THE technology behind an ambitious new power plant proposal for Latrobe Valley has just been validated by one of Australia’s expert physicists.
The Express recently reported on a proposal by clean energy developer Morwell Industry Development Group for a new plant powered by a patented ‘Hidro+ Renewable Energy’.
The group forecast the project could ultimately create up to 500 local jobs on-site at the current Di Fabro Works Complex in Morwell, for which it had a conditional purchase contract.
Dr Wayne Nowland, who has played key roles in pioneering space systems and satellite communications – including spearheading the introduction of broadband internet services to Australia – told The Express he was initially sceptical of Hidro+ Technology’s viability after discovering it on the internet.
However he offered to independently review it after a chance meeting with proponent James Kwok this year.
Key findings in Dr Nowland’s subsequent report include the conclusion that Hidro+ Technology is “technically feasible and offers huge potential for dramatically changing the way the world generates and distributes electrical power”.
He said it used a natural energy source which could “now be transformed into a virtually limitless support of renewable energy for efficient power generation” while being “self-powered, totally pollution-free”, having a “zero carbon footprint” and was “expected to be very cost-efficient”.
As project proponents describe it Hidro+ Technology, as a renewable energy source, is “water mass-energy transformation”.
A Hidro+ generator plant would be an off-grid project operating its own distribution company.
With a number of hoops still to jump through, the proposal remains in preliminary stages for now, but MIDG chair Ian Smith said Dr Nowland’s report had “not only validated the inventor James Kwok, but also the world breaking technology that is going to empower local communities and businesses alike with affordable reliable low cost power all with no emissions”.
Mr Smith said through the local proposal an initial 100-megawatt plant would be constructed, enough to power up to 120,000 homes.
If permits were approved, financial backing secured and power purchase agreements obtained, Mr Smith said the grand vision was for a $4.3 billion, 1000 MW capacity plant to be built, employing more than 500 people and incorporating an engineering and manufacturing training facility on-site.
For his part Dr Nowland said he was “amazed” at the vision and detail in Mr Kwok’s “unique” technology.
He said the technology’s proponents were “encountering resistance” from industry and government “because they don’t believe this can work”.
“It does seem to defy conventional wisdom but that’s because he (Mr Kwok) has invented something that doesn’t exist and until you really study the detail it is not obvious but it blew me away when I saw what they were doing,” Dr Nowland said.
He said his research should “assist everyone on a broader scale” in their comprehension of Hidro+ and claimed “once it starts, it will replace your primary energy source, no doubt”.
