Solar thermal power plant announced for Port Augusta ‘biggest of its kind in the world’

A 150-megawatt solar thermal power plant described as the biggest of its kind in the world will be built just over 130 kilometres from the world’s largest lithium ion battery.

Construction of the $650 million plant will start in 2018.

Aurora facts:

• 150-megawatt solar thermal power with eight hours of storage
• Plant will deliver 495 gigawatt hours of power annually, or 5 per cent of SA’s energy needs
• Equivalent to powering more than 90,000 homes
• Located 30 kilometres north of Port Augusta
• Company says it is “completely emission free”

Mr Weatherill said the Aurora Solar Energy Project would be ready to go in 2020 and would supply 100 per cent of the State Government’s needs.

The Government will pay a maximum of $78 per megawatt hour.

Mr Weatherill said the solar thermal plant was “the biggest of its kind in the world”.

“Importantly, this project will deliver more than 700 jobs, with requirements for local workers,” he said.

In September 2016, the Government launched a tender process to procure 75 per cent of its long-term power supply.

It said it wanted to attract a new competitor onto the market and put downward pressure on electricity prices.

Source: Solar thermal power plant announced for Port Augusta ‘biggest of its kind in the world’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)