Newswire

The challenge facing solar thermal technology and its quest to compete with other energy sources was underlined in a proposal released late last month by Beyond Zero Emissions, for a replacement for the ageing and highly polluting Playford coal-fired power stations in Port Augusta.

BZE, along with a host of other environmental groups, the local mayor and, it seems, much of the local population, want the current power stations replaced by solar thermal energy, using solar towers with capacity of 760MW, and a further 90MW of wind turbines.

BZE estimates the current levellised costs of energy (LCOE) of solar thermal to be $250-$300/MWh. Even with storage, and the ability to dispatch into peak periods between noon and 6pm, when the electricity price averages around $150/MWh, the nascent technology still falls short without further assistance such as loan guarantees or feed-in tariffs.

State Parliament would this week be briefed on the benefits of replacing the coal-fired power stations in Port Augusta with concentrating solar thermal power.

The meeting with driving organisation Beyond Zero Emissions, organised by member for Stuart Dan van Holst Pellekaan, is to take place before parliament sits.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan said without the briefing the Liberal party does not have a position on the proposal. “I can say that there will not be another coal-fired power station built in this country,” he said. All members of parliament are invited to attend, as well as their staff.

“Any sensible person must be interested in a policy that could provide sustainable, renewable and affordable electricity,” Mr van Holst Pellekaan said.

About 60 residents of Port Augusta and surrounding towns gathered at the Cooinda Club on Saturday to support bringing a solar thermal plant to Port Augusta.

The Repower Port Augusta forum was launched by Beyond Zero Emissions.

Mayor Joy Baluch and BZE’s Mark Ogge spoke to the group about the benefits of solar thermal over the proposed gas-fired power station.

And it isn’t just a group of locals getting behind the cause, as Mr Ogge said support has been shown in other cities.

“It’s captured the imagination of a lot of people in Adelaide and around,” Mr Ogge said.

See this week's Transcontinental for more.

Non-profit think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) has released 'Repowering Port Augusta'; a blueprint for replacing South Australia's emissions intensive Northern and Playford B brown coal-fired power stations with wind power and solar energy facilities.
 
The Northern and Playford B power stations currently provide around 40 percent of South Australia’s power - and also contribute significantly to the state's carbon emissions.