Alternatives await a little ray of sunshine

Australian
Thursday 6/8/2009 Page: 4

FOR a nation with so much sunshine, so many days of the year and covering such a vast land area, it's an anomaly that Australia is not a world leader in solar applications. We are not so much known for our wind potential but, at this time, you would have to say that wind energy has more runs on the board and possibly greater public recognition. If there's one thing about wind farms, you certainly notice them.

We have aspired to be a pacesetter in solar many times in recent decades, and the federal government is making another push. It has committed in the latest budget to $1.6 billion for solar technologies, including $1.36bn for what it calls the Solar Flagships program. This is aimed at creating an additional 1000MW of new solar generating capacity, with four individual generation plants on the national grid using solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technologies. There are some success stories already.

One would have to be Alice Springs, where almost 10% of homes have solar energy, mainly through the use of solar hot-water systems, while about 60 houses have photovoltaic systems installed on their rooftops. Whyalla in South Australia is a case of runs about to be on the board. The city has, on average, 301 days a year of sunshine. This means it has a good level of solar irradiation.

It is now intending to build a thermal solar plant between the OneSteel steelworks and the Pacific Salt installation, the latter able to dispose of the power station's brine. The Whyalla project will proceed in stages. Initially, there will be four 500sq in dishes. Eventually, when it is shown that the technology works, enough dishes will be added to produce electricity for about 19,000 homes. But on the national scene the road to a solar future is strewn with obstacles.

Last month the solar industry warned that a successful move by Coalition and other senators to force a delay to the government's renewable energy program could cost hundreds of jobs in the sector. There have also been complaints from those advancing solar and geothermal projects that the proposed federal renewable energy target plan is too heavily skewed in favour of wind energy.

The morale of the solar industry was dealt a severe blow last year when BP decided to close its plant at Homebush in Sydney's west that made photovoltaic panels. The company argued that the factory's small scale made it impossible to compete with panels made overseas. BP emphasised the positive side: that it was all part of an international drive to reduce the cost of solar equipment to make it more competitive with other power sources, but the closure sent a discouraging signal to the local industry.

There were no doubt economic arguments in favour of cuts and early terminations of federal programs, but the initial impact of those decisions was to cast some cloud over commitment to solar. First there was the earlier than expected termination of the $8000 grants for rooftop solar panels. That was followed by the cancellation of incentives for installing stand-alone solar and wind systems in remote communities.

All this comes against the backdrop of increasing interest in solar energy. Barclays Capital, for example, has just issued a report out of New York that predicts the US solar industry will grow more quickly than expected due to the fact that utilities are gearing up for some large-scale solar farms. Solar now accounts for a total of 444MW of capacity in the US, but Barclays said this could increase 12-fold in the next few years.

In Spain, it is expected that some 14,000MW worth of solar thermal power generating capacity is either on the drawing board or in construction. The European plans are probably on the more solid footing. natural gas in Europe is still expensive by Australian and US standards. In the US, for example, falling natural gas prices have meant solar and wind postponements, most famously the recent decision by oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens to pull the plug on his plan to construct a huge windfarm in the Texas Panhandle.

Meanwhile, wind energy is well and truly with us in Australia. Start of work is getting close on what will be Australia's largest windfarm, a $2.2bn project at Silverton near Broken Hill. It will see 598 turbines producing enough electricity to power almost half a million homes. On a smaller scale, a Hobart property developer last month applied to build llm wind turbine towers on two buildings in the city one on the Marine Board building, the other on the ANZ Bank in Collins Street.