The Coober Pedy Hybrid Renewable Project has been recognised at the 2019 Asia Power Awards, with global energy producer, EDL, receiving the ‘Environmental Upgrade of the Year’ award.
Coober Pedy is an iconic mining town in South Australia, and like many remote locations, relied on diesel-fired generators to provide electricity.
Supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the Coober Pedy Project combines a diesel power station with 4 megawatt (MW) wind and 1MW solar generation, a 1MW/500 kilowatt-hour battery and other integration technologies to seamlessly transition the mining town from 100 per cent diesel to up to 100 per cent renewables.
Since the upgrade to hybrid renewable technology in July 2017, the power station has been operating more reliably than the original diesel generation-only configuration.
From October 2018, the project has been supplying an average of more than 70 per cent of the town’s power through renewable energy – giving Coober Pedy more reliable electricity supply at world-leading renewable energy penetration rates. To date, the longest continuous period the project has operated on 100 per cent renewables was 93 hours in August 2019.
EDL CEO, James Harman, said it was an honour to be recognised for the project’s demonstrated success.
“The Coober Pedy Project sets a global benchmark for renewables in off-grid, remote communities and has already provided invaluable learnings for other hybrid renewable projects across the country.”