Horizon Power’s Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Unwin said the SPS units will significantly improve reliability for customers by removing long rural lines which can experience frequent and prolonged power outages.
“Standalone power is a viable alternative in remote locations where poles and wires are prone to outages caused by lightning strikes, bush fires, vegetation and bird strikes,” Unwin said.
“We only have to look back to the fires of 2015 to see how important this new energy solution can be for the safety of a community.”
Unwin explained that, “Over the last three years we have successfully demonstrated technologies, such as SPS, which improves reliability of power supply and safety for our customers and can offer sustainable energy solutions at a lower cost than traditional solutions.”
A recent project milestone saw the disconnection of the properties from overhead lines, which will enable 64 kilometres of poles and wires to be removed from paddocks.
By the end of 2019, Horizon Power will have installed 17 SPS units for customers living in the Neridup and Beaumont farming areas in the Goldfields-Esperance region.
Horizon Power is the first utility in Australia to replace traditional infrastructure with an alternative, renewable energy power solution that is fully off the grid.
Photo: Energy Minister, Bill Johnston MLA visited a farming property east of Esperance recently to view and formally acknowledge the installation of a new renewable energy solution for rural customers which is independent from the electricity grid.
