This report provides valuable insights gained during the Solar Boost project that can be used to strengthen future renewable energy developments.
Report extract
The Kogan Creek A Power Station Solar Boost Project (the Solar Boost project) was a project to construct a solar thermal addition to the 750 megawatt coal-fired Kogan Creek Power Station near Chinchilla in south west Queensland.
The concept was for the solar thermal addition to ‘boost’ the generation output of a modern coal-fired power station by up to 44 megawatts in peak solar conditions. Solar thermal energy would be used to evaporate and superheat boiler feedwater to produce high quality steam. This steam would be fed into the power station’s turbines to increase the power station’s electricity generation output while burning the same amount of coal.
The project commenced construction in 2011 and was designed to use AREVA Solar’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology. The project encountered significant delays during construction. After careful consideration of all possible options for the project, the responsible course of action was to discontinue the project. On 18 March 2016, CS Energy and ARENA announced that the Solar Boost project would not be completed due to technical and contractual difficulties and the resultant negative impact on the project’s commercial prospects.
The solar thermal addition could not be commercially deployed without substantial further financial investment and there was no prospect of ever getting a positive return on that investment.
This report provides valuable insights gained during the Solar Boost project that can be used to strengthen future renewable energy developments. CS Energy and ARENA are working together to ensure the project contributes to industry knowledge on solar thermal technology.