More energy, and particularly renewable energy, is one of the key things the minerals-rich Mount Isa region needs.
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We are in a tough world. Our overseas competitors will use a lack of green power to criticise our minerals product for their own commercial advantage. World-class minerals need world-leading power generation. And it has to be local.
APA Group's recent announcement that it will build 88MW of solar photovoltaic generation in Mount Isa supported by an offtake from its existing customer, MMG's Dugald River zinc mine, is good news, bringing more clean energy to the area and reducing MMG's emissions by 33%.
But how much better will it be when APA's project generates power alongside Vast Solar's 50MW clean energy project, the North West Queensland Hybrid Power Project. By competing with APA, the NWQHPP will drive down energy prices, provide local jobs and increase energy reliability.
Straight solar PV like APA's is good, but it only generates during daylight hours. The NWQHPP will provide 24/7 high reliability baseload energy that is 75% renewable. We generate green power during the day like APA, but our technology means we continue to do so when the sun is down. That means the plant will provide cheaper power and eliminate three quarters of the carbon emissions that would be generated if the project was fossil-fired.
The NWQHPP will benefit the Mount Isa region through the creation of hundreds of direct and indirect construction jobs and more than 30 long term, high quality jobs for people that are most likely already working in power generation. Conventional solar PV plants need few workers, but the steam turbine at the heart of our solar thermal technology needs the world class tradies and technicians that Australia is proud of. And we need them 24/7.
Vast Solar is an Australian company that, with support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has developed world-leading solar thermal generation and storage technology to deliver low-cost renewable energy that is reliable, controllable and dispatchable.
We deploy solar thermal and complementary technologies such as solar PV and wind (which are cheap but, by their nature, intermittent) to deliver continuous electricity, heat and storage solutions to industries and communities. Solar thermal has been identified as one of the missing pieces in Australia's energy puzzle as it uses technology to capture and store energy from the sun during the day, which can then be used to generate electricity at night.
The NWQHPP is a world-first integrated 50MW baseload solar hybrid power plant. The project combines Vast Solar's modular tower solar thermal technology with solar PV, battery and gas engine generators to deliver low cost, reliable, clean energy to the Mount Isa region. When completed, the NWQHPP will be the largest hybrid generator and the first utility scale solar thermal plant built in Australia.
Mount Isa enjoys favourable solar conditions that make it an ideal location for a solar hybrid power plant.
Located 10km west of Mount Isa, the NWQHPP power plant will be linked to the North West Power System by a new 220kV high voltage transmission line.
The solar thermal plant gathers solar energy during the day, stores it as heat in the molten salt tanks, then at night, uses the stored heat to make steam to drive a turbine to generate electricity. The PV plant generates electricity during daylight hours. The battery is charged with excess PV power which is then deployed to partially mitigate low PV generation during cloudy periods. During inclement weather, the gas engines drive generators to ensure customer demand is met.
With NWQHPP and APA's PV plant, Mount Isa will be getting increased competition in renewable energy which will reduce costs and emissions, while creating jobs. It's a win-win-win for the area and we're looking forward to delivering our project for the Mount Isa community.
