A High-Renewables Tomorrow Today: King Island, Tasmania

King Island, Tasmania, is implementing the King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP) to transition from diesel-heavy power to a high-renewables system. By integrating wind, solar, energy storage, and smart grid technologies, the project aims to reduce annual diesel consumption from 4.5 million liters to 1.6 million liters, targeting a 65 percent renewable energy share. Key innovations include the use of diesel-powered rotary uninterruptible power supply (D-UPS) generators to enable periods of 100-percent-renewable penetration and the installation of Australia's largest battery system at the time. Additionally, the proposed TasWind project seeks to export large-scale wind energy to mainland Australia, though it faces local opposition regarding tourism and land use.

• The King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project (KIREIP) aims to reduce annual diesel consumption from 4.5 million liters (the pre-renewable level) to 1.6 million liters, which would mean 65 percent of the island's annual electricity comes from renewables.
• The installation of two diesel-powered rotary uninterruptible power supply (D-UPS) generators allows the island to achieve periods of 100-percent-renewable-energy penetration by using flywheels to prevent blackouts when wind generation drops quickly.
• Hydro Tasmania is deploying a 3 megawatt/1.6 megawatt-hour UltraBattery storage system, described as the largest battery ever installed in Australia, capable of powering the entire island for up to 45 minutes.
• The proposed TasWind project, a $2-billion wind farm with 200 turbines, is designed to generate 2,400 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually for export to Victoria on mainland Australia, with estimated economic returns to King Island between $225 and $310 million.
• A Smart Grid Project is piloting the use of smart technology in volunteer households to match energy demand with renewable generation by momentarily turning off electric hot water services when wind speeds decrease.

APA

RMI (2013). A High-Renewables Tomorrow Today: King Island, Tasmania. https://rmi.org/resources/a_high_renewables_tomorrow_today_king_island_tasmania/

Chicago

RMI. A High-Renewables Tomorrow Today: King Island, Tasmania. 2013. https://rmi.org/resources/a_high_renewables_tomorrow_today_king_island_tasmania/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=A High-Renewables Tomorrow Today: King Island, Tasmania |date=7 August 2013 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/a_high_renewables_tomorrow_today_king_island_tasmania/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2013highrenewables, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{A High-Renewables Tomorrow Today: King Island, Tasmania}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2013}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/a_high_renewables_tomorrow_today_king_island_tasmania/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }