Meeting for community power project
The first meeting for a community-owned renewable energy project on the Central Coast will take place at the Environment Centre in Woy Woy from 7pm on Thursday, July 12.
Woy Woy resident Mr Joachim Muller, who suggested the project, said the meeting would explain the project and start the formation of a community group which could build and own power plants that run on renewable energies, like solar and wind.
Mr Muller and his project are supported by Central Coast Greens candidate for Gosford Ms Kate Da Costa.
"Let's build our own power plant, if the electricity bills are becoming too expensive," Mr Muller said.
While electricity rates are rising, Mr Muller said the cost of renewable energy like solar and wind keeps dropping.
"With renewable energy you can lock in and freeze the electricity price for the next 20 years," Mr Muller said.
According to Mr Muller, the cost of electricity from wind turbines has come close, or even reached the wholesale price of electricity, which comes from coal fired power plants.
Also, the drop in the cost of solar panels, has allowed solar electricity to reach grid parity in Australia.
This means that solar electricity can be produced at prices at or below the rates charged on our electricity bills, Mr Muller said.
"An investment in renewable energy does not only reduce our carbon footprint but it can also create a positive return on investment.
"Solar power and wind power complement each other.
"Not only can the wind blow, when the sun is not shining, but also the project size and timescale for solar and wind projects are quite different.
"While wind power is most economical with turbines of at least 2000 kW, solar plants can be built as individual stages of several 10 kW.
"Wind energy is cheaper than solar energy, but solar PV installations are much faster to install than wind turbines and they are usually located in close proximity to the point of use.
"The idea for this project is to take the production of renewable energy into the hands of a large community by jointly owning facilities like large wind turbines or large scale solar power plants.
"This is usually done in close co-operation with local councils and industry.
"The group plans, develops and owns one or several installations that produce electricity sustainably.
"Such a community group offers community members the opportunity to invest in renewable energy, even if they cannot install solar panels at the place where they live," Mr Muller said.
Mr Muller and Ms da Costa said they hoped to have a large number of participants at the first meeting.
Media Release, 1 Jul 2012
Joachim Muller, Woy Woy
Photo: Franz Reidel