Green Town 'know how' to start in February
Release Date: 10 February 2009
Western Power will this month launch an education program in Denmark and Walpole in the lead up to the Easter and winter peak power periods. The education program is another initiative of Western Power’s Green Town project aimed at using demand side management to reduce peak power consumption in the towns.
The education program, developed in partnership with the local community via the South Coast Power Working Group (SCPWG), aims to inform and educate local communities about the cause and effect of peak demand and how they can reduce their peak power consumption.
Project Manager of Western Power’s SmartGrid program, Andrew Blaver said that any energy initiatives put in place in the community will not replace Western Power’s commitment to build and maintain the electricity network.
“We will continue to meet customer demand but we believe that relying solely on building more and more poles and wires is short sighted. We’re keen to instead look at other solutions to meet peak power and if successful could mean deferring significant infrastructure for a number of years.
“Posters, advertisements, information sheets, school education packs and workshops will be available for visitors, residents and businesses to help raise awareness of power demand during peak times, as well as provide tips on how to use electricity more efficiently.
The Green Town project already has a number of runs on the board with successful appliance surveys and light globe replacements taking place at the end of 2008.
“Western Power has now installed nearly 6000 compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in 600 homes, saving the average household approximately $730.00 over the life of the bulbs.
“The residents who took part in this first stage of the project have effectively reduced electricity consumption equivalent to providing enough power for 20 more homes, and are saving greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking approximately 700 cars off the road for a year”.
“It just goes to show how a small change to something as simple as our lights can make a huge difference to a community. Just imagine what we could achieve if we applied this thinking to everything electric in our home,” Andrew said.
Appliance surveys were also undertaken in 335 households and 50 businesses in Denmark and Walpole. The results from these surveys will help Western Power to understand what is contributing to peak demand, and then to develop demand management initiatives to further assist in the reduction of energy consumption, particularly at peak times.
Late last year Western Power also undertook a pre-feasibility study on renewable power generation alternatives that were identified by the SCPWG.
“Three initiatives were identified by the community involving wind, solar and energy storage. The purpose of the study was to identify feasible alternatives to more poles and wires that the community may be interested in pursuing.
“The study identified Energy Storage at the proposed Denmark Community Wind Farm as being the most feasible initiative. Western Power will now work with the SCPWG to seek a consensus on the way forward,” he said.
Western Power aims to make the Green Town project and its energy solutions initiatives transferable to other ‘edge of grid’ communities in order to encourage consumers to reduce their level of energy use at times of peak demand.
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