Consultant Dan
18 June 2011
Solar Flagships photovoltaic and solar thermal power stations for Australia
Today the media is reporting that 2 of the “largest solar power stations in the world” have been announced by the federal government under its 2 year-old Solar Flagships programme. (They are not the largest in the world, but more on that later.)
Both the timing of the Solar Flagships announcement and the choice of solar technologies are significant power plays in the politics of climate change.
The announcement comes one day after the Government refused to guarantee to the Greens that the carbon package will include adequate funding for solar power. This is of great concern to the solar industry. To make this favorable announcement today is meant to distract from the valid criticisms of the Greens.
There is a good analysis in the Sydney Morning Herald today, of Senator Christine Milne’s negotiations with the Government.
The solar industry is, however, pleased that Energy Minister Martin Ferguson is finally going to commence project funding under Solar Flagships, which was announced more than 2 years ago, by then PM Kevin Rudd.
Once Australians see solar power plants, they will be as enthusiastic about the technoogy at that scale as they are about domestic PV modules on their own roofs. This will tilt the political playing field away from gas and toward genuinely clean energy.
The Solar Flagships projects
Moree Solar Farm is a joint venture between BP Solar, Fotowatio and Pacific Hydro. It will be a 150MW solar power plant using BP Solar’s polycrystalline photovoltaic panels mounted on a single axis tracking system. It is near Moree in northern New South Wales.
The project is exciting because of its scale. The total cost is slated to be $923 million, including $306 million funding from the flagships program and $120 million from the state government.
This plant will be much larger than the biggest current Australian PV installation, which is a 1.2MW array at University of Queensland. But Moree will probably not even be in the top 10 plants in the world when it is completed:
- The US currently has 7 plants in the 150MW+ range under consutrution or in planning stage.
- Greece has the 200MW Kozani PV Park due to start in a few months.
- China is planing a 4 stage 2000MW venture, the Ordos Solar Project
Solar Dawn has been announced already (at least once). It is a joint venture between AREVA Solar, CS Energy and Wind Prospect CWP. It is a solar thermal power project using AREVA Solar’s Compact Linear Fresnel (CLFR) technology with backup gas boilers. It is located at CS Energy’s existing Kogan Creek Power Station, near Chinchilla in Queensland.
So will Solar Dawn be the biggest in the world? No chance. There are already 3 plants in the 100-150MW range in Spain and the US has a facility of 9 plants totaling 354MW in the Mojave Desert (which the biggest solar station in the world.)
Plants due to open include:
- 370MW Ivanpah in the US is the biggest under construction.
- The US has announced almost 20 plants in the 200-1000MW range
- Ashalim in Israel will be 250MW
- Andasol 4-7 in Spain will be 200MW
The technological politics
I am a big fan of solar thermal, but Kogan is a controversial selection. The technology chosen is the one that suits the coal industry, not the one with the greatest technological potential.
There are 2 dominant groups of solar thermal technology, fresnel/trough and tower. (ANU’s dish technology is still at R&D stage.)
Fresnel and trough technology uses long lines of mirrors to focus light on tubes that carry thermal oil, which is heated up and transferred to a heat exchange system that generates steam for turbines. Here is a video about CLFR.
In the case of Kogan, the solar thermal energy is being used to boost the steam generation of fossil fuels.
Tower technology uses a field of flat mirrors to focus light to a concentrated point. This creates higher temperatures and they can use a molten salt as the thermal transfer fluid. Here is a video which compares technologies and explains what is holding the industry back.
The advantages of high temperature and molten salt storage are what makes towers the best technology. Firstly, steam turbines become more efficient at higher temperatures.
Secondly, we can over-specify the field, so that there is more heat generated during the day than the turbine system can use. This excess energy is stored in tanks of molten salt, which is then pumped back into the turbine system at night, producing ‘base load’ electricity.
The coal industry sees troughs as a way of prolonging its life, allowing coal to promote itself as a ‘low emissions’ or ‘clean’ energy source. The coal industry understands that towers are a direct competitor to its monopoly on ‘base load’ electricity and will do everything it can to hold back the development of that technology.
Is Solar Flagships Australia’s SunShot?
President Obama’s Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, is a Nobel laureate physicist and he has thrown his weight behind towers. His SunShot Initiative is funding R&D and commercialization of towers with molten salt storage, with the objective of bring the combined energy cost below coal in 9 years.
It is important that Minister Ferguson clarifies the return on investment at Kogan. He says it is a 250MW station, consisting of a combined gas plant and CLFR field integrated into the 750MW coal fired power plant.
The project proponents state that the that the CLFR will only generate a 44MW boost. I have tried to clarify these figures but journalists I have asked are unclear.
On 8 July I will be attending the Large Scale Solar Deployment Roundtable in Canberra. This Roundtable is happening on the initiative of the Greens, in response to industry frustration with Minister Ferguson’s management of Solar Flagships and the transition from fossil fuels to returnables.
It is important that the Greens make Minister Ferguson’s decisions transparent to the Australian public and the solar industry. The era of cheap photovoltaic and solar thermal electricity is here. Whether Australia is well positioned to benefit from this technological turning point will depend largely on the carbon tax negotiations and Ministerial decisions made in Canberra, over the next few weeks.
Thanks Rob.
I stand corrected.
Do you know how I can find out what the value of the solar boost will be within the new 250MW plant, as opposed to the 44MW boost in the smaller, original CLFR plant?
not sure. they refer to it as 250MW solar thermal with gas backup. The critical question is can it generate electricity without gas in which case it would not be “gas boost” but truly gas backup for cloudy days and night time.
On the issue of largest in the world here is a reasonable list. Certainly the largest CLFR, but not the largest of any other technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations
this implies it will run primarily on solar “At least 85 per cent of Solar Dawn’s power generation will be entirely emissions free.” from http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/green-light-build-australias-largest-solar-projects
although the claimed carbon savings of 50000 tonnes from Areva rep doesn’t sound right (sounds way too low. perhaps we was confused with the 44MW solar boost?) http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/transcript-joint-press-conference-brisbane-0
Guys, the Solar Dawn plant is separate from the Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project (http://kogansolarboost.com.au) – that’s a 44MWe solar field which augments the coal fired Kogan Creek Power Station. Solar Dawn is a stand-alone power station in its own right. It will be the largest solar thermal gas hybrid plant in the world. Even though its gas boilers can generate the full 250MW output, Solar Flagships requires that it generates a maximum of 15% of its output from gas backup.
The carbon savings are close to 500,000 tonnes per year, not 50,000. He dropped a zero.
I also don’t agree that “The technology chosen is the one that suits the coal industry, not the one with the greatest technological potential.” Linear fresnel uses off-the-shelf components, so value engineering will drive the costs down significantly over time. Parabolic trough doesn’t really have significant technological development left to go, whereas linear fresnel has an exciting development future, IMO.
Many people under-rate linear fresnel, but the fact that it was won back to back grants in Australia, and will soon be demonstrated in a large scale standalone power station and in an installation which augments an existing coal station, should change that.
@Arnoo: Thanks yes I didn’t realise they are separate projects. I’ve heard some skepticism about whether the 15% gas backup will be enforced but you’re right its a good project.
I will look into linear fresnel properly now. Areva is aiming for significant temp increases, which is intriguing.
I’m keen to see Australia build a power tower with storage because I’ve been persuaded that it is the technology with the best stand-alone generation and night dispatch potentials.
Perhaps I came across negatively when I’m trying to make a positive point, which is that solar thermal deserves its own funding and support in its own right. I think the coal industry should be forced to stump up considerable sums to investigate the potential of solar thermal boosting. Particularly in light of the fact that Big Coal has failed to live up to its promises on clean coal R&D.
@rob farago: Did you found Local Power? That is a great venture.
yes I was 1 of the 3 co-founders f http://localpower.net.au thanks for your kind words!
@ Dan Cass “I’ve heard some skepticism about whether the 15% gas backup will be enforced”. I haven’t heard that. As far as I know, the 15% cap is a strict condition under the guidelines and would presumably be strictly enforced. It’s supposed to be predominantly solar thermal plant rather than a gas plant.
RSS
this has a map which shows the 44MW “coal boost” as separate from the 250MW electricity generation with gas backup
http://solardawn.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/7546_ARES-SOLAR-DAWN-FACTSHEET_laser_FINAL.pdf