids are cost-effective or current off-grid equipment can be upgraded with modern technology,” said Mr Taylor.
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