Solar Power Plant for Canberra

The move follows approval for teh scheme in a feasibility study.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the study by Parsons Brinckerhoff, commissioned earlier this year by the ACT Government and ActewAGL, had determined that a solar plant appeared to be feasible.

The report identified solar thermal parabolic trough technology as the technology likely to prove most feasible, based on cost and its use in recent commercial power plants in the United States and Europe.

The capital cost of an ACT plant has been estimated to be about A$141 million, with operational and maintenance costs of close to $2 million a year.

Mr Stanhope said the costs may vary, depending on the technology used and the financial and business structures finally selected.

"The consultants have recommended proceeding to a full feasibility study. The Government has elected to go one extra step and construct a business case, with the intention of testing the market," Mr Stanhope said.

"A number of firms have signalled strong interest in building a large-scale solar power station in the ACT, and it is expected that the proposals from these organisations would address many of the questions that would be addressed during the course of further feasibility studies. On that basis it has been decided to combine the processes.

"Climate change is perhaps the most urgent challenge confronting us globally, and investment in renewal energy cannot be delayed."

Mr Stanhope said a re-elected Labor Government would seek proposals from suitably qualified companies for the construction of a facility with a capacity of at least 80 GWh/a - capable of powering at least 10,000 homes. Proposals would not be limited to a particular technology. The final proposal would require a full environmental impact statement.

He said while a number of possible sites had been nominated for consideration by the consultants, this had been simply intended to demonstrate that the ACT possessed sites that met the requirements of a solar farm as regards size and solar aspect. Potential sites for any development would be identified only after a preferred technology had been determined through the tender process, and the community would be consulted in relation to both potential and final site selection.

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