Speaking at the launch of the Tasmanian Government’s energy policy, Powering Prosperity, the Minister for Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, Bryan Green, said this week that the most exciting of these was a project to upgrade the power supply on Cape Barren Island.

He said: “The Cape Barren Island proposal is particularly interesting, as it involves the use of hydrogen as an energy storage medium in combination with a new wind turbine.”

The proposal was developed by the Tasmanian Government and Hydro Tasmania in partnership with the Australian Greenhouse Office.

It involves wind providing electricity, which will either feed directly into the distribution grid, or in times of low energy demand, be used to separate hydrogen from water for use as a fuel in a support generation system.

“This cutting edge hydrogen technology was developed by Hydro Tasmania and the University of Tasmania and this project provides an opportunity to demonstrate how hydrogen and wind can be used together to provide a clean, environmentally sustainable power supply in remote regions,” Mr Green said.

He said the Federal Department of Family and Community Services was considering the proposal, which had the potential to make Cape Barren Island’s electricity virtually completely renewable.

Tasmania has secured about $6.5 million under the Federal Government’s Remote Renewable Power Generation Program (RRPGP) to encourage the development of renewable energy solutions for remote communities.

“The biggest project so far has been the expansion of the King Island Wind Farm, which included two 850 kilowatt wind turbines and the innovative application of Vanadium Redox Battery technology.

“The project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2700 tonnes a year,” Mr Green said.

The King Island project will result in an increase in the contribution of wind energy to the island's electricity demand to about 50% and at the same time provide greater system reliability.

“A total of $1.91 million in RRPGP funding was allocated to this project.

Mr Green said a number of other remote sites had been identified for the usage of renewable electricity generation, including Cape Bruny (lightstation), Maria Island, Deal Island and Maatsuyker Island.

“The Cape Bruny light station project has been completed. The project involved the installation of two freestanding solar arrays with a total of 30 solar panels.

“The Maria Island project, which is expected to start later this year, will feature an additional 27 solar panels, a new battery set, and related system upgrades. This installation is estimated to save more than 13,000 litres of diesel a year,” Mr Green said.

“As well, we have secured $1.81 million over four years under the Residential Remote Area Power Supply program.

“Householders who are not connected to the main electricity grid and live a kilometre from the nearest connection point may be eligible for a 50% rebate on the costs of installing eligible renewable generation equipment.

“To date, 28 applications have been approved and more than $200 000 is already committed.”

Mr Green said that of the secured funding there is about $2.6 million not yet committed. This is likely to be spent on two remaining Parks and Wildlife sites (Deal and Maatsuyker) and improvement of the energy system on Cape Barren