Focus

Goldwind Australia supports the Battery of the Nation project. As Australia’s energy market transitions in the coming decades, Tasmania can make a significant contribution to meeting the increasing requirement for reliable, flexible and dispatchable energy generation.

John Titchen, Managing Director of Goldwind Australia, said “Tasmania’s existing hydropower catchments and existing hydro storage can support larger hydro-electric turbines.  The existing hydro water storage capacity is very large – several orders of magnitude larger than other energy storage technologies.

By coupling upgraded hydro generation with a substantial increase in transmission connection capacity to Victoria, Tasmania can make a huge contribution to dispatchable power supply needs in the National Electricity Market. This will become increasingly necessary as old large coal plants retire, leaving a gap in dispatchable generation capacity.”

Increased connection to Victoria will also enable Tasmania’s excellent wind resource to be further developed, boosting the state’s economy through investment, development and jobs.  Additional renewable energy capacity will contribute to meeting Australia’s emissions reduction target.

Tasmania currently meets 90 per cent of electricity needs from on-island renewable energy sources – mainly hydro and wind power. Goldwind is leading the construction of the Cattle Hill Wind Farm, located in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. Once operational, Cattle Hill Wind Farm will halve the gap to achieving Tasmania’s energy policy objective of achieving 100 per cent energy self-sufficiency through renewable power generation.