The true value of Concentrated Solar Power is underestimated
market mechanisms are a long way from recognising and rewarding the full value of CSP – 100 per cent renewable, zero carbon, zero waste, dispatchable power – as compared with incumbent coal, gas and diesel.
As Australia considers how to gain best advantage from the huge investment we will make in our electricity system in the coming 20 years, the evidence points to solar thermal power as having very significant value for Australia – value our markets are not currently reflecting….
Not all electrons are created equal REneweconomy, By Andrew Want on 6 June 2012 All electrons look the same, so the saying goes. It only matters that the electricity comes out of the consumer’s power point when needed. Modern economies and consumers demand reliability of electricity supply. The question modern electricity markets need to answer is, what is the most economically efficient way to meet that expectation? And that question is about value, not cost.
The new report, Realising the Potential of Concentrating Solar Power in Australia, confirms that, as much as they may all look the same, not all electrons are created equal – some are indeed more valuable than others.
Commissioned by the Australian Solar Institute (ASI) and undertaken by international renewable energy consultancy IT Power, the report is the result of an extensive 12 month collaborative review involving Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA), the Clean Energy Council, the Australian Solar Energy Society, CSIRO and Boston Consulting Group.
The report confirms that assessments of the costs of concentrating solar thermal power used in Australia for many years are well and truly outdated.
Costs have reduced through international deployment since 2007 and, adopting even conservative cost reduction projections, the remaining cost gap can be closed within a few years.
But the report looks further, beyond the raw measures of LCOE and installed capital costs, to the value of CSP electricity generation. And it’s here that the report’s findings are most illuminating.
The value of a given amount of electricity depends on several factors other than cost:
– Time of day flexibility: Is the electricity produced and available for use at a time when it is in high demand, or at a time when it’s not needed?
– Dispatchability: How sure can we be that the electricity will be produced at a certain time?
– Network efficiency: Where was it produced, and does its delivery to consumers improve or impede electricity network efficiency?
– Environmental and resource efficiency: What are the consequences of the production of the electricity – does production consume resources, create waste or damage human health or the environment?
In a market that effectively allocates value, generation technology scoring positively on all four criteria should command a higher than average price for its output – that output is of higher than average value.
Using market data, the review tested this logic and found that a significant value premium is warranted for solar power generation, and a further premium warranted for solar thermal power with energy storage – a value factor of as much as 2 times on the energy value alone…….
Solar thermal power is a complementary technology. It can smooth the peaks and troughs of more variable generation and help address the grid stability challenges that emerge with increasing capacity of PV and wind. Gas and diesel generation can do this too, but obviously with fuel and environmental costs CSP does not have.
Appropriately located solar thermal generation, with energy storage or hybridised with gas or biomass, could defer or eliminate the need for a portion of the massive network investment – estimated with the draft Energy White Paper as over $120 billion – forecast to 2030. The Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association, working with the Institute for Sustainable Futures and UNSW, will shortly commence a detailed study into the network benefits of solar thermal generation and the value this represents.
The right incentive structures for transmission and distribution network service providers could liberate this value and deliver overall system cost benefits.
This could generate additional revenue for solar thermal and shorten the path to commercial competitiveness.
Add environmental and resource efficiency, and the value of solar thermal power increases further. Again, market mechanisms are a long way from recognising and rewarding the full value of CSP – 100 per cent renewable, zero carbon, zero waste, dispatchable power – as compared with incumbent coal, gas and diesel.
As Australia considers how to gain best advantage from the huge investment we will make in our electricity system in the coming 20 years, the evidence points to solar thermal power as having very significant value for Australia – value our markets are not currently reflecting….
Debate about Australia’s electricity system is moving – slowly but with gaining pace – away from a simplistic notion of lowest cost per hour of power, towards a more nuanced appreciation of the value of different generation types in modern electricity systems.
We need our market mechanisms to evolve much more quickly in that same direction. With the right market incentives in place, and a modest near-term investment, concentrating solar thermal power can deliver very significant value for Australia. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/not-all-electrons-are-created-equal-92133
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1.This month.
Zoom webinar – “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.”
April 7th at 11:30 am PST / 2:30 pm EST
Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange”
Join us for an informative webinar with renowned atmospheric scientist, Professor Brian Toon, as he discusses the environmental risks and global impacts of a nuclear war. Despite the potential damage caused by the blast from even small nuclear weapons, many countries continue to invest in and expand nuclear arsenals. Professor Toon will provide a scientific assessment of civilian fatalities, agricultural failures, climate concerns, and complications with food supply that would follow any international nuclear conflict. We need to plan how to prevent nuclear conflict and avoid catastrophe. Politicians and military planners must be made aware of global climate and agricultural complications that would ensue. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from, and engage in, this vital conversation
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 
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