World’s largest solar plant for Queensland
The $1.2 billion – 250MW, Solar Dawn project selected for funding under the Solar Flagships program will combine solar thermal energy from the unique compact linear Fresnel reflector (CLFR) conceived in Australia with gas-fired power, in what could be a template for future solar developments. Solar Dawn will be one of the largest power plants of its kind in the world. At least 85 per cent of Solar Dawn’s power generation will be entirely emissions free.
The Australian Government has selected the AREVA Solar, CS Energy and Wind Prospect CWP consortium’s “Solar Dawn” as the preferred solar thermal power project in Round 1of the Australian Government’s Solar Flagships Program.
Under the terms of the flagships criteria, gas will be limited to 15 per cent of its annual capacity, but in practice it could provide significantly more. A nearby facility using the same solar thermal technology at CS Energy’s Kogan Creek plant is using solar as a 44MW “booster” to coal fired power, and it is not yet clear which system will prove to be the most efficient or cost effective.
Unlike solar towers, which concentrates the heat from mirrors, or heliostats, on a single receiver, CLFR uses reflectors to focus the sun’s that on elevated receivers that encloses a system of tubes through which water is boiled and steam generated to drive a turbine.