If Australia’s third surf park goes ahead in Perth, part of its electricity supply will be generated by solar panels.
Wave Park Group have lodged a formal proposal with the City of Melville to develop URBNSURF Perth at a 4.4ha site located at Tompkins Park, Alfred Cove; just 9km south of Perth’s Central Business District.
As with other surfing lagoons being developed by Wave Park Group, it will feature technology capable of producing waves up to 1.7 metres high.
The energy required to power the facility will be generated by on-site solar power and off-site renewable energy sources. The company says the facility will use around the same amount of energy each year as that of a typical indoor aquatic centre.
The facility will also feature other sustainable design elements and water catchment/saving systems plus recycling, re-use of materials and local sourcing during construction in an effort minimize any environmental impacts.
The waves are generated by moving water over a shallow profile that causes a wave to form and then fold on itself. The Wavegarden device displaces more than 30 tonnes of water, and propels it at 7 metres per second. There is very little noise associated with the operation of the wave generator says Wave Park Group.
In addition to catering to wave-starved surfers, the project will also create much-needed investment and employment in Perth. More than 300 jobs will be generated during the construction phase, and another 45 full time positions once operational.
“URBNSURF Perth will inject more than $250 million in gross economic contribution to the Perth region over the project life, and we have well-progressed plans for additional URBNSURF facilities around Australia, having announced developments earlier this year at Melbourne Airport and Sydney Olympic Park”, said Wave Park Group Executive Chairman, Andrew Ross.
All going well, the $25 million development could start late next year, with the facility opening late 2018.
Using solar panels for such a facility is a great idea given Perth’s solar resources – Western Australia’s capital city receives solar irradiation levels of around 5.35 kilowatt hours per square metre daily.
