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Solar power plan about earthly power
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Pangea on 10/12/2009 22:00:00
 
If all goes according to plan, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says, the $141
million solar thermal facility could be operating by 2012. It would
significantly reduce the territory's carbon footprint, at least theoretically,
while enhancing Canberra's reputation as a leader in the development of
renewable energy technologies.
It's not a bad pre-election announcement, either. The plan is visionary, and
speaks of a Government unafraid to make the necessary investments to ensure
greater environmental sustainability.
What a shame, then, that it resembles something hastily drawn on the back of
paper napkin rather than a well researched, fully costed proposal capable of
rigorous scrutiny and assessment by politicians, Treasury economists and solar
energy researchers. The study on which Stanhope based his announcement is the
work of a multinational planning, engineering and construction organisation
(Parsons Brinckerhoff Australia). The title of the 100-page document ,''Solar
Power Plant Pre-feasibility Study'', hints at the flimsiness of the findings,
but its many assumptions and provisos make it more akin to a hastily conceived
blue-sky research document than something that might serve as the basis for a
feasible, economically viable plan.
The study was commissioned in part by ActewAGL, which also raises doubts whether
the identification of a solar thermal generation facility (together with a
gas-fired auxiliary generator) as the outfit best suited to the ACT's unique
needs, geography and climate was influenced more by commercial considerations
than by any particular desire to identify the best renewable energy scheme
possible.
There appears to be scant evidence that Parsons Brinckerhoff consulted
extensively or widely with renewable energy researchers (many of whom live and
work in Canberra) about what might work best in the ACT, or that it apprised
itself fully of the latest developments in this rapidly moving sector.
The authors identify solar thermal trough technology as the best option for
Canberra based on its lower cost (compared with other solar technologies such as
photovoltaic cells), its operational record and its use in new commercial plants
in the US and Europe. Solar-voltaic options are also a commercially proven
technology and, while the report declares that PV generation technologies are
reliable and well known, it rules against them on cost grounds ignoring the
likelihood that greater economies of scale in manufacturing will reduce future
start-up costs.
Why it rules against a technology that allows consumers to feed renewable energy
back into the grid (an initiative that Stanhope promised in last year his
Government would introduce) is open to conjecture though some cynics might
speculate that ActewAGL's commercial imperatives were a factor in the decision.
The main drawback with a solar thermal facility capable of generating 22MW the
kind Stanhope envisages is that it requires a large site of 120ha. Coupled with
a gas-fired co-generation facility, this amounts to a sizeable environmental
impact. The authors note that, while relatively benign, such a facility will
''require similar consideration of similar environmental issues as a small
gas-fired power station'' though once these have satisfactorily carried out, and
a development application has been granted, the ''project could succeed''.
Given the unexpected community opposition that derailed ActewAGL's plans to
build a gas-fired power station in Tuggeranong alongside a data centre, the
report is prudent in foreshadowing similar issues for the solar power station.
Of course, Stanhope now firmly in election mode would rather not dwell on the
possible downside to this initiative. But to ignore the potential for community
objections is to risk another Tuggeranong-like debacle.
One of the other hurdles to be overcome before the proposal for a solar power
station can move forward is funding: without the promise of substantial
government grants and subsidies, it will go nowhere.
The Federal Government's determination to fund the development,
commercialisation and adaptation of renewable energy technologies from 2010 on
suggests some cause for optimism, though how the Commonwealth intends to spread
its investments has not been fully spelt out. For Stanhope to be choosing a
winner when the umpire has yet to outline the race rules may be considered
far-sighted, but it is also impetuous.
The haste with which this proposal has been cobbled together will undermine the
Government's credibility, and possibly lead many voters to conclude it was
conceived as a political stunt.