Flinders Island community can now monitor energy in real-time

Flinders Island
Flinders Island Hub Site

The Flinders Island community can now monitor the island’s energy system in real-time thanks to a new app released by Hydro Tasmania.

The ‘Flinders Island Energy HUB’ demonstrates how the system can operate at 100 per cent renewable energy using live data.

The app shows the contribution of solar and wind power combined with advanced control systems and enabling technologies (such as battery energy storage, flywheels and dynamic resistor), working together to contribute to the power needs of the island community, while reducing the reliance on diesel fuel.

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This innovative app uses a high-speed data platform to retrieve information out of the power station’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system and in real-time transform the data into an interactive and easy to understand user interface.

Hydro Tasmania’s Hybrid Energy Solutions team, led by manager Ray Massie, is an international leader in developing hybrid energy innovations. These innovations are delivered through Entura, Hydro Tasmania’s highly-experienced specialist power and water consultancy business, to help remote communities in Australia and overseas make the switch to reliable clean energy systems.

“This is Tasmanian technology that can be deployed anywhere in the world to make remote communities more sustainable,” Mr Massie said.

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“We’re proud to be making a difference, and confident there’s much more innovation and potential to come for this world-leading technology.”

The Flinders Island project has already transformed that community from being largely reliant on diesel power to about 60 per cent renewably powered, on average, saving 600,000 litres of diesel a year.

The ‘Flinders Island Energy HUB’ app can be downloaded for both Apple and Android, providing realtime power usage and educational materials.

The Flinders Island Hub project has been part funded by a grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

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