Australia’s Solar Flagship Programs Underway

Thanks to the Australian Government’s strong efforts to reduce carbon emissions,the country has tabled two solar flagship programs. These projects which will be begin construction between 2011-2012,are some of the largest of their kind worldwide, and form an important part of the burgeoning large scale solar applications underway throughout the country.

A massive $1.5 billion has been allocated to construct both the huge Solar Dawn Project in Northern Queensland and the Moree solar farm in New South Wales. Together the two are expected to add 400 MW of clean and renewable energy to the current mark of approximately 540 MW,which was Australia’s solar capacity as of 2010.

The Moree solar farm will be largest of its kind utilising photovoltaic technology, and is expected to generate about 150 MW of clean energy. Construction will begin near the town of Moree by 2012 and will deliver many new job opportunities during construction to help lift the local economy. When completed the solar farm will be comprised of 650,000 solar panels which will be quite a sight to see! While only new it may be one of the few of its kind in the country, as the current photovoltaic technology provides less efficient energy production then the new solar thermal or hybrid applications.

It was cause of some rivalry between the 2 states that Queensland received the approval for a more efficient hybrid project of natural gas and the latest concentrated solar thermal system.

The Solar Dawn project, which will take place in the huge and sparsely populated region of outback Nth Queensland, comprises an expected 250 MW output, nearly double that of Moree. This is partly thanks to its use of exciting CSP technology (Concentrated Solar Power)which has been further developed by a French company from the original Australian design.

Concentrated solar power systems or concentrated solar thermal (CST) systems use mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a small area. Electricity is produced when the concentrated light is converted to heat, which then drives the steam turbine connected to an electrical power generator.

The technology works by producing electricity with CSP and having natural gas powered boilers as auxiliary steam source during the night and when needed on cloudy days to provide a continued source of energy.

Both projects are expected to put the country on the map as one of the top renewable energy producers in the world, and are attracting considerable investor interest locally and overseas for the commencement of similar projects. These will prove to be not only of great value to the Australian economy, but also put us much closer to being able to reduce our carbon emissions significantly!