Concentrating Solar Power is a cost-effective solution to increase Australia's power grid that could save up to $1 billion in network investments, according to results shown in a recently released report.
The results will be used to create interactive maps that provide insight into network investment, firm capacity and solar thermal cost effectiveness.
The project "Breaking the Solar Gridlock", has investigated whether network support payments for installing Concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) at grid constrained locations in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) could bridge the cost gap for CSP, while achieving societal savings in the costs of addressing network constraints. The project quantifies the potential economic benefits from installing CSP at grid constrained locations, and maps where CSP could provide cost-effective network support services.
The study was a collaboration led by the Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) with research from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney and support from the University of NSW, Ergon Energy and IT Power. Seven power network companies operating in the NEM also provided essential data.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has supported the study with $179,965. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the new research demonstrates how solar thermal offers a cost-effective alternative to network enhancements. “The study found that solar thermal could eliminate the need for network augmentation in more than 70 per cent of the cases examined. This is significant, as most of the rise in electricity prices over recent years can be attributed to investment in network infrastructure to meet Australia’s peak power demands.”
“This type of analysis is critical to attracting investors and will help create a pathway for the energy industry and the finance sector to deploy solar thermal technologies in Australia. The maps go hand-in-hand with the System Advisor Model (SAM) solar thermal modelling software ARENA announced last year. Together these tools provide a very clear picture of solar thermal opportunities in Australia", Frischknecht added.
AUSTELA Chair, Andrew Want, said the study builds on recent Australian research confirming the value and potential of CSP in Australia, and while CSP had been in commercial operation at large scale overseas for more than 20 years, with plants as large as 377 MW now in operation, the lack of a grid-connected CSP plant in Australia impeded investment in our market.
"Studies continually show, and this study provides further confirmation, that concentrating solar thermal power has an important and valuable role to play in Australia's electricity system of the future. But for these benefits to be realised and necessary investment attracted, we must demonstrate CST technology in our national network", Want said.
"It is inevitable we will change the way we plan, generate and deliver energy to consumers – this has already begun, with wind power and solar PV driving the change and CST has an important contribution to make in meeting our future power needs."
Jay Rutovitz, ISF researcher has stated that "this study shows CST could be a viable alternative to traditional network augmentation in more than 70 per cent of the cases examined. It also identified how $0.8 billion could be saved from network investment and how 533 megawatts of cost effective CST power could alleviate constrained grid locations in the next ten years. This would reduce greenhouse emissions by an estimated 1.9 million tonnes per year."
Ergon Energy's Development Manager Andrew Nelson said, "Ergon Energy's objective is to ensure our customer needs for a safe, reliable and affordable supply are met through the deployment of the most cost effective and efficient solutions available. In some cases this will involve putting energy storage and generation (including renewable) on the end of long and constrained power lines instead of duplicating the existing line at a higher cost. Our objective is to put downward pressure on network charges to help drive the economy."
AUSTELA is running workshops on 6, 11 and 12 February in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide respectively on how to use the study results and SAM software.
The report and maps are freely available here
The SAM software is freely available at AUSTELA's website.
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