Antinuclear

Solar thermal plant at Forbes, New South Wales,has great potential

“This sort of technology will put massive amounts of money into regional Australia if it takes off “.

“It could be very significant here in Australia but also, there are significant overseas opportunities for Vast where Australia could earn export dollars.”

Developer of $20 million Australian-first solar thermal pilot plant predicts sunny future under Turnbull  ABC Central West  By Melanie Pearce 23 Dec 15  After hours of steady rain, there is not a ray of sunshine in sight and the mud is thick on the ground at the $20 million Jemalong pilot solar thermal plant near Forbes in central west New South Wales.

But in a way, the fact it is overcast helps to explain the importance of this technology, which enables both capture and storage of energy from the sun, according to James Fisher, chief technology officer of Vast Solar.

The engineer, who formerly worked in the fossil fuel industry and said he never thought renewables could compete with coal, now has a much sunnier outlook on the subject.

Technology behind solar thermal power plant

The Australian company has developed what it hopes will be a low-cost, high-efficiency Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) generation technology.

The Jemalong pilot plant will be ready for commissioning in mid-January and is designed to prove the technology works.

Five modules of 700 mirrors — or heliostats — will concentrate the sun’s energy onto a receiver mounted on a 27-metre high tower.

Sodium will then be pumped through the receiver where it will be heated up to 565 degrees Celsius and stored in a tank.

When power is needed, the hot sodium will be put through a steam generator, similar to a big kettle, which will boil the water, generating steam and driving the turbine in the same way a coal-fired plant operates.

What’s different about CSP?

Mr Fisher said traditional solar or photovoltaic power production converted the sun’s energy directly into electricity which then had to be stored in expensive batteries.

He said the difference with CSP was that it captured the sun’s energy in heat which was cheaper and easier to store.

“So the big advantage with solar thermal is the storage. Our storage costs around $25 a kilowatt an hour, compared to lithium ion batteries which cost about $300 a kilowatt hour,” Mr Fisher said.

He said the system meant power production could happen whenever it was needed and until now, that role of maintaining a steady electricity grid had mainly been provided by coal power.

“We can run 24 hours a day and providing base load is really the key to solar thermal,” he said.

Potential for ‘massive’ money in regions

Mr Fisher said if the 1.1 megawatt Jemalong pilot proved the technology was viable for 30 years, billion dollar commercial plants would be built.

“This sort of technology will put massive amounts of money into regional Australia if it takes off,” he said.

Vast Solar has revealed plans for a 30 megawatt commercial plant — at a yet to be determined location — and Mr Fisher said the company had progressed well in attracting investment………http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-23/developer-of-australian-first-solar-thermal-pilot-plant/7051578

December 27, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | New South Wales, solar