The federal government will sign off on a multi-million-dollar deal to bring power to townships living among the World Heritage-listed Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland.
Most residents and businesses in the Daintree, north of Cairns, rely on diesel generators, while some rely on solar and battery for their power needs.
The continued use of diesel generators often stuns visitors to the world’s oldest rainforest.
On Monday afternoon, the government will sign a $19.3 million deal at a community meeting with the Brisbane-based Volt Advisory Group, which is planning to construct a microgrid in the community later this year.
Power generated by new and existing solar panels will be fed into the microgrid and turned into hydrogen, which would power about 700 homes and be used for seasonal storage and large-scale generators.
Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch, who has been campaigning for a power source in the Daintree for decades, said the microgrid would have no impact on the environment.
He said an underground cable network would be placed under existing roads and a generator station built on land that had already been cleared in the Cow Bay area.
Mr Entsch said the microgrid would save millions of litres of diesel from being used in the Daintree.
"I'm hoping by bringing a more reliable source of power to the area it will encourage people to stay, to attract young families, to keep the school going and support businesses."
'Exhausting fight'
Russell O'Doherty has headed up the Daintree Renewable Energy group for years, which was instrumental in securing a $1 million feasibility study into the microgrid, paid for by the federal government.
"Everyone else in the state has reliable, affordable electricity, yet the Daintree has basically been kept in the dark and forced to use dirty, smelly, noisy diesel generators that aren't efficient, and [are] costly," Mr O'Doherty said.
"We've had a lot of detractors over the years and the arguments that they are using are just nonsensical.
"Who would want to destroy the Daintree? You've got the local town plan that restricts development.
"I would have thought as greenies, they would be totally supportive of it."
Technology 'untested' in Daintree
Former Douglas Shire mayor Mike Berwick said he had serious concerns about the microgrid project, including that making power more available would see more businesses and residents move to the area, subsequently impact on the environment.
"This is an area of national and global environmental significance," Mr Berwick said.
He said there also had not been adequate community consultation.
"There's been no community survey, no-one has asked the community what they want," he said.
"Are people going to be forced to hook up to the grid?
"How can you put in a grid that's going to cost them to connect and cost them ongoing when they already have stand-alone systems?"
Editor’s note (28/03/2022): This story has been updated to clarify how Daintree residents and businesses access their power and how much diesel is being used in the region.
