The Australian Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Emerging Renewables Program, will invest in a feasibility study that is investigating the conversion of Collinsville Power Station into a hybrid gas/solar thermal plant.
| MARTIN FERGUSON Minister for Resources & Energy Minister for Tourism | KIRSTEN LIVERMORE Member for Capricornia |
The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, today announced the Australian Government will contribute $2.5 million towards a RATCH-Australia Corporation Limited initiated feasibility study.
The study, with a total cost of $5.6 million, will assess the viability of converting Queensland’s 180 MW coal-fired Collinsville Power Station to a 30 MW hybrid solar thermal/gas power station with the help of ARENA.
A key benefit of the project will be the production of knowledge that will help accelerate the deployment of concentrating solar thermal in Australia through hybrid projects.
“The results of the study will be made publicly available in order to assist interested parties overcome the challenges of early deployment of concentrating solar thermal,” Minister Ferguson said.
“Such information will include the overall technical feasibility of converting thermal coal fired power stations to solar thermal plants, its costs, the solar yield, network connection and other issues.”
“RATCH is aiming to use, where possible, existing plant infrastructure, which would generate significant cost savings relative to the costs of constructing a new plant.
“The feasibility study will help other generators to assess the possibility of using solar thermal technologies at coal-fired plants.”
The University of Queensland will contribute to the feasibility study through a research program that investigates the potential early stage operation and any commissioning issues.
RATCH will examine the feasibility of using Novatec Solar’s Linear Fresnel Solar Thermal technology to generate steam to be used in a steam turbine at the Collinsville Power Station.
The Measure is due for completion in 2015.
Minister Ferguson also announced further funding, through ARENA, for three solar research projects. The funding will support:
- the development of best practice community consultation guidelines to help in the construction of large-scale solar projects
- the adaptation of a model that assesses the viability of concentrating solar power systems to suit Australian market conditions
- an investigation into community owned solar business models to allow more people to be involved in renewable energy projects in the future.
Each project aims to improve the uptake of solar energy technologies in the future and forms a part of the Australian Government’s $17 billion commitment to the development and deployment of clean energy technologies.
Ipsos Social Research Institute: Utility-scale solar installations: social license to operate in Australia
$153,388 has been committed to fund an investigation into levels of community awareness and attitudes towards large-scale solar installations. Ipsos Social Research Institute will also review current community consultation and engagement activities in order to establish best practice guidelines for the development of large scale solar projects. This research is important because it will help keep solar developers and governments in step with community expectations.
Monica Oliphant Research: Community-owned solar project
$15,000 has been committed to fund an investigation into “community owned” business models that would allow renters, low income earners, or those who live in houses that aren’t suitable for solar photovoltaic panels to be involved in renewable energy projects. The resulting business model will be developed in conjunction with, and presented to Campbelltown City Council in Adelaide, South Australia.
AUSTELA: Improving the accessibility of the System Advisor Model (SAM) for Australian Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) stakeholders
$73,500 has been committed to the Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) to work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States to modify its “System Advisor Model” to suit Australian locations and markets. SAM is a proven and user friendly tool for analysing CSP project economic performance. This project aims to tailor SAM to suit Australian market conditions to help developers, investors and financiers more easily assess the economics of CSP projects in the Australian market.
