Sun shines on stocks as renewable sector warned to be 'realistic'

Canberra Times
12 July 2011, Page: 4

Big scale solar projects are "not for the faint hearted" and Australia must be realistic about future challenges, a global solar thermal company says. Andrew Dyer, a Melbourne based director of United States clean tech company BrightSource Energy, has welcomed the Federal Government's $13 billion renewable energy investment package and its pledge to boost clean energy generation. But he warns big solar projects will inevitably face complex environmental and land tenure challenges in Australia.

"There is a saying that no good deed goes unpunished, and that's certainly the case with large scale solar because of the amount of land required", Mr Dyer said. "Big solar projects are certainly not for the faint hearted. There will be potentially contentious issues to resolve, but we can do it".

After the Federal Government's weekend announcement of its carbon pricing package, clean energy and carbon offset shares performed strongly on the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday. Stocks in some geothermal companies rose by more than 20%, and Ceramic Fuel Cells, a leading Australian developer of low emission electricity generation units, jumped by 15%. Queanbeyan solar company Dyesol Limited gained 10%, and West Australian wave energy developer, Carnegie Corporation Wave Energy, rose by 23%.

Mr Dyer, who has worked with energy utilities in Europe and Asia, is a company director of Californian solar thermal company BrightSource Energy. The company, which specialises in solar tower technology, has raised more than $US330 million ($A309 million) in corporate financing, with investors including Google, Morgan Stanley and the Californian State Teachers superannuation fund.

Australia is "sitting on an enormous investment pot" of superannuation funds that could be used to support clean energy projects, Mr Dyer said. "It's important to get moving on these large scale projects because of the time involved in planning, securing investment and construction".

But building baseload scale solar projects can have tricky environmental consequences, as BrightSource Energy discovered last year when its $A2.06 billion solar tower project in California's Mojave desert was halted after desert tortoises a federally protected species were discovered on part of the 1457ha construction site. The company had already scaled back the project by 12%, using fewer towers and mirrors, to protect rare desert plants and tortoise habitat.

The massive solar tower project, which will generate 392 MWs of energy the equivalent of taking 90,000 cars off the road for 25 years received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee by the US Department of Energy. But despite US federal support, it has provoked opposition from influential California Democrat senator Diane Feinstein who is lobbying to protect the Mojave desert from utility scale renewable developments.

Mr Dyer said solar developments in Australia would "almost certainly come up against land rights issues" such as Native Title and environmental impact assessments.