Victorian Premier, John Brumby, has announced a $30 million funding boost to support the development of alternative energy technologies.

Mr Brumby said that "The funding will be available for parties interested in developing pilot-scale demonstration projects or research and development proposals for sustainable energy technologies in areas such as solar, wave, geothermal and bio-energy. The results delivered from these grants will help us produce and operate the technologies we need to make renewable energy sources commercially viable."

The Premier also announced the establishment of an Office of Solar Energy which he said would would bring together under one umbrella the extensive work being done on solar energy in Victoria. 

Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, also announced the appointment of a Medium Scale Solar Working Group, which will examine current barriers to investment and what additional measures are required to encourage the use of solar energy in Victoria.

The Working Group will be chaired by Tony Wood, Director of the Clean Energy Program of the William J Clinton Foundation, which was set up by former US President Bill Clinton to focus on worldwide issues such as climate change. Other members will include Ian Porter from the Alternative Technology Association, Mark Twidell from the Australian Solar Institute, Damon Moloney from the Green Buildings Council and Rod Menzies from the Clean Energy Council.

Horizon Power has officially opened what it says is the world’s first "high=penetration" solar, diesel power station in the remote Pilbara towns of Marble Bar and Nullagine.

The project includes more than 2000 solar panels across both towns and incorporates solar tracking systems that follow the path of the sun in each town throughout the day. Diesel motors are used to generate electricity when there is insufficient solar power. It will provide 65% of the towns’ daytime electricity from solar power.

Flywheel technology allows energy generated from the solar panels to be stored and regulated in the short term, removing the need for a constant deisel backup generator. If the panels shut down because of cloud cover or any other reason, the flywheel provides 500 kilowatts of energy for about five minutes, which is enough time to start one of the diesel engines.

The system is classified as "high penetration" because it provides most of the towns’ electricity.

A 1,350 solar panel system is already in operation in Marble Bar and a 900 panel system in Nullagine is expected to be full operational by October.

Beyond Zero Emissions has officially launched its "Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan".

The is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten years. The technologies utilised in this plan, which are predominantly concentrated solar thermal with molten salt storage, are commercially available now.

To download the full 200-page Plan click here (8.4MB). For a 16-page synopsis of the Plan click here (2.2MB). Hard copies can be purchased from the Melbourne Energy Institute.

Several eminent scientists, including Professor Robin Batterham, President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and formerly Chief Scientist of Australia, have attested to the technical feasibility of the plan.

Professor Batterham went on to say "With our natural advantage Australia can and should be positioning itself as a global renewable super power for future prosperity. This report will help shift the climate debate to focus on energy; security; affordability; export and of course opportunity. Beyond Zero Emissions offers a new and invigorating message that is much needed”
 

REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, has produced its annual Renewables Global Status report. A copy of the report is available here.

Highlghts of the report on 2009 include:

• Investment in new renewable was $US150 billion – up from $US130 billion in 2008
• Globally, nearly 80 GW of renewable capacity was added, including 31 GW of hydro and 48 GW of non-hydro capacity
• Almost half of the new capacity (37 GW) was added in Chin
• More renewable power capacity was added than coal, gas and nuclear power capacity in.both the United States and Europe
• 38 GW of wind power capacity was added with more than a third (13.8 GW) of that being in China. The United States was second, with 10 GW added
• 7 GW of solar PV was added itions with Germany adding more than half (3.8 GW) the global total
• Many countries saw record biomass use. In Sweden, biomass accounted for a larger share of energy supply than oil for the first time
• Major crystalline PV module price declines took place, by 50–60 percent by some estimates, from highs of $3.50 per watt in 2008 to lows approaching $2 per watt
• There was record small-scale solar Pv but the dollar investment totals in utility-scale solar PV declined relative to 2008, partly because of the large drop in the costs of solar PV modules.

Wind Power – World Installed Capacity

Solar PV – World Installed Capacity

Victorian Premier, John Brumby, has announced a plan to source 5% of Victoria’s electricity from large-scale solar plants by 2020. This would require the generation of approximately 2,500 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity annually.

Mr Brumby also announced an interim target of generating approximately 500 gigawatt-hours annually by 2014.

Achieving this is expected to require the construction of between 5 and 10 new plants to be built in the state’s north and west.

The solar electricity plants include an existing proposal to build a station outside Mildura by 2015. This 154 megawatt proposal was resurrected by Sydney company Silex after original backers Solar Systems went into administration.

Mr Brumby said the plan would make the state the nation’s leader in renewable energy.  ”We will be producing in Victoria as much solar as will the rest of Australia under the (Federal Government’s) Solar Flagships program,” he said.

The government estimates that the plan would increase household electricity bills by between $5 and $15 a year from 2014, and inject up to $2 billion into the state economy.

Sydney Theatre Company has begun installation of the theatre’s new $5.2 million solar power project. When complete 70% of the theatre company’s power will be provided by the 1,906 panels, which will generate some 500KW.

The installation is a major part of the 3-year Greening The Wharf project which will transform The Wharf, the Company’s home on Sydney Harbour, into a unique demonstration of how buildings, including heritage-listed ones, can be made more sustainable. The project, which will deliver the majority of Sydney Theatre Company’s energy and water requirements from sustainable sources, is believed to be a first for any theatre company in the world in its scale and comprehensive approach to sustainability.

New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, Frank Sartor said: "The funding will transform the historic, heritage-listed Walsh Bay finger wharf into a publicly accessible green technology showcase. Every visitor to The Wharf will see the green technology in action and appreciate how it can deliver efficiencies with equal, if not better, performance."

The Australian Federal Government has announced that the CSIRO will receive $47.3 million for the development of solar and geothermal energy technologies to power a radio-astronomy observatory and its supporting computer centre.

The funding will support renewable energy infrastructure projects for the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory and the Pawsey High-Performance Computing Centre for Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Science in Perth.

The Pawsey Centre in Perth, which is located at the CSIRO’s Australian Resources Research Centre, will become one of Australia’s largest direct heat geothermal demonstration sites.  Researchers plan to address the heating and cooling requirements, not only of the SKA data centre, but the entire geosciences facility. They will also conduct research on the performance and longevity of geothermal wells.

Both the Murchison Observatory and the SKA computing facility are part of the Australasian bid to host the $2.5 billion Square Kilometre Array, which involves 20 countries and will investigate galaxy evolution, dark matter, and the existence of life. Australia and New Zealand are in competition with a Southern African SKA bid, involving several Afrcan coutries. A decision is expected to be made in 2012.

According to CSIRO chief executive, Megan Clark, the newly announced projects will also accelerate the Australian development of renewable energy technology for uses beyond the SKA. She said that "This project will also allow the practical application of research by scientists and students from all over Australia in renewable energy, as well as in astronomy, computer science, engineering, geology and environmental management."

Artisi’s impression of the Murchison radio telescope (via CSIRO)

The City of Sydney is to reinvest the $2 million a year which it current spends of greenpower into renewable energy systems for its buildings and operations.

Projects under consideration include a glass and solar panel shade canopy in front of Customs House at Circular Quay and solar panel roofs on other council buildings such as depots, aquatic centres and other community facilities.

Mayor Clover Moore said that "Rather than just offsetting our electricity emissions, this strategy invests the money we would have spent on carbon offsets into building renewable energy projects for the city".

This scheme is in addition to the city’s programme of developing tri-generation plants to reduce the need for council buildings to rely on electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Tenders are being called this month to establish tri-generation plants in seven locations around the CBD at Town Hall, Customs House and five aquatic centres. The plan is to create a network of such plants providing up to 325MW over a 15-year period, which could connect to neighbouring buildings and the entire CBD.

Allan Jones, who took the English city of Woking off the grid and implemented similar plans for London, is now the council’s Chief Development Officer for Energy and Climate Change. He says there are numerous advantages to the plan. It will cut emissions by about 70 per cent, reduce and possibly eliminate the need for new coal-fired baseload generators and eliminate losses from transmission.

(Also see our previos artticle "Lessons from London")

The Victorian Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Innovation, Gavin Jennings, has launched the Victoria-Suntech Advanced Solar Facility at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

Heading up the VSASF will be Professor Min Gu, Director of the Swinburne Centre for Micro-Photonics, and Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO, who is also a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

According to Professor Gu, the facility will allow Swinburne researchers to work closely with Suntech throughout the research and development stages. This will ensure that their technology can be easily transferred to the production line and complement Suntech’s industry-leading PlutoTM solar cell technology.

Dr. Zhengrong Shi commented that “As solar reaches grid parity, in Australia and around the world, we are powering a revolution that will permanently redefine how the world uses energy.”

Delta Electricity and Macquarie Generation are planning to set up two 1,000 megawatt fossil fuel based power plants in New South Wales because they claim that the State does not have the adequate renewable energy potential.

In fact, NASA estimates put solar readings in New South Wales at 6kw/m²/day which is equal to the solar radiation received in Southern California and similar to Spain. Southern California and Spain are the largest solar power production regions in the world.

The New South Wales Department of Industry and Investment website states that "NSW has an excellent wind resource. Background wind speeds in NSW are comparable to northern Europe, where a large portion of international wind generation is currently installed". Yet, only about 150 megawatts of wind power generation is currently installed or under constrruction in the State.

A geothermal anomaly south of Muswellbrook in the State’s Hunter Valley is believed to have similar potential, although on a smaller scale, for extracting energy from hot dry rocks as South Australia’s Cooper Basin which is regarded as one of the best such sites in the world.

And, of course, the State boasts one of the world’s great hydroelectric schemes in the Snowy Mountains.