{"id":63272,"date":"2022-07-06T06:59:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T20:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=63272"},"modified":"2022-07-06T06:59:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T20:29:33","slug":"community-power-hubs-mb2541","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/community-power-hubs-mb2541\/","title":{"rendered":"Call Continues For Community Power Hub Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Community<\/p>\n

Residents of Victoria’s Apollo Bay are aiming to address local blackouts with a helping hand from renewables and a Community Power Hub. But for other towns and communities facing similar challenges, getting the expert advice needed can be difficult.<\/p>\n

Situated around 196 kilometres south-west of Melbourne between the foothills of the Otways and the sea, Apollo Bay is home to approximately 1,790 people and is a popular tourist stop along Great Ocean Road.<\/p>\n

Described as “paradise by the sea”, what’s not so attractive is Apollo Bay’s mains grid power quality and reliability. Electricity is supplied through heavily forested terrain and a “bit of bark falling on the lines” causes a blackout according to one resident.<\/p>\n

While that could be somewhat an exaggeration, Apollo Bay certainly sees plenty of blackouts. In 2020, the community endured 70 outages. This is inconvenient at the best of times, financially damaging during holidays in particular and downright dangerous in scenarios such as bushfires.<\/p>\n

In Apollo Bay, solar panels<\/a> are a common sight on rooftops and the town punches well above its weight on capacity per capita.\u00a0 More than 398 small-scale PV systems had been installed across the 3233 postcode as at the end of May this year. But these grid connected solar power systems are mostly without batteries featuring backup capabilities. When the grid is out of action, they are of no use to their owners – or anyone else for that matter.<\/p>\n

Some residents banded together to look into the potential of a 100% renewables- based microgrid for the town, so in the event of supply disruption Apollo Bay could still function. However, without a technical plan to demonstrate such a microgrid was feasible, the Southern Otway Sustainability (SOS) group weren’t able to move forward.<\/p>\n

But with assistance from Barwon South-West Community Power Hub, SOS now have a plan in place for a microgrid powered by solar, wind and a community battery.<\/p>\n