4 ms·

Sadly, the South Australian plant fell over financially: https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/statement-regarding-solarreserve https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/statemen

Sadly, the South Australian plant fell over financially: https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/statement-regarding-solarreserve https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/statement-regarding-solarrese... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-05/solar-thermal-plant-will-not-go-ahead-in-port-augusta/10973948 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-05/solar-thermal-plant-w... Given that the company website is refusing connections, I think it's likely dead, which is sad too.

iagovar 7y ago
Acciona also sold its assets in Australia to some other companies. It seems that CSP is no easy business. There are still a few in Spain though.
- taneq 7y ago
  CSP was very competitive 10 years ago before the bottom fell out of the solar panel market. Solar panels and batteries are now so ridiculously cheap that it's kind of silly not to just use battery backed PV solar.
  - Gibbon1 7y ago
    I went and did a simple cost analysis and CSP is a dead end. A selling point is that it can store energy as molten salt. But when you run the numbers it's cheaper to heat the salt with PV solar energy. The problem is PV silicon wafers have gotten so cheap that rest of the systems costs are dominating. The difference in costs between a mirror and a PV panel isn't large. Then add the mechanicals to focus the mirror and the mirror costs more.