Newly established company Mid West Energy is ramping up offtake talks for its planned 200 megawatt Perenjori solar thermal project with iron ore miners and other potential customers in the Mid West region.
Newly established company Mid West Energy is ramping up offtake talks for its planned 200 megawatt Perenjori solar thermal project with iron ore miners and other potential customers in the Mid West region.
The company, led by former senior Aviva Corporation manager Richard Harris, today said it welcomed the strong support from potential buyers of its electricity from the project, which is located close to the electricity grid and several emerging magnetite operations.
The project is planned to be developed in two stages with stage one consisting of 100MW, scheduled to be completed in late 2013, and stage two is expected to be wrapped up in 2015.
It will be connected to the South West Interconnected System and will generate enough electricity to power about 62,000 homes or produce about 4 per cent of all power on the grid.
Mr Harris told WA Business News the project will generate electricity equivalent to one of the Blue Waters coal-fired units.
He said the company was talking to both energy retailers and mining companies regarding offtake agreements as part of a strategy to spread the risk, a lesson learned from his time at Aviva Corporation.
Aviva last year hedged all its bets regarding the Coolimba power project with retailer Synergy, hoping to win a lucrative contract that would underpin the development of the operation.
However Synergy awarded the contract to utility Verve Energy.
"Personally I've learnt my lesson; don't put all your eggs in one basket," Mr Harris said today.
"We're definitely spreading our risk [by talking to retailers and miners].
"There is a need for the power, its just how to commercialise that opportunity."
The Perenjori project utilises a series of mirrors that concentrates the sun's energy to produce steam, which then powers a conventional steam turbine.
The project is nearing bankable feasibility study stage and Mid West Energy has made a submission to the federal government's Solar Flagships Program, which is making $1.4 billion available to four large-scale solar projects around Australia.
The federal government is expected to announce a short list of projects under the program within the next few weeks.
Mr Harris said that along with the possible federal grant, the project will be funded by a mixture of equity and debt.
The announcement is below:
WA renewable energy development company Mid West Energy has welcomed the strong support from potential buyers of its electricity for its world class 200MW solar thermal project.
The Perenjori Solar Thermal Project is located in the heart of the fast developing Mid West region.
Mid West Energy Managing Director Richard Harris said the project's location close to the electricity grid and several emerging iron ore magnetite projects makes it a commercially attractive option for buyers of electricity.
"We're delighted with the support the project is receiving from a number of large-scale Mid West iron ore projects, as well as electricity retailers," said Mr. Harris.
"The project is a fantastic large-scale renewable energy project for WA, with special benefits for the region and the local community.
"Not only will it produce clean, reliable, zero emission power for the Mid West and the State, but it will create over 400 local jobs in construction and around 30 jobs long-term, housed in the region.
Mr. Harris said the potential spin-off benefits from the project were also significant.
"We have partnered with Murdoch University, a leader in sustainability research, to examine the development of a commercial solar desalination process associated with the project, and energy storage to provide additional power supplies in the early evening after the sun goes down," continued Harris.
Perenjori was selected as the site for Mid West Energy's large-scale solar project because of its excellent solar radiation and its location close to three major iron ore projects, while also being able to supply commercial and residential customers in the South West.
The Project will use AREVA Solar's Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar thermal technology, which will provide clean, reliable superheated steam to the power station. This advanced solar thermal technology was originally pioneered in Australia by AREVA Solar (formerly Ausra). AREVA Solar operates in Australia and the U.S.
The technology, which is cost-effective and land-efficient, uses a series of mirrors that concentrates the sun's energy to produce steam, which then powers a conventional steam turbine.
Mid West Energy has submitted the Perenjori project to the Federal Government's Solar Flagships Program, which has made available up to $1.4 billion to develop four large-scale solar energy projects in Australia.
"I congratulate the Federal Government for its commitment to develop large-scale solar power projects as part of Australia's transition to a cleaner energy future," Mr. Harris said.
"We are confident our project stacks up commercially and technically against competing projects in the eastern states, given our better solar radiation, AREVA's proven technology and energy expertise, and the ability to sell our power commercially."
Mr. Harris said he anticipated the Federal Government would announce a short list of projects under the Solar Flagships Program within the next few weeks.
"Our aim is to have the first stage of the Perenjori Solar Project delivering clean, zero emission electricity to the grid by late 2013," added Harris.
