National Small Wind Turbine Centre

The National Small Wind Turbine Centre (NSWTC) commenced operation in December 2008 and aims to stimulate the small wind market and industry in Australia by focusing its activities in four activity streams: Testing, Standards and Labelling, Professional Development and Training, and Research.

Visit the NSWTC Homepage

The main activity of the NSWTC will be in providing independent testing services to wind turbine manufacturers but the work in Standards and Labelling is important to improve the quality of products for consumers and to simplify and harmonise standards so that manufacturers can enter export markets.

Funding for the Testing, Standards and Labelling and Training activities of the National Small Wind Turbine Centre is from the Federal Department of Environment, Heritage, Water and Arts. Funding for research activity within the Centre to date has been separately sourced.

To see a video of Peter Garrett’s announcement at RISE go to the YouTube Video "Developing a stronger small wind turbine industry"

Three System Projects

RISE and the Department of Water, Heritage and the Arts recently developed three demonstration projects to exhibit innovative renewable energy options for remote households, medium systems, and relatively large island-based electricity networks. These were:

• A Small Household System
  This project involved a PhD student and focused on the operation of the buses and how the data obtained would impact the cost-benefit analysis of the project.  A cost-benefit analysis was conducted on the operation of fuel cell buses compared to diesel and natural gas buses.  Regular data was collected on the operation of the buses and the data was then fed into the larger CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe) project, of which the Perth trial was a part.


• A Medium System
  Involved an MPhil student and focused on applying the GaBi software to undertake a series of scenario analyses. The LCA model for this work was developed and a number of scenarios were investiga.
• A large Island-based System
  Involved an MPhil student and focused on applying the GaBi software to undertake a series of scenario analyses. The LCA model for this work was developed and a number of scenarios were investiga

Sustainable Transport Research

RISE took the lead in submitting the application to the WA State Government for funding for CREST (Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport). RISE regards transport energy as an important energy-related issue at the international, national and regional level. Transport is a crucial issue in the modern world. It is essential for bringing goods to the global marketplace and it underpins the prosperity of major nations like Australia. However, modern transport systems are beset by major problems including oil depletion, air pollution and climate change. Australia's economy is resource-based and it is particularly vulnerable to rising fuel prices and greenhouse gas emission contraints. Australia has the capacity and a need to be actively involved in trialing and demonstrating these technologies in order to:

• facilitate their uptake in Australia,
• gain an understanding of the new technologies and their applicability to Australia as they develop and;
• develop an understanding of the associated safety, regulatory and other requirements required for the adoption of these fuels and technologies.

RISE already has an active involvement in the national and international debate on alternative transport fuels and technologies and is looking forward to the continued development of the Centre for Research into Energy for Sustainable Transport.

Perth Fuel Cell Bus Project

The Perth Fuel Cell Bus Project (Ecobus) involved operating three fuel cell buses in the Perth public transport system for a period of three years (2004-2007).

Murdoch University developed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure of the Government of Western Australia to undertake a number of research projects associated with this trial.

RISE was involved in two of the research projects from the Perth Fuel Cell Bus Trial that were under the supervision of Dr Trevor Pryor. These were:

• The Bus Operations Project
  This project involved a PhD student and focused on the operation of the buses and how the data obtained would impact the cost-benefit analysis of the project.  A cost-benefit analysis was conducted on the operation of fuel cell buses compared to diesel and natural gas buses.  Regular data was collected on the operation of the buses and the data was then fed into the larger CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe) project, of which the Perth trial was a part.


• The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Project
  Involved an MPhil student and focused on applying the GaBi software to undertake a series of scenario analyses. The LCA model for this work was developed and a number of scenarios were investigated.

Research Publications