This week’s electrical news is all about renewables, as Victoria begins building the world’s first solar thermal plant.
What is the RayGen Solar Thermal Plant?
The RayGen Solar Thermal Plant, which began construction this week near Mildura, will use a combination of solar energy and thermal storage to provide renewable energy across North-West Victoria.
Developers of the technology, RayGen Resources, says the plant will be able to provide “day-night renewable electricity”, which essentially means that the plant will be able to supply electricity even when the sun isn’t shining. As renewable energy is not always dependable, this is a huge part of the plant’s appeal.
And it’s not just grid reliability that is sparking excitement: Experts are expecting that the plant will cost below $100 per megawatt hour, which meets key goals for the Commonwealth Government’s Low Emissions target.
So, how does Solar Thermal Technology work?
The plant’s dual-purpose technology works by using mirrors to focus sunlight to produce electricity, and then uses that solar electricity to create thermal energy. This technology is a world first, and will deliver 4MW of solar generation, and 3MW/5-MWh (17 hours) of storage.
Let’s break that down a bit more:
First, sunlight is focused onto a PV receiver, which solar panels mirror and capture the sunlight to produce solar energy.
From there, thermal energy is created through the temperature difference of two water-filled reservoirs, which collectively have the capacity of nine Olympic sized swimming pools!
The temperature of each reservoir is controlled by the solar electricity produced at the plant. One of the reservoirs is heated by capturing the heat produced as a by-product from the solar mirrors, and the other is chilled using solar electricity.
The thermal energy produced from the temperature difference between the two reservoirs is then converted into electricity, which can be used even when there’s no sun shining.
Pretty cool, hey!
This technology is pretty cutting edge, cost effective and has a zero e-waste benefit.
We’re pretty excited here at MPE Group to see all the innovative developments happening in the industry - and chuffed that it’s happening in our home state!
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