Windorah's Second Chance at Solar: Outback Town Revives Renewable Hope

• Discover how Windorah, a remote town in western Queensland, is replacing its failed solar dish farm with a new $4.5 million solar farm that promises to meet the town's electricity needs. Ergon Energy is taking steps to ensure success and the locals are cautiously hopeful.

The remote town of Windorah in western Queensland is replacing their failed solar dish farm with a new solar farm, costing $4.5 million. The 14.5-metre-tall structures have been deemed unusable and are in the process of being torn down. The farm was meant to provide the town with about 300,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, however it never worked properly due to the difficulty of sourcing the parts and labour in such a remote area. Ergon Energy is now building a new farm with fixed ground-mounted solar panels and a containerised battery, one of four such projects in remote Queensland as part of the state's $28 million decarbonisation project. Locals are cautiously hopeful that the new farm will be a success, with the hot arid climate providing good conditions for a large solar farm. Ergon Energy also plan to perform remote upgrades and fly-in technical crews every six months to ensure any problems can be quickly and effectively fixed.

Will the New Solar Farm in Windorah Succeed?

• The new farm will produce up to 1.0 megawatt-hour of electricity a day, enough to power 300 homes.
• Ergon Energy plan to install remote monitoring systems and sensors that can detect potential problems early, allowing for proactive maintenance, which should ensure that the farm runs at peak efficiency.
• Ergon Energy have also committed to providing training to local community members, in order to allow them to maintain and monitor the system.
• The new solar farm is also expected to provide the town with economic benefits, as the farm will create jobs and stimulate the local economy.
• Ergon Energy have also committed to providing ongoing support for the project, with plans to keep their technical teams available and send them out to Windorah if required.
• The new solar farm has been designed with the local environment in mind – the panels are tilted at a lower angle to reduce reflection and glare, and the materials and design of the batteries ensure that they will not cause any harm to the local environment.
  
  Based on these factors, it is likely that the new solar farm in Windorah will succeed in providing the town with clean, reliable energy, while also creating economic benefits for the community.