Hydro Tasmania Develops an Advanced Utility Grade Hybrid Energy Solution

The challenge was to develop a hybrid energy system and reduce Flinders Island’s dependence on diesel for electricity.  Located off Tasmania’s north-east Coast, Flinders Island is about 60 kilometers from north to south and 37 kilometers from east to west, with a total land area of more than 1,300 square kilometers. The solution? A utility grade hybrid energy project — a  led by Rockwell Automation and Hydro Tasmania. .

Until recently, Flinders Island was heavily reliant on expensive diesel fuel to supply its electricity. It was supplied by the 3 megawatt (MW) power station, serving 6.7 gigawatt hours of annual customer demand, peaking at 1.3MW. Hydro Tasmania, with the support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, developed the Flinders Island “Hydro Energy Hub” – a hybrid system capable of displacing 60 percent, on average, of the annual diesel fuel used to generate electricity on Flinders Island. This system is also capable of “diesel-off” operation, providing 100% renewable penetration when conditions allow.

This report explores the details of the new hydro energy hub system, which is capable of displacing 60% of the annual diesel fuel used to generate electricity with ‘diesel off’ operation for 100% renewable penetration.