Construction of Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar power plant is on track to begin next year with developer Vast appointing American Australian engineering company Worley to help deliver a 30 MW/288 MWh facility planned for South Australia.
Image: Vast
Australian solar thermal specialist Vast announced it has awarded Worley key engineering contracts for the proposed VS1 concentrated solar power (CSP) project being developed near Port Augusta in South Australia.
The $203 million (USD 134 million) project seeks to demonstrate the technical and operational performance of Vast’s modular CSP technology at utility scale, with the 30 MW plant to generate more than eight hours of thermal energy storage.
The Sydney-based developer said it has appointed Worley and its specialist consulting division, Advisian, to complete basic engineering of the project by July 2023, followed by front-end engineering design (FEED) in the balance of this year. Construction of VS1 is on track to begin in 2024.
Vast Chief Executive Officer Craig Wood said the decision to award Worley the contract for the project builds upon an existing relationship which will help expedite the project.
“Vast has a long-standing relationship with Worley and Advisian dating back to assistance with the engineering and commissioning of our 1.1 MW grid connected Jemalong demonstration plant,” he said. “Their skill in integrating our technology with major packages to be delivered by key equipment partners from around the world will allow VS1 to progress towards FID late this year.”
The VS1 project is set to be the first utility-scale plant to use Vast’s technology which utilises mirrors to concentrate and capture heat from the sun in solar receivers during the day before generating heat and dispatchable power during the day or night.
Unlike traditional CSP technology which uses molten salt both as a heat transfer and for storage, Vast’s proprietary technology uses sodium for heat transfer and molten salt for on-demand storage, both of which create steam to drive a turbine. The company said its technology allows plants to be configured with 4-16 hours of storage and generators of up to 500 MW.
The VS1 project has attracted significant support from the Australian government, most recently, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) approving up to $65 million in funding to support construction of the project.
That funding announcement came after Vast secured almost $40 million as part of the HyGate program, a collaboration between the Australian and German governments to establish a green hydrogen supply chain between the two nations.
That funding will support Vast, as part of the broader Solar Methanol Consortium, to develop a green methanol production plant which will be co-located with VS1.
The Solar Methanol 1 (SM1) project entails the use of a 10 MW electrolyser for the manufacture of green hydrogen as an input to green methanol production. Electricity and heat generated by the VS1 project will be used to power the electrolyser. It is anticipated the facility will produce 7,500 tonnes of green methanol per annum for use as a sustainable shipping fuel.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
More articles from David Carroll
Please be mindful of our community standards.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.
Legal Notice Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy © pv magazine 2023
pv magazine Australia offers bi-weekly updates of the latest photovoltaics news.
We also offer comprehensive global coverage of the most important solar markets worldwide. Select one or more editions for targeted, up to date information delivered straight to your inbox.
This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. To find out more, please see our Data Protection Policy.
The cookie settings on this website are set to “allow cookies” to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click “Accept” below then you are consenting to this.
Close
02 8005 6525
info@aktengineering.com.au
Recent Comments