City of Cockburn - Wetlands to Waves

 Solar at Home | Wind Energy | Methane from Waste

NEWS FLASH!

We are excited to announce that the City of Cockburn has just committed to installing one of the largest photovoltaic systems in the Perth metropolitan area. A 99kW system will be installed on the Cockburn Intergrated Health and Community Centre and will cover one third of the centre's roof with 423 solar photovoltaic panels.

The system is expected to generate 173 megawatt hours per annum and will dramatically reduce the centre's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 171 tonnes in the first year and 4284 tonnes over its projected life time.

The completion of this system in April 2013 will see a total of 878 solar panels producing clean energy from council buildings. Together these panels will avoid approximately 200 tonnes of CO2 annually and produce enough energy to power 37 houses each year! 

 

New brochure - Is Solar Energy Right for You?

The City has published a new brochure on photovoltaic systems covering up-to-date information on panel types, subsidies, rebates and a handy checklist.

Click to read more: Download the Brochure

Cockburn Virtual Power Station

The Cockburn Virtual Power Station collects information from the City's solar photovoltaic systems and shows it online.

This exciting new project is the first of its kind for local government and provides live data on the amount of renewable energy being produced each hour by the City!

You can also view historical data and compare the solar energy production  to the temperature over each day.

Click here to view the Cockburn Virtual Power Station

Renewable Energy in Cockburn

The City of Cockburn is leading the way in renewable energy.

Since 2009 the City has been harnessing power from the Sun with the installation of over 380 photovoltaic panels on community buildings by 2011. Most recently the City has commissioned another two systems for community facilities, overall this will bring the total to 455 photovoltaic panels producing clean energy in our community.

Renewable energy is also produced at the Henderson Waste Recovery Plant by methane extraction and flaring, which not only reduces emissions but manages our waste more sustainably. The three generators at the methane extraction plant generate enough electricity to power over 3,000 homes.

The City is also working in collaboration with Murdoch University Research Institute of Renewable Energy (RISE) to investigate the potential of wind energy. A small wind turbine testing facility is currently being hosted at the Henderson Waste Recovery Park in Cockburn. Modelling of the wind resource over the Cockburn area is also underway. 

Solar Energy for your Home

The City of Cockburn strongly encourages sustainable living. You can generate free solar electricity from your own roof with a photovoltaic system.  Planning approval and building licenses are generally not required unless you are altering the structure of your roof or the building is heritage listed. If you are unsure, please contact the Citys building services.

Wind Energy

A small wind turbine testing facility is currently being run at the Henderson Waster Recovery Park in Cockburn by Murdoch University who are testing the performance, noise and durability of wind turbines.

Wind Mapping

Two maps and a series of wind resource reports have also been developed by the City of Cockburn in conjunction with Murdoch University to help residents and local business assess whether their area may be suitable for wind turbines.

These wind maps and reports are available on the Citys Interactive Mapping System. Simply click on IntraMaps and scroll down to wind mapping module. To access a wind resource report select a particular property and click on Wind Mapping Report.
(note: there are 204 reports, one for each grid).

• View the Cockburn Wind Mapping flyer

Wind Energy Myths and Facts

Click here to watch a short video on wind energy and the common myths and confusions; including Wind Turbine Sickness, sound emissions and impact on bird populations.

Energy from Waste

Renewable energy is produced at the Henderson Waste Recovery Park by methane extraction and flaring. The recent addition of a third generator from Waste Gas Resources (WGR) means that energy can be generated by methane from landfill at the Henderson Waste Recovery Park.

The third generator has increased capacity by 33 per cent, allowing the methane extraction plant to generate 3.195 megawatts to power more than 3300 homes via Synergys main electricity grid.

The technology has a two-fold benefit by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and manages our waste in a more sustainable way.

The new unit will reduce an additional 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalents each year.