If you have been following along you will know that for several weeks we have been looking in depth at the power problems plaguing Apollo Bay and considering possible renewable energy solutions.
A neighbourhood battery feasibility study report commissioned by Southern Otways
Sustainable (S.O.S), written by Mondo and published in August 2022 determined a big battery for Apollo Bay was not likely to be financially feasible without substantial government funding.
While a feasibility study conducted by Mondo took us a little further down the road towards the community’s aspirations of being powered by 100% renewable energy, it also raised a whole bunch of new questions and left S.O.S looking for a clearer roadmap.
Look and you shall find.
A generous grant from the Barwon South West Community Power Hub in 2022, enabled S.O.S to commission a high level desktop study which outlines a plan for energy autonomy in Forrest, Wye River, Skenes Creek, Apollo Bay and Marengo.
Put together by independent consultant Enhar, the study set out to assess the energy loads in the region, explore renewable energy options and present a pathway to energy autonomy.
The data in the Enhar report shows the five towns in the study region collectively consume just over 20GWh of power a year, mainly to run residences.
With the uptake of electric vehicles predicted to rise significantly, we are going to need more power than ever, unless we become more energy efficient.
Energy efficiency has always been a big deal for S.O.S and reducing consumption is also a cornerstone of the Enhar pathway to energy autonomy. We will explore energy efficiency, but for now, let’s look at the other options Enhar investigated to see how we might generate enough renewable energy to meet the region’s present and future power needs.
First up wind. Then waves, and lastly woodchips.
Wind data was not available for Apollo Bay, so the study used data from Cape Otway Lighthouse, 20 kilometres down the road.
Based on climate averages, data from the Bureau of Meteorology revealed Cape Otway has an average wind speed of 6.9 m/s. That’s favourable and would make a good resource for generation, but Enhar concluded that the cost of meeting the energy requirements of the region using wind at this scale would make the wind turbines cost prohibitive. Apollo Bay is also located in a protected area so the report found it highly unlikely approval for wind turbines would be granted.
Other renewable resources were considered - and quickly ruled out, largely due to the estimated cost of implementation.
The study found a biomass generator requires approximately one dry tonne of woodchip to generate a megawatt hour of electricity.
We currently use 20GWh a year so that’s 20,000 dry tonnes of woodchip which Enhar says would come with significant transportation costs and probably a footprint. Are the trucks fossil fuelled or electric?
While wave generators have been implemented in Australia, Enhar says most are still experimental in nature and Apollo Bay being in a protected marine environment would probably preclude their use.
Another resource mentioned in the report is tidal energy but Enhar says that’s only worth considering on a large scale.
So, we have ruled out a lot. In the next edition we turn up the heat on the renewable energy source that Enhar found would work for our region.
