The first phase of Australia’s largest solar project
is complete
The Bulman Solar Power Station is the first of two such facilities to be built
as part of the Northern Territory Power and Water Corporation’s “NT Solar
PV Commercialisation Pilot Project”. Bulman has an installed solar capacity
of 56kWp. A further 225kWp is
to be installed at Kings Canyon, making this Australia’s biggest flat plate
solar photovoltaic (PV) project.
The aims of the project are to reduce diesel fuel consumption, lower greenhouse
gas emission levels and reduce the cost of power generation. The diesel-fuelled
power stations in remote communities of the Northern Territory are among the
most favourable locations for the introduction of
renewable energy systems. Bulman is a remote Aboriginal community in the tropical
zone, whereas Kings Canyon is a large resort in a national park in the arid
zone. These differences will help demonstrate the prospects for future solar
systems under different climatic and load profile conditions across the Territory.
Both sites will expose this innovative technology to locals and visitors alike,
thereby helping to promote sustainable energy principles in the wider community.
The project is jointly funded by Power and Water, the Northern Territory Government
and the Australian Greenhouse office.
The project's information package (dated Jan 2002) is available here for downloading as an Adobe Acrobat pdf file (910kb).
Background
The reasons for this project and the basics of the 1/3rd Peak Lopping Principle
are explained on the background page, whereas
a list of the parties involved can be found on the participants
page. 
Locations
The
most favourable locations for renewable energy are the diesel-fuelled power
stations in remote communities of the Northern Territory. Accordingly, the
Power And Water Corporation has made a commitment to install PV systems at
Bulman and Kings Canyon
(click on the names for detailed site information). These locations were selected
because of their differences and also their similarities.
Bulman is a remote Aboriginal community (160 kW maximum demand) in the tropical zone, whereas Kings Canyon is a large resort in a national park (650 kW maximum demand) in the arid zone. These differences will demonstrate for future commercial projects the prospects for hybrid solar/diesel systems under different climatic and load profile conditions across the Territory. The Kings Canyon site will expose this innovative arid-zone technology to thousands of visitors to the national park every year, thereby helping promote sustainable energy principles to the wider community.