The Government of South Australia has commissioned two innovative energy projects to procure all its energy needs from renewable sources.
A thermal solar power plant with integrated heat storage will deliver 150MW of baseload electricity.
A lithium-ion grid storage battery will stabilize energy supply from an existing wind farm.
15 August 2017: The Government of South Australia is taking steps to reduce the cost of electricity and improve the integration of renewable energies into its electric grid, including commissioning the world’s largest solar thermal power plant and lithium-ion battery for grid storage.
While solar power can only be generated when the sun is shining, this does not mean that all solar technologies are intermittent. Solar thermal power plants use large mirror arrays (heliostats) to concentrate sunlight and heat a liquid medium such as molten salt to 500 C° or more. The salt is used to generate electricity via steam turbines, similar to those in fossil fuel power plants. Hot molten salt can be stored for several hours, allowing the system to generate electricity during the night. Advanced power plants using this technology can provide renewable energy day and night at full capacity and are therefore suitable as baseload power plants.
The Government of South Australia has decided to procure 25% of its long-term energy supply from renewable sources and 75% from a new competitor “to exercise downward pressure on electricity prices.”
In its efforts to reduce electricity prices while also mitigating GHG emissions, the Government of South Australia has decided to procure 25% of its long-term energy supply from renewable sources and 75% from a new competitor “to exercise downward pressure on electricity prices.” Both contracts were awarded to a single solar thermal project offering cost-competitive baseload solar energy. The Port Augusta Solar Thermal power plant will be the largest of its kind to date with 150MW of capacity. Construction will begin in 2018 and is expected to be completed in 2020. The plant will be built by SolarReserve, a developer, owner and operator of utility-scale solar power projects worldwide.
The Government of South Australia also commissioned the construction of the world’s largest grid-scale lithium-ion battery to date. The project will have a power capacity of 100MW and can store up to 129MWh of electricity. It will stabilize energy supply from a wind farm to the state’s electricity grid. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The batteries will be supplied by Tesla. [Government of South Australia Press Release on Solar Thermal Power. 14 August][Solar Reserve Press Release][ClimateAction News Release][Government of South Australia Press Release Grid Storage. 15 August][Tesla Press Release]