News & Discussion: Electricity Infrastructure

[PeFe]

Sanjeev Gupta unveils details of his solar power proposals and annouces the clients who will take his power.

Big new solar farm to be built at Whyalla.

From Renew Economy

9
Gupta’s stunning deal to supply cheap solar to South Australian industry

UK “green steel” billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has unveiled a stunning, landmark agreement to provide cheap solar power to five major South Australian companies, promising to slash their electricity costs by up to 50 per cent.

The eight-year deal signed with a consortium brought together by the SA Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME) – and including some of the heavy hitters in the resources industry – will enable Gupta’s SIMEC ZEN Energy to fast track the construction of the 220MW Cultana solar farm near Whyalla.

The eight-year supply deal is the just latest in a flood of contracts between large energy users and solar companies to slash their electricity costs by sourcing power directly from their own or third-party solar farms.

Just in the past few weeks, companies such as CUB, Mars Australia, and University of Queensland have signed contracts to meet all their electricity needs with large-scale solar plants, and others such as zinc refiner Sun Metals, Telstra and CC Amatil will use solar and/or wind to supply a large part of their needs.

Gupta’s deal is doubly significant, because it is the start of his own plans to create an Australian solar-powered economy, with plans to build 10GW of large-scale solar to slash the energy costs of his own manufacturing businesses and others.

Full article : https://reneweconomy.com.au/guptas-stun ... try-54849/

[PeFe]

Another solar farm/battery proposal

https://reneweconomy.com.au/major-200mw ... lia-31502/


And discussion about the proposed new grid connector to NSW

https://reneweconomy.com.au/nsw-coal-re ... lar-21224/

[PeFe]

Good news about the large virtual power network using Tesla batteries

https://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-build ... ess-63950/

[Waewick]

Its great news.

I've heard on the grape vine that the team behind this is even busier now than under the former government.

It appears the discussions of whose plan was better will be moot as both a rolled out.

[PeFe]

I still prefer Labor's plan for a number of reasons

- Gives people on lower incomes access to cheaper electricity

- May persuade a new retailer to set up in the state bringing more competition to market

- The ultimate aim of a 250 MW virtual network will bring great benefits to the power supply issues in the summer months
And the I see the Tesla/Housing Trust homes plan making this happen faster, rather than random grants to homeowners

- If you already have solar panels, you dont need subsidies for batteries, the price of storage is only going one way......down....the state government has limited funds and subsidising the middle class is not a good use of that money

[Nort]

I still prefer Labor's plan for a number of reasons

- Gives people on lower incomes access to cheaper electricity

- May persuade a new retailer to set up in the state bringing more competition to market

- The ultimate aim of a 250 MW virtual network will bring great benefits to the power supply issues in the summer months
And the I see the Tesla/Housing Trust homes plan making this happen faster, rather than random grants to homeowners

- If you already have solar panels, you dont need subsidies for batteries, the price of storage is only going one way......down....the state government has limited funds and subsidising the middle class is not a good use of that money

If the Tesla plan does go ahead then the article linked above seems to suggest that both schemes will happen. I agree subsidizing the middle class isn't the best use of money, but if we could get both schemes running it will make an amazing proof of what distributed solar can do so could be worth it for that alone.

[specimenpeated]

Lot of confusion, What are the subsidies actually providing by the government.

[Jaymz]

Seems like the State Govt. want to get cracking on this one. It was an election promise after all.

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaki ... 943ddb5805

[SBD]

Seems like the State Govt. want to get cracking on this one. It was an election promise after all.

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaki ... 943ddb5805

Can anyone explain why it is South Australia that seems to have to pay for this? It might have a psychological benefit for South Australia, but as far as strengthening the grid itself, the main function will be to get Made-in-South Australia wind and solar electricity to New South Wales as far as I can tell. Hornsdale Wind Farm has a contract to supply up to 315MW to the ACT government. It has to be more efficient to use an NSW connector to export it than to do it as offsets on the interconnectors to Victoria and then the interconnector from there to NSW which already runs at capacity with Tasmanian and Victorian power as well as ours.

[Waewick]

Seems like the State Govt. want to get cracking on this one. It was an election promise after all.

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaki ... 943ddb5805

Can anyone explain why it is South Australia that seems to have to pay for this? It might have a psychological benefit for South Australia, but as far as strengthening the grid itself, the main function will be to get Made-in-South Australia wind and solar electricity to New South Wales as far as I can tell. Hornsdale Wind Farm has a contract to supply up to 315MW to the ACT government. It has to be more efficient to use an NSW connector to export it than to do it as offsets on the interconnectors to Victoria and then the interconnector from there to NSW which already runs at capacity with Tasmanian and Victorian power as well as ours.

I don't understand what the $14m is going to do, seems like a drop in the ocean for the total cost?

I also agree the logic just seems out there as well, cheaper electricity and making money from exporting energy? Which one is it? Surely i can't be both?

[SBD]

Seems like the State Govt. want to get cracking on this one. It was an election promise after all.

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaki ... 943ddb5805

Can anyone explain why it is South Australia that seems to have to pay for this? It might have a psychological benefit for South Australia, but as far as strengthening the grid itself, the main function will be to get Made-in-South Australia wind and solar electricity to New South Wales as far as I can tell. Hornsdale Wind Farm has a contract to supply up to 315MW to the ACT government. It has to be more efficient to use an NSW connector to export it than to do it as offsets on the interconnectors to Victoria and then the interconnector from there to NSW which already runs at capacity with Tasmanian and Victorian power as well as ours.

I don't understand what the $14m is going to do, seems like a drop in the ocean for the total cost?

I also agree the logic just seems out there as well, cheaper electricity and making money from exporting energy? Which one is it? Surely i can't be both?

$14M of preparations - It's about 900km. I can imagine there is $14M in surveyor and engineer costs and the like, deciding exactly what route to follow, what voltage, which substations need to be expanded or replaced (I imagine North-West Bend, Monash, Buronga, and does it really need to go to Wagga Wagga or is Darlington Point suitable?), where should each pylon be placed, negotiating with the property owners, applying for planning approvals to build any extended substations, all the pylons (how many LGAs?), and clearing the land under the corridor.

Is SA responsible for this for the whole route, or only from Robertstown to the state border or Buronga (<400km)?

[rubberman]

Seems like the State Govt. want to get cracking on this one. It was an election promise after all.

https://www.news.com.au/national/breaki ... 943ddb5805

Can anyone explain why it is South Australia that seems to have to pay for this? It might have a psychological benefit for South Australia, but as far as strengthening the grid itself, the main function will be to get Made-in-South Australia wind and solar electricity to New South Wales as far as I can tell. Hornsdale Wind Farm has a contract to supply up to 315MW to the ACT government. It has to be more efficient to use an NSW connector to export it than to do it as offsets on the interconnectors to Victoria and then the interconnector from there to NSW which already runs at capacity with Tasmanian and Victorian power as well as ours.

I don't understand what the $14m is going to do, seems like a drop in the ocean for the total cost?

I also agree the logic just seems out there as well, cheaper electricity and making money from exporting energy? Which one is it? Surely i can't be both?

I imagine there's the possibility of both exporting or importing energy depending on circumstances. For example, the Eastern peak will be before the SA peak, so maybe some exporting during the Eastern peak, and importing during the SA peak...or part thereof. Plus extra security in emergencies...both ways. Whether it is economically justified would depend on the numbers. I have no idea what the numbers add up to.

[PeFe]

I believe the proposed NSW connector would essentially see power flow one way...east. At the moment NSW is the state that imports the most power.
South Australia has changed from a power importing state (even when the coal power plants were operating) to a power exporting state.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... y-exporter

New projects like Aurora, the Sanjeev Gupta plans and various other proposals will further entrench this outcome.

[Waewick]

Cost for the interchange, at this stage, shared proportionally between SA and NSW.

When is the NSW election?

[PeFe]

March 2019 (?)