But will it lie down? The proposed Port Augusta solar thermal power plant is a great example of public ignorance of the laws of physics on a massive scale. How the concept has polluted public energy debate for so long is amazing. I have been drawing attention to Solar Thermal problems for years because that technology obviously butts up against the laws of physics. From 2016 – then ARENA says concentrated solar thermal not viable should have laid projects to rest – the death of solar thermal at Forbes NSW – but Dr Hewson campaigns in Wentworth byelection still spruiking solar thermal. We are about to elect a GreenLeft Fed Govt and solar thermal might ride again.
Some revealing quotes in the ABC article; such as blaming the solar thermal fail on SA plans to build the interconnector to NSW. When NSW, already a significant importer from Qld, is shutting Liddell.
Way too many people responsible for our electricity grid seem to have no idea about what works and what does not.
> ” … a great example of public ignorance of the laws of physics on a massive scale”
If something is said in “sciency” language, most people cannot tell the difference between fact and speculation.
Nor do they care that they cannot.
One of the most acute Dilbert cartoons strips I’ve seen had Dilbert programming a virtual cultural population. He had left out “laws of physics” constraints to make life simple and had then allowed for the likelihood of the brighter individuals in the population becoming suspicious of this simplicity.
How ?
He programmed the large bulk of the population to be suspicious of bright people.
The blaming of the failure on the NSW interconnect is a self admission that this source of energy was not price competitive and would force users to pay even higher prices.
From the link:
“Earlier in 2017, the Federal Government confirmed it would grant $110 million in a concessional equity loan to support the project.”
And that’s the Libs! Why oh why are governments subsidising these things with sums in the hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash?
It’s clear that solar thermal technology is just not mature. Why can’t we wait until it is (if ever) and then let electricity generating companies buy it on a proper commercial basis? The very fact that the government subsidised this monster means it wasn’t commercially viable, which almost proves by itself that it was bound to fail.
ABC promoting a rearguard action by solar thermal true believers.
The future of solar thermal power once promised so much, but has the shine worn off?
www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-09/has-the-shine-worn-off-solar-thermal-power/10983180
Nobody mentions the “not viable now” result of the ARENA survey.
Not many now know that the first solar plant in Australia was a thermal plant at White Cliffs (opal town) in NSW put in with government aid through the ANU (university) around 1985. It had multiple equipment failures and maintenance problems including corrosion from the heating fluid. They could not keep up with the maintenance of the backup diesel generator which ran for most of the time. It was closed after some years and replaced with a powerline from Broken Hill where generation was from three very large diesels which was put in to supply all the mines and the town. I visited the station a little before it was closed and got first hand the tail of woe from the the supervisor. I also visited the Central Power station at BH.
Around 2000 the mirror stands were converted to PV solar but that was also abandoned because of cost and control problems.
White Cliffs got a run in comments here a year ago –
50MW Solar PV planned at Forbes NSW 2May18
www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=5773
The Aurora project was over-hyped from the start.
We were told it would generate 600GW per year. Since the claimed capacity was 135MW that means it would have had to operate at FULL capacity for 4,444 hours (12.2 hours a day). As Pt. Augusta gets 3,200 (or less) hours of sunlight how would they get that extra sunlight? Diesel driven floodlights?
Theoretically they MIGHT generate 432GW (135MW by 3200 hours sunlight) but as generation is poor when the sun is low in the sky (early morning, late afternoon and winter) they should work on a Capacity Factor around 34% (from Spain) so 147GW in a year, or about 17MW per hour. Whoopee!!
Then the cost was stated to be $650 million yet even with $220 million up front subsidies the scheme never got off the ground.
And the cost of the electricity generated would be $72 per MWh when the (very slightly) smaller plant (Crescent Dunes) in Nevada needed $172. And DON’T ASK about the reliability of performance there.
Remember these great para by Terry McCrann
The experts lie about renewable energy
www.heraldsun.com.au/business/terry-mccrann/terry-mccrann-the-experts-lie-about-renewable-energy/news-story/ed410ad88221ae96d6c3dd3e244269ee
THE first and most important thing to understand about global warming true believers and the pushers of so-called “renewable energy” is that they lie.
They lie effortlessly, seamlessly, continuously and without the slightest sense of shame. They lie deliberately and carelessly and casually, and even when they don’t realise they are lying. They lie without the slightest sense of self-awareness and with all the pomposity of stupidity aforethought.