As reported by Giles Parkinson on Climate Spectator, “Big solar’s big potential”, Australian Solar Energy Society has joined with Australian Conservation Foundation to call for an addition 5 per cent of Australia’s energy to come from “big solar” by 2020.
That target would see the generation of around 8,500 megawatts of large-scale solar, and the construction of more than 30 big solar plants around the country. It would also cut Australia’s carbon pollution by more than 240 million tonnes over the life of the projects.
A 5 per cent target is ambitious, but not unrealistic. The projects exist – Solar Flagships drew out 52 big solar projects, at least scoped at the initial phase, with local partners and support (see table below) – and the technology is ready, including the ability to dispatch power to the grid when it is needed most, 24 hours a day. The only thing missing is the incentive to invest.
The International Energy Agency reports Australia could generate 5 per cent of its electricity from concentrated solar power. In its recent report, Technology Roadmap: Concentrating Solar Power, the IEA indicated concentrating solar power should be a competitive form of peak and intermediate power by 2020, and of baseload power by 2025 to 2030. The IEA went even further, reporting that concentrating solar power would be able to provide 40 per cent of Australia’s electricity by 2050.
But as the IEA makes clear, government incentives will make the difference between the success or failure of big solar in Australia.
Read the full article on Climate Spectator and the AuSES press release regarding their announcement last week.
Tags: AUSES, Australia, Australian cleantech leaders, Australian Conservation Foundation, Australian Solar Energy Society, cleantech, cleantech news, Solar, solar power generation
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