Magnetic Island’s 100 kilowatt Solar Skate Park will be unveiled tomorrow as part of a Townsville Queensland Solar City Project (TQSC) community celebration.
Member for Townsville Mandy Johnstone MP will attend the event with the Hon. Mark Dreyfus, Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
“The Magnetic Island Solar Skate Park is the latest addition to the iconic Townsville Queensland Solar City project,” Ms Johnstone said.
“This $2 million project is a joint initiative by the Queensland Government, Commonwealth Government and Ergon Energy, with the State contribution totalling $600,000.
“The solar PV system is made up of 474 x 210 watt Kyocera panels which form the 1000m2 ‘solar lid’ on the skate park – that’s almost as big as an Olympic size swimming pool.
“This is an exciting project that is helping to create a clean energy future for our region and for Queensland.”
TQSC Project Manager Ian Cruickshank encouraged all local residents to participate in the festivities.
“It will be a celebration of all the hard work invested by the community over the past two years and their participation in the processes that led to the completion of this innovative, yet rather challenging initiative,” Mr Cruickshank said.
“The Solar Skate Park is already making a significant contribution to the project’s targets, providing enough energy to power up to 22 homes per day, deferring costly network augmentation and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The event will be held from 11am – 4pm with local food stalls, a jumping castle, face painting for the children and a skate board/scooter riding demonstration from the talented troupe at Cre8tive Sk8.
Local radio presenter Steve Price (Pricey) will also be onsite with the crew from 102.3 4TO FM conducting their first ever solar powered outside broadcast. In the evening, the MI Muso’s Club 10th Anniversary Concert will take place on the new community stage at the Smart Lifestyle Centre.
Community Engagement Manager Julie Heath said the event was about thanking the Magnetic Island community for their ongoing support for the project.
“The final design of the Solar Skate Park is the result of extensive community consultation which has produced a fantastic outcome,” Ms Heath said.
“The brightly coloured laser cut designs on the steelwork structures were created by local artists. The new and improved community facilities are now providing shade for skate park users, home and away footy teams as well as feeding additional solar energy into the electricity network for the whole of Maggie to enjoy.”
Ergon Energy’s Magnetic Island Solar Suburb is the focal point of the Townsville Queensland Solar City project, an initiative of the Commonwealth Government under the national Solar Cities program. It is also providing an invaluable platform for the company’s Energy Sense Communities program planned for wider Townsville.