Dim view of solar effort

ISRAELI electricity company BrightSource has challenged the Federal Government to replicate US President Barack Obama's offer overnight to guarantee loans to two solar energy projects.

The move comes as the International Energy Agency endorses a Zero Carbon Australia 2020 plan to be launched in Melbourne next week.

The US Department of Energy will extend US$1.85 billion ($A2.19 billion) in loan guarantees to Spanish power generation company Abengoa and to solar panel manufacturer Abound Solar.

BrightSource Australian chief Andrew Dyer said Resources Minister Martin Ferguson's $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program should be tweaked to resemble the US model and allow for several solar power plants to be built in tandem.
"If we are serious about 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020, then given it takes three or four years to build a facility, the Government should be encouraging projects to be built earlier," Mr Dyer said.

In May, Mr Ferguson announced the shortlisted projects to qualify for one of two federal grants. Another shortlist will be revealed by early next year for the second grant.

BrightSource's submission to the Solar Flagship program failed to make the shortlist in the first round.

The company, which operates in Israel and the US, proposed building two 125 megawatt solar thermal power towers, which would have provided electricity to the equivalent of 100,000 homes.

"The Government should assess whether the US program would be appropriate for Australia," said Mr Dyer, whose company received a US Government loan in February to build a 400 megawatt solar plant. Mr Dyer will be a guest panellist at the launch of the Zero Carbon Australia plan.

The IEA said the ZCA 2020 plan, which outlines a costed transition to 100 per cent renewable energy in 10 years, was "based on up-to-date and sound information".

"It provides quality insights on how a country well-endowed in renewable resources can transition to a solar and wind economy," said the IEA's Cedric Philibert.

For details of the ZCA 2020 Melbourne Energy Institute launch go to beyondzeroemissions.org

Original Source: Olga Galacho Herald Sun