Bass Strait Islands – Achieving 100% renewable power generation

King Island and Flinders Island, located in Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria, have a combined population of over 2,500 residents and support a variety of agriculture and industry.  Historically supplied by traditional off-grid diesel generation stations, they have been the site of extensive development by Hydro Tasmania into high-penetration renewable energy (wind and solar), with the end result being that both islands now have energy grids that can run for multiple days continuously on 100% renewable generation, whilst still maintaining network security and fault performance.  This has resulted in over 55% savings in diesel fuel costs, with associated reductions in emissions, and the lessons learned here have been taken across the country and around the world.

Speakers

Simon van der Aa

Simon van der Aa has worked as a control systems and automation engineer for over 25 years, across a variety of industries across Australia and internationally, with a long history in power generation and control.  He is a proud Tasmanian, and has a long involvement with the Bass Strait Islands, and will talk about the systems there for hours to anyone who will listen!