Renewable Energy Development Program
Under the Renewable Energy Development Program, 11.2 million was provided for three projects to generate an estimated 6,900 megawatt hours of electricity and save 7,300 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. This program is now closed.
The Renewable Energy Development Program has supported renewable energy projects which will generate electricity or displace grid electricity use in NSW for stationary energy purposes.
Renewable energy is defined as energy which is naturally occurring and which is theoretically inexhaustible, such as energy from the sun or wind. It includes energy sourced from hydro, wind, solar, wave, tide and ocean, food waste and biomass.
Funded Renewable Energy Development Projects
GPT Group
GPT Group - Solar Thermal Cooling Project
Funding: $500,000
Charlestown Square, near Newcastle, will become the first shopping centre in Australia to be cooled by the sun.
As part of the major redevelopment and expansion of the shopping centre, the GPT Group in partnership with the CSIRO, Bovis Lend Lease and New Energy Partners will install pioneering thermal cooling technology to air-condition the building.
The project involves the design and installation of a solar thermal cooling plant which will utilise parabolic collectors on the roof to capture solar energy to generate heat. The heat will be transferred to an absorption chiller, via a heat exchange, to produce chilled water for cooling.
The project will trial and demonstrate the commercial viability of the renewable technology for air-conditioning in a high-demand retail environment.
Macquarie Generation
Liddell Power Station Solar Plant
Funding: $9,250,000
A next generation solar array will be built at the Liddell Power Station to demonstrate new developments in Australian-developed solar thermal technology.
Building on the existing solar arrays at the Hunter Valley power plant, which have proved the viability of compact linear thermal reflection technology, this project involves the installation of three further arrays of mirrors covering 27,000 m2.
The mirrors track the sun and concentrate its rays on a receiver line. Boiler Feed Water from the power station is circulated through the receiver lines to generate steam, which is then used in the power station to generate electricity.
This third phase of the project will utilise the next generation of the mirror technology and maximise output from the existing steam and water re-circulation system.
Smart Storage
Ultra Battery Smart Storage for Wind Applications
Funding: $1,425,000
The capacity to store wind-generated energy using new battery technology will be demonstrated at the Hampton Wind Farm in NSW.
The Smart Storage Ultra Battery technology was developed by the CSIRO to provide a solution to the problem of intermittent supply on wind farms. The batteries can store wind-generated electricity and smooth its voltage and power delivery to grid connected transmission lines.
This demonstration project will use 100 kWhr of ultra battery storage attached to a wind turbine on an 11 kV grid. It will also feature wind forecasting techniques to dramatically increase the effectiveness of the energy storage and supply.
Page last updated: 14 November 2012
