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Remote area power supply system technologies in Western Australia: New developments in 30 years of slow progress

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  • McHenry, Mark P.

Abstract

The escalation of the renewable energy capacity growth rate in remote pastoral Western Australian (WA) off-grid stand-alone power supply (SPS) systems over the last decade was extraordinary. The expansion was encouraged by subsidised renewable energy technologies, enabling components and system installation costs. This research quantifies and explores the changes over time of rated outputs of renewable and conventional energy components, and energy demand in SPS systems in pastoral WA over the last 30 years. This research revealed parallel increases in conventional generation unit output ratings, renewable energy capacity, and energy demand over the past decade. Whilst recent developments are encouraging, there remain many technical, social, economic and regulatory barriers to overcome the small-scale renewable energy SPS system industry in WA. A lack of mandatory standards has resulted in a minority of poor SPS systems and some aggravated owners in regions where reliability and reputation are paramount. After investing many tens of thousands of Australian dollars (AUD) on new capital equipment, minor system integration issues are becoming a frustratingly common cause of system failure for remote SPS system owners.

Suggested Citation

  • McHenry, Mark P., 2009. "Remote area power supply system technologies in Western Australia: New developments in 30 years of slow progress," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1348-1353.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:34:y:2009:i:5:p:1348-1353
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2008.09.008
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. McHenry, Mark P. & Doepel, David, 2015. "The ‘low power’ revolution: Rural off-grid consumer technologies and portable micropower systems in non-industrialised regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 679-684.
    2. McHenry, Mark P., 2012. "A technical, economic, and greenhouse gas emission analysis of a homestead-scale grid-connected and stand-alone photovoltaic and diesel systems, against electricity network extension," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 126-135.
    3. Ross, S.J. & McHenry, M.P. & Whale, J., 2012. "The impact of state feed-in tariffs and federal tradable quota support policies on grid-connected small wind turbine installed capacity in Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 141-147.
    4. McHenry, M.P. & Doepel, D. & Onyango, B.O. & Opara, U.L., 2014. "Small-scale portable photovoltaic-battery-LED systems with submersible LED units to replace kerosene-based artisanal fishing lamps for Sub-Saharan African lakes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 276-284.
    5. Effendi, Pranoto & Courvisanos, Jerry, 2012. "Political aspects of innovation: Examining renewable energy in Australia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 245-252.
    6. McHenry, M.P., 2012. "Technical, mitigation, and financial comparisons of 6kWe grid-connected and stand-alone wood gasifiers, versus mineral diesel and biodiesel generation for rural distributed generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 428-437.
    7. McHenry, Mark P., 2012. "Are small-scale grid-connected photovoltaic systems a cost-effective policy for lowering electricity bills and reducing carbon emissions? A technical, economic, and carbon emission analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 64-72.

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