McGowan has green vision for city

State Opposition Leader Mark McGowan says Albany could become a world leader in renewable energy generation and reliance.

Visiting Albany last week, Mr McGowan said the city’s “progressive community” could make way it to be powered almost entirely by renewable energy.

“The wind farm here I think is quite an iconic thing and an example of what can be done,” he said.

“But integrating that with wave energy and biofuels and solar, in the long-term future I can see Albany as almost being completely reliant on renewables.

“It would be a great example to the rest of the world of what can be done.”

Though a keen advocate for alternative energy generation, Mr McGowan said Albany would have to remain connected to the grid.

“Albany would have to stay part of the grid, but you can work out what the need is here,” he said.

“You can generate the same amount of renewables locally and therefore it’s a renewable town.

“One issue with renewables is if the wind’s not blowing or the sun’s not shining or the waves aren’t crashing, you know you’ve got a bit of an issue of power supply.”

No communities have been specified as yet, but Mr McGowan said he would love to create some communities entirely driven by renewable energy.

“Renewable (energies) are a large part of our State’s future,” he said.

“We should be a world centre for renewable research and testing because of our climate.

“Our climate is just ideal for renewables.”