Stage two of Canberra’s light rail project is expected to commence construction in 2020-21.
Federal Labor funding has been promised as part of a national program to support public transport
Source: ABC News
But where will the power come from?
Energy in the Australian Capital Territory
The ACT government announced in 2013 that under the ACT’s Electricity Feed in Act, the ACT would mandate that 90 percent of its electricity would be supplied from ‘renewable’ sources by 2020. ACT announced in February 2015 that three wind farms in Victoria and South Australia would supply 200 megawatts of capacity; expected to be operational by 2017. They are Ararat Wind Farm (80.5MW), Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm (19.4MW) and Hornsdale Wind Farm (100MW). Contracts for the purchase of an additional 200 megawatts of power per year from two wind farms in South Australia and New South Wales were announced in December 2015 and March 2016. These were Hornsdale Wind Farm (100MW) and Sapphire Wind Farm (100MW). The ACT government announced in 2014 that up to 23 megawatts of feed-in-tariff entitlements would be made available for the establishment of a facility in the ACT or surrounding region for burning household and business waste to produce electricity by 2020.
Source: Energy in the Australian Capital Territory – Wikipedia
Comment: There you have it! Since the wind doesn’t always blow when convenient, and battery technology is still in it’s infancy (and Li-ion battery arrays are not renewable anyway), people in the ACT will either:
- Walk to work; or
- Take the day off