Broadcast Australia has upgraded a broadcast transmission site in Tasmania to be powered by renewable energy.
The Mount Owen station near Queenstown in Tasmania now utilises an off-grid wind energy and solar power system, which combined should meet the site’s daily 8 kilowatt hour power needs for up to 90 percent of the time.
The Mount Owen site is important infrastructure; not only broadcasting commercial radio and television services to the area, but also critical radio communications for local emergency services.
In recent times power demands were starting to exceed the capacity of the existing mains grid supply to the site and as it is a remote facility, on-site renewable energy generation was a commercially viable compared with the cost of upgrading the mains supply.
A 15kW wind turbine was installed, along with a 5kW solar power system. Surplus generated electricity is stored in two banks of deep cycle batteries, providing a total of 5800 amp hour storage; enough to provide full power autonomy for two days.
In low production periods, additional electricity can be drawn from the mains grid or in case of emergency, from an onsite 31kVA diesel generator which can provide total site power for ten days.
“This will potentially save up to 60MWh of conventional power each year from this site alone,” said Broadcast Australia Energy Systems Engineer, Gary Cafe. “The experience gained here will have far-reaching implications for Broadcast Australia’s carbon footprint for the future, as renewable power options are considered for a multitude of additional sites.”
The Broadcast Australia network covers approximately 580 transmission sites located throughout the metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Australia.
