LOCATION
Tamala Station, Shark Bay, WA. It is 86 km from the North West Coastal highway and is located in a listed world heritage area. It is an area visited by many campers for the fishing and the natural beauty of the area.
CONSTRUCTION
Tamala homestead, shearers' quarters and shearing shed are built from local limestone with mud mortar and date back to 1896. The homestead has recently been renovated.
THE SYSTEM
The system uses 3 Dunlite Windlite turbines and an AES Sinemax inverter to provide 240 Vac power to the homestead and shearers' quarters. The Windlite turbines were purchased second hand and have been reconditioned. The total capacity of the wind turbines is 4.5 kW. The battery bank has a total capacity of 43 kWh of storage.
INSTALLATION
The wind turbines were erected by the owner of Tamala Station. All the electrical work was done by a qualified electrician with supervision and design by Advanced Energy Systems.
The total cost of the system was approximately $13,000. This included the cost of the second hand wind generators, battery bank, inverter and the electrician's installation costs.
RELIABILITY
The system has proved to be very reliable. The low voltage cut out was set so that the batteries can not be run down to a state of charge less than 50%.
MAINTENANCE
Regular maintenance of batteries is vital so as to maintain batteries in optimum condition as they age. At this stage battery maintenance has not been time consuming. Regular inspection of the wind turbine brushes is required to avoid damage to the armature.
RUNNING COSTS
Costs will vary from year to year and are likely to increase as the system ages. Battery replacement is likely to be the major item and it would be prudent to assume a need to replace batteries about every 5 to 10 years. Most of the running cost is in the time required for checking of the batteries and backup generator. The actual dollar cost is minimal. Due care and proper maintenance will prolong the life of most components of the system.
REASON FOR SELECTION
A wind based system was chosen as the Shark Bay area has a wind resource suitable for power generation throughout the year. Having 24 hour power availability without the expense and the noise of a diesel generator is a great pleasure. The existing 6kVA diesel generator will be used to provide backup power generation when wind is not present. The inverter used provides efficient conversion from battery storage to 240 V mains electricity.
| E Q U I P M E N T S P E C I F I C A T I O N |
Wind Turbine
3 only Dunlite Windlites, total capacity 4.5 kW
Regulator
2 only WEA four step load dump regulator.
Batteries
16 only Exide RP 1350 batteries 43 kWh capacity
Inverter/ Charger
1 only AES 32 Vdc 2.5 kW Sinewave inverter/charger
Generator
1 only 6kVA diesel generator
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Case Study prepared by Nigel Wilmot from the Murdoch University Energy Research Institute (MUERI) 1994.
We wish to acknowledge the Department of Industry, Science and Resources for permission to reproduce this case study in a form suitable for the internet.
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