Huge Photo voltaic is shifting forward with plans to ship Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar energy (CSP) plant after securing monetary help from the federal authorities to construct a 30 MW/288 MWh facility in South Australia .
From pv journal Australia
The Australian Renewable Vitality Company (ARENA) has confirmed it has accredited AUD 65 million ($44.95 million) in funding to renewables developer Huge Photo voltaic to construct VS1, a “first-of-a-kind” CSP plant north of Port Augusta, South Australia.
Huge Photo voltaic Chief Govt Officer Craig Wooden mentioned the AUD 203 million challenge goals to show the technical and operational efficiency of the corporate’s modular CSP know-how at utility scale, serving to to unlock additional funding. future tasks and supply one other pathway for Australian trade to decarbonise.
“The world-leading VS1 plant could have a major influence on the way forward for clear, dispatchable vitality technology in Australia and around the globe, permitting us to maintain electrical energy grids powered in a single day,” he mentioned.
Huge Photo voltaic’s CSP know-how makes use of mirrors to pay attention and seize warmth from the solar in photo voltaic receivers, with high-temperature warmth transferred by means of liquid sodium and saved in molten salt. The saved vitality can then be used to warmth water to generate steam to drive a turbine and generate electrical energy, or the warmth will also be used on to decarbonize sure industrial processes.
The Sydney-based developer mentioned its know-how permits vegetation to be configured with 4 to 16 hours of storage and turbines of as much as 500 MW. Wooden mentioned one of many advantages of CSP is that captured warmth might be saved cost-effectively for lengthy durations of time with minimal vitality loss. Which means that CSP can be utilized to generate electrical energy or present warmth when wanted, together with in a single day.
The know-how was demonstrated in Jemalong, New South Wales, the place a 1 MW pilot plant, constructed alongside a 50 MW photo voltaic PV challenge, has been delivering electrical energy to the grid since early 2018.
ARENA Chief Govt Officer Darren Miller mentioned the growth of Huge Photo voltaic’s know-how right into a commercial-scale challenge illustrates that CSP know-how can play an essential function in producing and storing renewable vitality at scale.
“With rising demand for dispatchable renewable technology and longer-term vitality storage, CSP has the potential to assist Australia’s vitality transition alongside pumped hydro and large-scale batteries,” he mentioned.
ARENA’s funding for VS1 is conditional on the challenge reaching monetary closure, which is focused to happen in late 2023. VS1 is anticipated to take two years to construct with industrial operations starting in late 2025.
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