Earlier this year CLEAN Cowra was awarded $1.03 million for the microgrid project as part of the federal government's Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund. It was the big boost CLEAN Cowra's Dylan Gower had been waiting for and now its action stations!
The establishment of the microgrid involves the installation of electricity monitored devices that will provide detailed data on energy usage by selected businesses over the next 12 months.
"The findings will inform how much electricity needs to be generated by the microgrid," said Dylan Gower.
"Data is recorded four times per minute which allows a detailed profile of the amount of energy usage by each customer," he said.
"It is vital to help us understand consumer needs over the seasonality of a whole year."
The funding has allowed CLEAN Cowra to also proceed with a feasibility study with the aim of eventually getting the project under construction and possibly expansion.
With positive feedback already coming from the five existing Cowra businesses involved, Mr. Gower hopes it will be the catalyst for growth.
"There's an opportunity to invite more customers to the microgrid itself or to potentially replicate the microgrid in other parts of Cowra or other regional towns as well," Mr. Gower said.
Stay Connected
Cowra News to your inbox
Sign up now for the latest news from the Cowra Area direct to your inbox.