Council hears of Country Energy’s plans to power Cobar
Wednesday March 17, 2010
Country Energy north western regional general manager Pete Halliwell addressed last week’s works committee meeting of Cobar Shire Council.
Cobar would make an ideal base for a major solar energy plant according to Country Energy’s north western regional general manager Pete Halliwell.
Mr Halliwell spoke at last Thursday’s works committee meeting of Cobar Shire Council, where he explained that Cobar has among the highest number of “sunshine hours” in the state.
Councillors asked Mr Halliwell about the possibility of a gas fired power station to be built in the region, with such a station part of Cr Peter Yench’s lobby effort to get Cobar connected to a natural gas pipeline.
However Mr Halliwell said solar power is a more achieveable goal.
“There is more likelihood for a solar plant out here because it is more renewable.
“Gas fired power is not really ideal as your ‘base load’ supply, as the cost of gas versus coal is much higher, so it would probably mean a price rise,” Mr Halliwell said.
“It is also more likely to be centred around the higher population bases, which you don’t have here.”
Mr Halliwell said Cobar’s power supply has been further secured by the recent completion of a second power line from Mt Piper Power Station (near Lithgow) to Wellington.
He said previously, any issues with the line in that area would affect the power supply of all the towns between Lithgow and Cobar.
Plans are also underway to duplicate the power line to Nyngan, as well as installing automated switches on Cobar’s lines.
“The switches would reduce power outage time in the event of a problem on one of the lines,” Mr Halliwell said.
He said “smart switches” are also planned to be installed on spur lines leading out of Cobar which supply rural customers and small villages in the area.
“A lot of these spur lines face weather problems, and can take a long time to get the power back on.
“When there is a problem, our technicians have to find the problem, then drive back to town to the switch to isolate it, then drive back out and fix it.
“The new smart switches will mean that it can be isolated remotely by someone in Bathurst, so our technicians can get onto fixing it much quicker,” Mr Halliwell said.
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