Construction on the Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project is scheduled to commence in the first half of 2011.

Visit the Kogan Creek Solar Boost website: www.kogansolarboost.com.au

MEDIA RELEASE

13 April 2011

World’s largest solar integration with a coal-fired power station gets go ahead

The Commonwealth Government and Queensland Government have given the green light to one of the world’s largest solar projects announcing today that approval had been given for the $104.7 million Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project.
CS Energy’s 750 megawatt coal-fired Kogan Creek Power Station near Chinchilla in South West Queensland will soon become home to a 44 megawatt solar thermal addition representing the largest solar project in the Southern Hemisphere and the world’s largest solar integration with a coal-fired power station.
CS Energy Chief Executive David Brown said the innovative solar project represents one of the most significant investments to date in solar thermal technology and is part of CS Energy’s commitment to producing cleaner electricity from existing coal-fired power stations.
“Already Kogan Creek Power Station is one of the largest and most energy efficient power stations in Australia’s electricity market” Mr Brown said.
“By using energy from the sun we will increase the station’s capacity to meet the growing demand for electricity increase its fuel efficiency and reduce its greenhouse intensity – avoiding the production of 35600 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.”
The Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project will increase the amount of electricity generated by up to 44 megawatts during peak solar conditions providing an additional 44000 megawatt hours of electricity per year.
“In simple terms the solar addition will enable Kogan Creek Power Station to produce more electricity with the same amount of coal” Mr Brown said.
“Projects like this are essential for CS Energy to successfully transition to a low- carbon future and will build the capacity of the Australian solar industry.”
The project will use AREVA Solar’s Australian-pioneered compact linear fresnel reflector (CLFR) technology to supply additional steam to the power station’s turbine supplementing the conventional coal-fired steam generation process.
The technology uses heat from the sun to convert water to steam with zero emissions. It is the most land-efficient solar technology generating 1.5 to 2.6 times more peak power per acre of land than competing solar technologies and is the only CLFR provider to supply superheated steam which has specific application to the power generation market.
The Kogan Creek Power Station is located near Chinchilla in south west Queensland.
“The location is ideally suited for a solar thermal system due to the good levels of solar insolation or more simply the amount of sunshine in the region” Mr Brown said.
The solar power will also be generated directly into the electricity transmission grid to power homes and businesses.
Up to 120 jobs will be created during the project’s peak construction period with AREVA building and operating a local manufacturing facility to support the project.

From http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/groundbreaking-solar-energy-project-announced-queensland

Groundbreaking solar energy project announced in Queensland

The Gillard Labor Government has today given the green light to one of the biggest solar thermal projects in the world.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard today confirmed funding to build a solar energy system on the site of an existing coal-fired power station near Chinchilla in Queensland.
When built the $104.7 million Kogan Creek Solar Boost project will be the largest integration of solar technology with a coal-fired power station in the world.
The project which relies on Australian-pioneered solar thermal energy technology is an excellent example of the type of clean energy we want to encourage in Australia.
The integration of the innovative solar technology at the Kogan Creek power station will save 35000 tonnes of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere every year.
With an extra 44000 megawatt hours of electricity produced a year Kogan Creek will continue to meet the growing energy needs of Queenslanders and Australians – but in a cleaner more efficient way.
The project will create up to 120 jobs when building work starts later this year. The technology supplier AREVA Solar plans to manufacture the solar hardware locally.
The Australian Government has committed $34.9 million to help build the project.
The go-ahead means solar-generated electricity from Kogan Creek will be powering Queensland homes and businesses by 2013.
Putting a price on carbon will help drive the investment we need in renewable and clean energy technologies such as solar thermal at Kogan Creek.
Further investment will continue to help make industrial-scale solar power more feasible affordable and viable – which will benefit all Australians.
The Australian Government is supporting renewable and clean energy technologies through the $5 billion Clean Energy Initiative.