Single axis tracking, high efficiency solar
array at Horizon Power's solar-diesel hybrid
power project in remote WA
Image: iStockphoto

A new solar-diesel hybrid initiative in a remote area of Western Australia could mark the beginning of a new era of cheap, renewable energy for far-flung areas.

The project, to commence in March 2009, will see solar-diesel hybrid power stations deployed in the small east Pilbara towns of Nullagine and Marble Bar. It will be the largest ever installation of solar in WA, and the first in the world to utilise new high penetration hybrid solar photovoltaic diesel technology.

“In Nullagine and Marble Bar alone we’re going to reduce CO2 emissions by 1100 tons per annum and that equates to 412 000 litres of diesel that we’re not going to not burn.”

The use of flywheel technology allows energy generated from solar panels to be stored and regulated in the short term, meaning the need for a constant diesel backup generator is removed.

“In the event that we have cloud cover over the panels, or if the panels were to shut down instantaneously, we could rely on the fly-wheel to provide 500 kilowatts of energy for about five minutes, which is enough time to start one of the diesel engines.”

According to WA Sustainable Energy Association CEO Dr Ray Wills, the new plants are a positive step but more needs to be done.

“It creates a starting point for us to go forward from.

“In the overall scheme of things it’s very modest, and that just means we need to do more in the state.”

Though larger communities such as Perth might still be better served though solar-thermal initiatives, Dr Wills suggests the new technology could prove useful to the state’s mining sector.

“What it does demonstrate is that you can deliver power on a half megawatt or megawatt scale via solar.

“We’ve got plenty of remote mines that consume around the same as those small towns, so what it means is that instead of having diesel generation at mine sites we can now look to solar-diesel installations instead.”

The Nullagine and Marble Bar stations will be operational by the end of 2009, with more stations planned for the region.

The stations will be operational for 20 years before the machinery will need to be upgraded or replaced by future technology.