Energy facility seeking results
A $6 MILLION Queenslandfirst electricity research and development hub is underway in Cairns.
Cairns-based Osborne Construction Solutions and Babinda Electrics have started the design and construction of the centre at Ergon Energy’s Spence St site.
Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the world-class facility was “a massive coup for the region and puts Cairns at the forefront of energy innovation in Queensland”.
“This is the first large-scale facility of its kind in Queensland and will feature some of the most cutting-edge technology in the energy sector,” he said.
“This will pave the way for new electricity solutions that can be used across Queensland.”
Mr Healy said it would support 70 jobs in the construction phase and 20 jobs after it was commissioned.
Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the facility would enable rigorous testing of new technologies to ensure they could be seamlessly integrated into the electricity network or used as an off-grid alternative.
“The brains of the new facility is a super computer, or realtime digital simulator, which can simulate and model equipment and capture data in very high detail,” he said.
“A wide range of energy soTHE lutions will be able to be tested before they are deployed, enabling renewable energy and energy storage to form a greater part of micro-grids and isolated systems for remote communities.”
The Micro-grid and Isolated Systems Test facility will incorporate and build on the success of Energy Queensland’s Innovation Lab.
Technology innovation principal engineer Alan Louis said the facility would help new technologies connect to the National Electricity Market grid.
“More Queenslanders can harness the power of solar without impacting the security of the network or quality of supply,” he said.
Energy Queensland employees would work in Cairns to investigate efficient options for remote communities.
“By enabling the integration of high levels of centralised and distributed renewables and energy storage, we can reduce costly diesel consumption in isolated communities,” Mr Louis said.