We specialise in remote island power - the design and development of renewable energy systems for island communities.
Our focus is on offgrid and remote island communities that use diesel generators for power generation.
We build and install hybrid renewable energy microgrids, including solar, wind, storage, and advanced control systems.
We like to build microgrids that are scalable, modular, and support the rapid development and deployment of new or extended projects in remote areas.
We can provide staged integrations of high-penetration renewables into existing diesel networks, and automatic switching between renewables, storage or existing diesel genset assets.
We can provide complete operation and maintenance capabilities for renewable energy microgrids and renewable infrastructure.
Services include complete operational control of the network, day-to-day power service and plant operation, and critical uptime service delivery.
We provide regular maintenance and inspection capabilities, and can respond to unscheduled maintenance and network faults on-site or remotely.
We have a lot of experience dealing with island shipping and remote area logistics, and our installation teams can work with local labor for economic development.
We also specialise in microgrids for highly corrosive island or marine environments, as well as development in tropical cyclone areas including Australian wind regions B and C.
Support includes remote monitoring and access, phone support, and technicians who can fly out for critical service issues.
Our services include feasibility and design studies, financial modelling, strategic planning, and project management.
System design, scoping, and evaluation of multiple design topologies across a range of renewable energy sources and storage options.
We use dynamic system modelling to simulate multiple engineering configurations for optimal efficiency, integration, and output.
Models and simulations are verified against operational microgrids for further understanding and efficiency.
We use custom financial modelling to maximise the commercial viability of your microgrid project.
We model commercial considerations, available energy resources, and various engineering solutions to determine the optimal microgrid configuration.
Business model evaluation and power purchase agreement structuring and negotiation provide a commercial basis for debt finance, funding, and revenue.
We can provide full service project management capabilities, from early stage concepts to operational microgrids.
Our services include the development of complete power delivery and operation plans, regulatory & HSSE compliance, tender submission, approvals, and risk management.
We like working on complex projects with partnerships that run across local communities, governments, and private company stakeholders.
We design, develop, and deploy hybrid renewable energy microgrids for remote communities and islands that have high-cost, high-carbon power infrastructure. Our ideal projects range from 50 kW nano-scale village installations to < 10 MW utility scale systems in offgrid communities. Our focus is on remote islands and isolated communities with difficult logistics, heavy reliance on diesel fuel, and a high levelised cost of electricity. We develop projects in-house and also work with large EPC partners to deliver utility scale projects efficiently and cheaply.
David brings utility-scale experience in the operation and management of remote area microgrids and power services.
As manager of the Indian Ocean Territories Power Service from 2013-2016, he was responsible for all power generation and distribution services in the Australian territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
David's experience includes complete power service delivery, operations and management, as well as liaison with the private sector and federal, state, and local governments for the delivery of critical power infrastructure in remote island communities.
David has seven years of technical experience as an electrical supervisor and electrician for the IOTPS from 2010 to 2016, and has qualifications in electrical engineering, instrumentation, and business management.
David brings experience working in remote and offgrid communities, including experience across multiple active renewable projects in Indonesia, working on technical design, engineering, and project delivery for ecoresorts, telecom, and commercial renewable sectors.
As CTO of Island Power Co, David Ellis leads the company's microgrid system design, engineering, and project operations and management.
David has a track record of founding and delivering successful technology companies and products across multiple industry sectors, working in all aspects of design, engineering, business development, and management of technology companies.
David was previously founder and CEO of an Australian software application startup that developed multiple high profile apps in the App Store, achieving millions of sales and millions of users across the globe.
As a software designer and engineer, David has achieved multiple number one apps in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and across Europe. David has developed, licensed and sold intellectual property, had his work featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and been featured extensively by Apple worldwide.
In addition to Island Power Co, David leads the software team at Solar Suite Pty Ltd, an Australian solar company specialising in design, engineering, procurement, and support services for solar installers in Australia.
Prior to working in software, David was a marine scientist for the Australian Government, where he worked as a marine ecologist on the response of coral reef ecosystems to climate change.
As CEO of Island Power Co, David McKinney leads the company’s business, finance, modelling, and company management.
Our team reviews the latest technology products and services so we can always deliver the most reliable and cost effective microgrid service. We model hundreds of microgrid systems during our feasibility and design studies and optimise for the least-cost, highest-efficiency configuration for specific locations and renewable resources combined with existing generation assets.
Photovoltaic solar power has reached grid parity, and array configurations including fixed-tilt and single-axis tracking are optimised based on available solar resources and the microgrid's overall renewable source configuration.
New advances in lithium ion and flow battery storage systems support peak shaving, load shifting, demand response, renewable firming, and general grid support and resilience services for microgrid and utility scale applications.
Wind turbine options are typically double fed machines with partial-scale converters, or squirrel-cage induction and synchronous generators with full scale converters for efficient power generation.
We use advanced microgrid system controllers for smoothing, shifting, and intelligent power management to maximise the effect of high-penetration hybrid renewables in the delivery of reliable, utility-grade power.
Our remote monitoring capabilities provide realtime microgrid system performance and uptime metrics, and remote microgrid access for routine grid maintenance, network diagnostics, and fault troubleshooting.
We have lots of experience working with traditional diesel generation and can deliver completely integrated renewable + diesel backup systems, or the full takeover and O&M of existing diesel assets to allow integration of renewables into operating power stations.
We have experience ranging from the design and modelling of tiny standalone ecoresort microgrids (50 kW) to the management, operation, and technical support of megawatt-scale government-owned island power stations (1-8 MW). For small resort-scale developments we provide packaged design, engineering, and installation, while for megawatt-scale projects our preferred model is to develop microgrids as an independent power producer, selling electricity under a power purchase agreement.
Technical studies, financial modelling, and project development for offgrid and grid-connected microgrid projects in the Indian Ocean Territories.
System modelling and project development for resort scale offgrid renewable microgrid projects in South East Asia.
Island Power Co Pty Ltd
ACN 617 149 032 | EC 13075
Office 2, Administration Building
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, WA 6799
Indian Ocean Territories
Mobile: 041 050 6276