Walkaway is a small town in the City of Greater Geraldton local government area of Western Australia. At the , Walkaway had a population of 270. Its name is a corruption of the native "Wagga wah", referring to the bend in the nearby Greenough River, and was originally given to the railway station when a line was built from Geraldton in 1887.

Rail

In 1894

Midland railway line, Western Australia The Midland railway line runs from Midland Junction to Walkaway (30 kilometres south of Geraldton) in Western Australia. Built by the Midland Railway of Western Australia, the 446 kilometre line opened in November 1894. History In December 1 ...

was linked with Midland Junction by the building of a private line–that of the

Midland Railway Company The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

, constructed by an engineer and later the first general manager of the company, Edward V. H. Keane. With the railway and an expanding agricultural area, the township grew until with the dieselisation of the railway systems, and the take-over by the State of the Midland Railway in 1964, decline set in. This was also accentuated by the gradual absorption of the original smallholdings into the larger holdings of today's farming demands.

Renewable Energy

A number of

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

generation projects are located near Walkaway. Current projects (2014) produce 162 Megawatts of electrical power. Additional projects along with upgrades to current projects are scheduled for construction. The Mid West region is identified as a potential location for developing renewable energy technologies that include additional wind and solar photovoltaic electricity projects, solar thermal, geothermal, bioenergy, and ocean energy. Geraldton Wind Farms DSC04308

Walkaway Wind Farm

The Walkaway Wind Farm, east of Walkaway, was completed in August 2005. It consists of 54 turbines, each producing , high, and with blade spans. Development consent has been given for an expansion of the project to up to 400MW.

Mumbida Wind Farm

Th
Mumbida Wind Farm
east of Walkaway, is a 55 MW renewable energy project developed by a joint venture of Verve Energy and Infrastructure Capital Group (ICG). Mumbida was completed in 2013 and is now fully operational. Mumbida Wind Farm utilises the 2.5 MW General Electric 2.5xl wind turbines, the first time that this model of wind turbine has been used in Australia. The Mumbida wind farm has been designed to be expanded to 85MW in the future.

Greenough River Solar Farm

The

Greenough River Solar Farm The Greenough River Solar Farm is a 10 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station located in Walkaway, Western Australia. When it opened in October, 2012, it was the country's first utility-scale solar farm. It remained Australia's largest solar ...

is the first stage of a 40MW solar photo voltaic (PV) electricity generator. Stage 1 currently produces 10MW and was commissioned in 2012. At the time of commissioning, it was the largest solar PV generator in Australia. Construction of Stage 2 is scheduled to begin in 2014 and will add an additional 30MW to the project, located east of Walkaway and southeast of Geraldton, on the Walkaway-Nangetty Road.

Rail

Renewable Energy

Walkaway Wind Farm

Mumbida Wind Farm

Greenough River Solar Farm

References

Further reading