Solar power station lift-off
MICHAEL OWEN and CARA JENKIN
March 09, 2008 10:30pm
ADELAIDE Airport will have the second-largest rooftop solar plant in Australia when work finally starts this week.
Adelaide Airport Limited will today announce the largest commercial solar installation contract in South Australia.
BP Solar will manufacture and supply 760 solar panels to be installed on the middle of the airport's Terminal 1 roof by construction company Hansen Yuncken. The solar photovoltaic panels will combined measure about 130m by 9m and take up 1170sqm of roof space.
The panels will be visible from the air but - contrary to Premier Mike Rann's hope - will not be seen from the ground.
The 114 kilowatt system will generate 160 megawatt hours of electricity a year, equivalent to the average electricity consumption of 30 houses.
It is expected to be producing electricity - free of greenhouse gas emissions - for the airport complex by July.
The Advertiser Watch has campaigned for six months to get the Adelaide Airport Solar Project off the ground.
It also ends months of secrecy about the project, which is funded with $1 million of taxpayers' money.
The project was announced on October 9, 2005, by Mr Rann.
In November, The Advertiser reported a dispute between the Premier and AAL about the project's direction, after revealing in September that the original concept had been axed.
Hansen Yuncken project manager Chris Jones yesterday said the greenhouse gas emission savings of the new plan were equal to taking 40 cars off the road every year.
"The Adelaide Airport solar system is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 160 tonnes each year,'' he said.
AAL corporate affairs general manager John McArdle said the project was a ``major initiative in reducing the carbon footprint of Adelaide Airport''.
"Aside from the energy saving initiatives we built into the new terminal, we're now looking for other ways in which to conserve energy and save water,'' he said.
The airport solar plant will be the second largest of its kind in Australia.
Victoria has the largest rooftop plant, on the Queen Victoria Market, at 220kW. The SA system is expected to supply a significant amount of Adelaide Airport's annual electricity demands, saving AAL about $35,000 a year. But the company yesterday could not provide an exact breakdown. The system also will contribute extra power generated into the electricity grid in peak times.
Mr Rann yesterday declined to comment. His principal media adviser, Jill Bottrall, said the Premier was "very happy to let others talk about the project''.
Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith yesterday said it appeared AAL's common sense had prevailed over the Premier's ``ego''. In November, Mr Rann criticised AAL in Parliament, saying that: ``never has it been so hard to give away money as it has been giving it to Adelaide Airport.''
As revealed by The Advertiser on September 17, the original concept for the project was axed two years after Mr Rann announced the airport would be the first in Australia to be solar powered.
In September, The Advertiser reported an airport and Government working group had decided to "go for a completely new concept''.
It later emerged that the airport favoured a concept it said was operating in the city of Adelaide very successfully and could be delivered within budget. The Premier, however, wanted to ensure any project had a "visual'' component to try to highlight the Government's environmental credentials.
BP Solar regional director Brooke Miller yesterday said the panels would be located in the middle of the Terminal 1 roof, directly above the main concourse, and would be highly visible from the air. ``Whether you are from overseas or interstate, when you fly into Adelaide the first impression you will receive is of a state that is doing its utmost to ensure that solar power is a part of our energy future,'' she said.
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