Western Australia’s energy challenges are in the spotlight after thousands of residents sweltered through the heat after widespread power outages this week. It comes as two new renewable projects in the great southern region are expected to boost the grid and deliver green energy for residents and industry.
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00:00 On a hill near Warpole on the state's south coast, earthworks for a dam, shaping the final
00:07 stage of a pumped hydro scheme, the first of its kind in the world. It's like a small
00:15 scale snowy hydro. The dam on the top of the hill releases water through a pipeline which
00:21 spins a turbine as it travels to the bottom dam. The resulting energy is stored in batteries
00:27 while a solar powered pump takes the water back up to the top dam. The scheme is designed
00:33 to end Warpole's long running power outage problems. It was due to be up and running
00:38 by the end of last year but the project has been delayed. We are running behind schedule,
00:44 there's things that have impacted us on timelines, we had very inclement weather through the
00:49 last wet season. Construction is challenging in the current building climate too, finding
00:55 operators, finding people to do the work. The turbine and generator are in place, ready
01:01 to provide power to the grid. It's got the two battery banks here and the connection
01:06 cabinet there. This is primarily for balancing and smoothing of the power supply to the town.
01:11 All it needs now is water. So we'll have the dams finished in the current summer break
01:17 and we'll be catching water over the winter and enough water to operate commercially after
01:23 the middle of the year. Further north a new wind farm on a giant scale is weeks away from
01:30 full commissioning. With 18 wind turbine generators, the blades reaching 200 metres above the Cochinup
01:37 landscape. The power has been purchased by BHP to offset its carbon footprint. Another
01:44 similar sized farm is planned nearby. The stage one flat rocks wind farm has a lifespan
01:50 of 25 years, the land beneath eventually returning to agriculture.
01:56 .
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