SA: Coober Pedy to get solar power station

AAP Newswire
Tuesday 19/2/2008

Australia's largest solar power station is to be built at Coober Pedy in South Australia's mid-north. It'll provide more than 10 per cent of the city's electricity. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the seven million dollar project will produce nearly two thousand megawatt hours of power each year. It'll feature 26 solar dishes, each one 14 metres high.

Coober Pedy was chosen because it's not connected to the electricity grid, and gets all its power from diesel generators. The solar power station will cut diesel use in the town by more than half a million litres, and save one and a half thousand tonnes of greenhouse gases. The federal government will provide three and a half million dollars for the station with other funding coming from the state government and private industry.

Premier Mike Rann says the project will consolidate the state's reputation as a leader in renewable energy initiatives. He says South Australia already provides nearly half of the nation's wind power, more than 45 per cent of the nation's grid-connected solar power, and is home to more than 80 per cent of all geothermal exploration activity in Australia. The new Coober Pedy power station is expected to begin generating electricity by the end of 2009.