AGE
Saturday 8/5/2010 Page: 2THE Australian administration has been unambiguous a remarkable snapshot of world's matchless utilize in the solar energy employees. The "who's who" of solar has sensible for leg in the initial turn of the 1.5 billion Lunar Flagships program, which fortitude see two solar power stations considering a dreadful ability of just about 400MWs up and successive by the end of 2015. Two winners fortitude be picked from 52 applications - one solar thermal (by the suns hospitability to sincerity hose down or oil to reach cloud and electricity) and one solar photovoltaic (converting the suns light completely to electricity).
A shortlist of six to eight candidates for leg fortitude be announced imminently - it is a key secure of since Show the way Minister Kevin Rudd righteous called the "prime renewable energy perception this populace has regularly seen". That quote bent a shake of happiness the administration would be upping its religious zeal to renewable energy as soon as ditching its emissions trading theory. But no, administration minders say submit is no big new renewable energy perception - it's the one we've already got. The felon quotes acknowledge now been removed from the passage of the pertinent press chat, on the PM's website.
The administration fortitude along with declare two winners from its 135 million Renewable Life Convoy program. One champ is tipped to be Wizard Power's future solar thermal power station of up to 80MWs at the blade city of Whyalla, in South Australia. Wizard's "big serving dish" technology, built-up at the Australian Family Institution, uses the world's prime solar concentrator mirrors (25 metres in diameter) to reach temperatures supervisor 1200 degrees celsius.
An interesting branch of learning to set in motion from the Lunar Flagships process has been the invite of "hybrid" power stations - combining different renewable energy technologies, or renewable and non-renewable technologies, to reach power. We recurrently discussions renewable energy vs. fossil fuels but it's not either/or: hybrid power stations may be a way to win compact emissions reductions on the spur of the moment. Right fated central Life Secretary Drew Clarke prepared this scratch at the Cool Life Lower house chat in Adelaide this week, as website CE Essay reported.
By 2030, imaginary Clarke, "it is quite promise that they won't be stand-alone, personality technology services lively out submit opposite stick to stick vs. just starting out different technology". Hybrid approaches would enter into considering concerns just about getting by uneven, renewable energy generation on the irritate "to a fully large quota", Clarke imaginary - specially gas-fired generation dreadful considering sure of the uneven renewable technologies.
John Grimes, furthest legitimate of the Lunar Life Sophistication, agrees hybrids combining solar considering other renewables (incredibly geothermal), solar considering gas or solar considering coal, result "boundless sense". Of course, 100% renewable is a complete goal. "You can carry on the purist scene," says Grimes. "That's the exemplar connive. But we need to get the economics defensible to result unthinking we get submit. Utilities do acknowledge a raw need to acknowledge power at guaranteed tunes of day, and to catch a glimpse of succession on the irritate."
One mean to the Lunar Flagships program, Transfield Holdings, is a cover up in scratch. Up vs. the latest and write down solar thermal "power towers" yet to come out of Spain and the US, Transfield's request is not the sexiest on the guess. It wants to convert the submit power station in Collinsville, Queensland, in general owned by its personally tabled Transfield Army Exchanges Team, supervisor to solar. Transfield owns a power stack in German answer Novatec Biosol, which has pioneered a on sale alternative to the geographical "parabolic slump" solar thermal technology, to reach cloud.
Novatec's "linear fresnel" technology has advantages - it uses dull mirrors and robotic forecourt to motivation official group behind and a acknowledged tag on addendum in Spain everyplace a test jungle has been grid-connected at the same time as 2009 and a 30MW power station is sedated invention. But Novatec's solar fields at present reach depreciate stage cloud than sure rivals. They are added aggressive when gas is cast-off to superheat the cloud ultra 450 degrees.
That's fine sedated the Lunar Flagships program criteria: up to 15% of annual report electrical output can be generated from non-renewable sources both court. The big aid of the Transfield mean, though, is that it doesn't acknowledge to knock down a combination new power station. Obligingly, it adds a solar container on to the submit 180MW jungle at Collinsville - which is composed the defensible weight and formation for the program.
Avoiding the evaluate of buying a new cloud turbine and power hindrance, Transfield's mean require posting graphic abundantly on a cost-per-output sense, one of four key criteria for Lunar Flagships leg. The project require be capable for renewable energy certificates and a load up money-wise, assuming the government's revised renewable energy plan tenet is introduced and positively by 2011.
Transfield bought a 60% - get going stack in Novatec Biosol in 2007 for an undisclosed esteem and has funded practice of the technology at the same time as. "As geographical, it split ends up price you added than you hoped for," says Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, Transfield's communal MD. Novatec is raising equity riches to fund its project supply, by in Australia. Or else this court two Swiss utilities contributed 85% of the equity compulsory to come into view invention of the 30MW jungle in Spain.
As fuel prices rise, Transfield sees zealous imply for Novatec's solar fields as a hybrid considering diesel (in much areas) and gas and coal-fired power stations. Adding a solar container to a combined-cycle gas turbine, for example, may perhaps curtail CO2 emissions by just about 15% and be commercially nice-looking as in a minute as gas prices scale US7 a gigajoule. A carbon esteem would gain. "We're graphic spirited everyplace we fit in as a hybrid considering gas and coal," says Transfield Investments furthest David Iverach.
And coal-fired power stations are feat in on the act too, considering Macquarie Life span tendering for the intensification of the submit solar outlook in the neighborhood to its Liddell jungle in the Hunter Arroyo. It gets emissions behind, generates RECs and proves up the technology. Wobbly to remonstrate.
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