Vast Solar CEO Craig Wood has defended his company's Mount Isa collaboration with Stanwell after Robbie Katter said the state government was conflicted in the matter.
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The $600 million, 50-megawatt North West Queensland Hybrid Power Project is set to be built near Mount Isa by Vast Solar and government-owned Stanwell Corporation.
However last week Robbie Katter said the project could lock in high electricity prices for North West Queensland and was in direct competition with the proposed $1.5 billion CopperString 2.0, a high-voltage transmission line connecting the region to the national grid.
Mr Katter said the hybrid project could only be economically viable if the region remains disconnected from national energy market forcing Vast and Stanwell customers into expensive contracts.
However Mr Wood said his project was not dependent on CopperString in any way.
"Our project is independent from CopperString and we are carrying regardless of whether CopperString goes ahead or not," Mr Wood said.
"Our project is quite different from CopperString in that it is local to the Mount Isa region and the high quality plant operation jobs will be in Mount Isa. Ours is a generation project whereas CopperString is a transmission project. Our project brings benefit regardless of CopperString being there."
Mr Wood would not be drawn over whether the government was conflicted over the involvement of the state-owned Stanwell.
"It's not really for me to comment whether there is conflict (of interest) or not, I think the projects bring different things to the community," he said.
Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the government supported the NWQHPP project and CopperString.
He said there was even potential for Vast to use the CopperString to send hybrid power back to the National Energy Market.
"We'll work with all of the proponents in the region - be they in transmission or in generation to achieve an optimal outcome that secures jobs for Queenslanders, brings more manufacturing to Queensland and secures the stability of our resources industry," he told parliament last week.
Mr Wood said the NWQHPP was a power-generation asset combining four technologies to deliver low cost renewable energy to the people around Mount Isa.
"The four technologies are: concentrated solar thermal power, the technology our team has been developing for 11 years, which provides half the energy," he said.
"We couple that with a photovoltaic plant, which are the panels you have on your roof, which provides daytime generation, and then you need a battery output to help the output from the PV as well as a gas engine for back-up for occasions when clouds interrupt the solar assets."
Mr Wood said there were two options for getting gas in Mount Isa either via the APA Carpentaria Gas pipeline that links Mount Isa with Ballera in southern Queensland, or the Jemena Northern Gas Pipeline which links the Isa with NT gasfields.
Earlier this year Vast Solar signed a joint development agreement with Stanwell under which the two parties take the project forward 50-50.
"Our expectations are that the feasibility study phase will be done by the end of the first quarter next year, then there's an approval process hopefully starting construction in the second or third quarter of next year," Mr Wood said.
Mr Wood said the project would be built on private pastoral land on the May Downs Rd around 10km "west of Mount Isa.
We've been working closely with James and Marjorie Lord for some time, we plan to secure that land subject to the project going ahead," he said.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
