FRESH from an encouraging meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Energy Minister Angus Taylor on October 25, Better Energy Technology’s Gordon Hinds is determined to contribute to the Riverina town of Lockhart’s fortunes.
His proposal to make it the first 100 per cent renewable energy powered town in Australia is tracking through approvals and weathering the hiccups that plague any small start-up in an environment populated by giant multinational firms.
His determination stems from the fact it can be done and the renewable energy projects springing up across regional Australia so far promise little for the communities that host them.
But Mr Hinds has teamed up with Lockhart Shire Council and taken the proposal to the people and achieved 100pc support from the town. It is little wonder why the project has been so well received.
Upon completion, the project would mean electricity costs for the town’s residents would plummet and new revenue would pour in as excess energy stored in batteries is fed back into the grid during peak load times.
It is not an academic exercise, but rather creation of energy independence and converting the very real cost of buying energy into profit generating infrastructure which, once paid for, the council wants the right to buy.
Mr Hinds said that asset could then be used to offer cheap energy for businesses in the town, or to lure companies to locate there, a thought echoed by Lockhart Mayor Rodger Schirmer.
And Mr Hinds says it’s a way regional Australia can contribute to the cities’ thirst for power and still gain benefits for itself. At the moment foreign and domestic-owned companies are proposing huge solar and wind farm developments across the country and government agencies are helping fund their construction. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is one such body, doling out public money to help Australia meet its obligations under internationally agreed carbon emission reduction targets. But at times there have been cases of these major foreign-owned assets being sold to another multinational and the Australian investment is essentially lost.
And barring the construction phase, there is little benefit to the regions – with the exception of private power purchase agreements for large users – that host the infrastructure to which taxpayers have contributed. With wind-driven power stations and large scale solar farms appearing across the rural landscape, a growing number of people are protesting their presence, particularly if they’re slated for prime agricultural land.
One way some of this angst could be mitigated, said Mr Hinds, is if communities could see real and lasting benefits that helped revitalise their towns.
