Thursday, Horn and Hammond Island renewable energy project
Thursday Island, Horn Island and Hammond Island, just off the mainland of Cape York Peninsula, are home to over 3,500 people. While part of the ‘inner islands’ of the Torres Strait, as a service centre they also support communities across the western, central and eastern areas of the Torres Strait.
The electricity for the three islands is supplied via three separate isolated networks – or microgrids. They are powered by the diesel power stations located on each island, and, on Thursdays Island, the two wind turbines (450kW) established in 1997.
We’re working to improve the sustainability of our isolated electricity networks. This journey will see us introduce more renewable energy into the power supply in these communities, with a goal to achieve 80% renewable energy, along with large batteries to store the energy generated for use when needed.
We are currently in the early stages of the project. We are talking with Traditional Owners, the Torres Shire Council and the Torres Strait Island Regional Council, and other stakeholders about the different sites that could potentially be used for the project. This will progress to final scoping and to seeking funding approvals.
About the proposed renewable energy project
We are currently proposing to install a 12.5MW centralised solar system, 4MW of wind turbines (4 x 1MW), and a 8.8MVA/26.5MWh battery energy storage system to be built on Horn Island, with undersea power cables connecting Wasaga Power Station, on Horn Island to Thursday Island, and then across to Hammond Island.
Together the existing power stations in these communities use around 10 million litres of diesel fuel each year. This investment will reduce this diesel use by over seven million litres a year, saving 18,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2-e) emissions. It’s a great win for the environment. With less reliance on fossil fuels being barged into and used in the community, it will also improve the resilience and security of the power supply.
For more information read our Project Profile (PDF 689.7 kb).
Keeping your informed
You can keep up to date and provide feedback on the latest project activities through the following information.
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Our community engagement goal
We aim to provide the community with balanced and objective information to help in understanding the need for this project, our delivery approach and how it may affect people.
Our promise
We'll keep the local community informed, and we’ll acknowledge and consider any feedback.
We'll provide information in different ways including:
- project newsletters to directly affected customers and all who register for updates
- posting information on social media
- posting information on this website.
Project contact details
For more information or to provide us with feedback, please contact the project team:
Online: Project feedback form