Antinuclear

Solar pholtovoltaic energy plant planned for Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Investec plans 50MW solar PV plant near Kalgoorlie, REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson  13 February 2013 Global banking and asset management group Investec is working on a proposal to build a 50MW solar PV power plant near Kalgoorlie, in what is likely to be the first solar plant of its size in Australia.

Investec is hopeful of sealing land tenure at Mungari, about 26kms from Kalgoorlie, in the next month or so, and then will go to market to seek  a power purchase agreement and lock in project finance. Construction on the project could begin next year.

The Mungari project is one of two currently being studied by Investec in WA – the other being the Chapman solar PV project near Geraldton, which was originally billed as a solar hybrid but may emerge as a solar PV only project.

WA is emerging as one potentially of the hottest regions for the utility scale solar industry, thanks to its excellent solar resources and relatively high electricity prices.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance last week said that solar PV plants in WA would have an estimated levellised cost of energy of around $157/MWh, compared to more than $190/MWh for new coal-fired generation in the state, where the cost of coal is expensive. BNEF expects the LCOE of solar PV to fall below $100/MWh by 2020.

Despite this, and helping fund the country’s first utility scale solar plant, a 10MW facility near Geraldton, the conservative state government is focused on new coal-fired generators, and is currently restoring its ageing Muja coal fired generator near Collie (and facing a major cost blow-out).Investec project manager Lynne Lagan said Kalgoorlie made sense because of its excellent solar resources and its location at the edge of the South-West Interconnected System – the grid that services the south west corner of the state.

Lagan said there was a single 220kW line going to Kalgoorlie, so a limited amount of generation could be brought in. “It makes sense to put some generation in this part of the network,” she told RenewEconomyby phone from Kalgoorlie on Tuesday.

“That’s why chosen this location. We been working on project for 18 months on land tenure and we are now looking to finalise those arrangements.”

Lagan said Investec’s numbers on the cost of the solar plant were about the same as Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  And she noted there was a huge amount of interest from miners, many who operate on remote locations but are forced to truck in gas or diesel at horrendous costs – often at around 400/MWh or even more. Building this plant could open up further opportunities.

“This sort of project makes sense regardless of whether it considered as a “renewables” project,” she said. “There is a lot of expensive diesel generation here and we are having discussions with some of mining  operations. They just want power that makes sense at a sensible price.”……

City of Kalgoorlie Boulder CEO Don Burnett told ABC radio that  the region was a perfect and secure location for a large scale solar station because of the guaranteed sunshine.

“It’s a great location for a solar proposal and the benefits to the city and the region would be immense, but also it’s a great opportunity for the state and federal governments to be involved in innovation in sustainable energy.” http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/investec-plans-50mw-solar-pv-plant-near-kalgoorlie-22039

February 14, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | solar, Western Australia