CSP World

The Australian Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Emerging Renewables Program, will invest in a feasibility study that is investigating the conversion of Collinsville Power Station into a hybrid gas-solar thermal plant.

The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has announced the Australian Government will contribute AUD$2.5 million towards a RATCH-Australia Corporation Limited initiated feasibility study.

The study, with a total cost of AUD$5.6 million, will assess the viability of converting Queensland’s 180 MW coal-fired Collinsville Power Station to a 30 MW hybrid solar thermal-gas power station with the help of ARENA.

ARENA claims that a key benefit of the project will be the production of knowledge that will help accelerate the deployment of Concentrated Solar Thermal Power in Australia through hybrid projects. In Australia, there are currently two CSP plants using Linear Fresnel technology to add steam to coal-fired power plants, the Liddell plant, under operation and Kogan Creek, which is under construction. In this case, teh steam would be integreded to a combined cycle gas-fired power plant.

“The results of the study will be made publically available in order to assist interested parties overcome the challenges of early deployment of concentrating solar thermal”, Minister Ferguson said.

“Such information will include the overall technical feasibility of converting thermal coal fired power stations to solar thermal plants, its costs, the solar yield, network connection and other issues”.

“RATCH is aiming to use, where possible, existing plant infrastructure, which would generate significant cost savings relative to the costs of constructing a new plant.

“The feasibility study will help other generators to assess the possibility of using solar thermal technologies at coal-fired plants”.

The University of Queensland (UQ) will contribute to the feasibility study through a research program that investigates the potential early stage operation and any commissioning issues.

“This University has a fundamental, core focus on sustainability in its operations and it supports a number of research projects in this area”, Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Høj said.

“We are delighted to partner with RATCH-Australia and ARENA in multi-pronged research that we expect to significantly support the transition to renewable energy supplies”.

Professor Høj said solar research at the University had gained real momentum in recent years, and UQ was now among Australia's leading universities in this area.

This is a good chance for UQ to get deeply invloved in CSP research projects, as it has been focused mainly in PV technology, “The University now has an expansive portfolio of solar research programs spanning basic science, engineering, plant deployment and economics, for example, in 2011 we built and commissioned Australia's largest rooftop PV array, recently announced our participation in the $87 million CSIRO-led Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative and are lead research partners on the $450 million AGL Solar Flagships project, we are delighted to add the Collinsville project to this growing list of initiatives”, Professor Høj stated.

RATCH will examine the feasibility of using Novatec Solar’s Linear Fresnel Solar Thermal technology to generate steam to be used in a steam turbine at the Collinsville Power Station.

The Measure is due for completion in 2015.

Minister Ferguson also announced further funding, through ARENA, for three solar research projects. The funding will support:

• the development of best practice community consultation guidelines to help in the construction of large-scale solar projects
• the adaptation of a model that assesses the viability of concentrating solar power systems to suit Australian market conditions
• an investigation into community owned solar business models to allow more people to be involved in renewable energy projects in the future.

Each project aims to improve the uptake of solar energy technologies in the future and forms a part of the Australian Government's $17 billion commitment to the development and deployment of clean energy technologies.