Archived News for Energy Sector Professionals - February, 2012

AGL Energy Limited is reviewing  its future investment in the Loy Yang A power station and adjacent coal resource. AGL currently owns 32.54% of Great Energy Alliance Corporation Pty Limited (GEAC), owner of the Loy Yang A power station and more than 1.6 billion tonnes of coal resource.

Roofing materials that double as solar panels and can also moderate the temperature of buildings are among the next-generation building products being developed at UNSW.

The Queensland Government has released its Queensland Renewable Energy Plan (QREP) 2012, following a  review of the original plan first launched in 2009.

Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said the plan positions Queensland to leverage up to $8.9 billion in renewable energy investment and deliver 9000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy generation by 2020.

“It will help deliver on our original QREP goals to create up to 3500 new green jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 million tonnes.

“The plan also establishes Queensland’s case as a major competitor for new renewable energy investment, projects and industry growth in Australia.

“For example, the Australian Government's Clean Energy Future Plan includes more than $10 billion in new clean energy funding and targets up to $100 billion in private investment by 2050.

“Substantial opportunities will emerge for Queensland from this national plan. With a strong ongoing program of initiatives and new focus on collaboration and capacity building, QREP 2012 aims to position Queensland as a primary beneficiary.”

Mr Robertson said the state had achieved significant renewable energy success through the original QREP 2009.

“We have increased Queensland’s renewable energy generation capacity 66 per cent from 745 megawatts in 2008 to more than 1235 megawatts today – that’s enough to power roughly 640,000 homes per year.

“We also smashed our 500 megawatt Virtual Solar Power Station target three years early.

“Queensland’s renewable energy industry has attracted around $2.7 billion in total public and private investment and supports more than 1800 jobs.”

Mr Robertson said the Queensland Renewable Energy Plan 2012 will build upon Queensland’s early success with small-scale solar achieved with the help of Bligh Government initiatives like the Solar Bonus Scheme and Solar Hot Water Rebate Scheme.

“QREP 2012 seeks to scale up these efforts and accelerate deployment of medium and large scale renewable energy generation projects,” he said.

“We are already co-funding the world’s largest solar integration project at the Kogan Creek power station and have been chosen by the Commonwealth to host the proposed 250 megawatt Solar Dawn solar thermal power project at Chinchilla.

“There are also exciting developments ahead to harness Queensland’s abundance of other renewable energy resources like wind, geothermal, solar thermal and bioenergy.”

QREP 2012 refocuses the Queensland Government’s renewable energy agenda under three key objectives:

Researchers from Swinburne University of Technology and Suntech Power Holdings have developed the world's most efficient broadband nanoplasmonic solar cells.

Using curbside, commercial and biowaste from its poultry industry, the City of Greater Bendigo is building a business case that could see the introduction of Australia’s first multiple stream waste to energy facility.

The Federal Government has awarded the HRL Dual Gas project a six-month extension to its $100 million dollar grant, following the failure of the project to meet conditions for the finance set in 2007.

Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, Professor of Chemistry and ARC Future Fellow at the University of Sydney, has been awarded the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s 2011 Applied Research Medal For his work on catalysis and sustainable processes, including developing methods to create low carbon crude and heavy fuel oil substitutes.

The Australian and Victorian Governments will collectively provide $100 million towards the development of Victoria’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project - CarbonNet.

CarbonNet is the second project selected for funding under the Australian Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program.

The CarbonNet Project aims to capture carbon emissions from power plants, industrial processes and new coal-based industries in the Latrobe Valley and store it in geological basins.

The combined funding of $100 million ($70 million from the Commonwealth and $30 million from the Victorian Government) will support feasibility work as part of the $1 billion plus CarbonNet project to demonstrate low emission brown coal electricity generation in the region.

The Commonwealth Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said clean energy innovation like this could help power stations cut their emissions while continuing to secure the economic prosperity of the region.

“Investment in CCS is part of the Commonwealth’s suite of support for a range of clean energy technologies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time,” Minister Ferguson said.

“The economic base of the Latrobe valley depends on brown coal and while the Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions, the last thing we want to do is cut jobs in the process.  Projects like CarbonNet will help shape a new economic future for this critical region.”

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries manages the CarbonNet Project.  The feasibility work will include modelling and testing of potential CO2 storage sites.

In addition to announcing funding for CarbonNet, Minister Ferguson also announced that the Victorian Government has been awarded an offshore tenement for CO2 storage site exploration in the Gippsland Basin. Further, both governments awarded the HRL Dual Gas project a final six-month extension on the previous date of 31 December 2011 to meet the conditions of the respective funding deeds.

More detail on the Flagships program is at www.ret.gov.au/energy/clean/ccsfp/Pages/default.aspx and the project at www.dpi.vic.gov.au/energy/sustainable-energy/carbon-capture-and-storage

The Federal  Government has appointed Ms Chloe Munro, currently the Chair of the National Water Commission,  as the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the new Clean Energy Regulator.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and RMIT University have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation.

New and better ways of measuring high-tech energy consumption could lead to significant environmental and economic gains, a study from The Australian National University has found.

The Australian National Audit Office has released its audit of the Federal Government’s implementation and administration of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS).

Four short-listed proponents for Australia’s first large-scale, solar photovoltaic (PV) power station under Round 1 of the Federal Government’s Solar Flagship have been asked to provide updated applications after the preferred applicant, Moree Solar Farm, proposed major changes to its project.

Biofuel technology being developed by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers has caught the interest of the US Navy, which is currently in Australia on an alternative fuel fact-finding mission.

Environment and Water Minister Tony Burke has appointed an interim committee of experts to provide independent scientific advice on coal seam gas and large coal mining.

A report published by the Grattan Institute has found that the Federal Government’s carbon tax is a good start, but more policy action will be required to make significant emission cuts by mid-century.

Origin Energy Limited has released its Quarterly Production Report for its Exploration and Production business for the quarter to 31 December 2011, reporting production of 29 petajoules equivalent (PJe) and sales revenues of $198 million.

Curtin University’s Fuels and Energy Technology Institute (FETI) at Technology Park, Bentley has been officially launched.

Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson has officially opened ENERGEX’s $9.5 million logistics facility at Larapinta in Brisbane’s south.

The Queensland Minister for Employment, Skills and Mining Stirling Hinchliffe has announced a partnership between TAFE and South East Queensland electricity distributor Energex to help combat the skills shortage in Queensland’s growth industries.