Govt to invest $15m in solar hydro power plant

The federal government will invest $15m through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) into an initiative to construct a hybrid solar hydro power plant for regional Victoria.

ARENA will invest in a project from RayGen to build a 3 MW 50 MWh solar hydro facility at Carwarp near Mildura in north-west Victoria.

The facility will generate up to 17 hours of energy storage using a first-of-a-kind innovative concentrated solar PV technology combined with electro thermal storage technology. It will be used to generate energy on demand for the national electricity market.

The government provided $3m in funding for a feasibility study and development work last year.

Using first-of-its-kind technology, RayGen aims to scale up to a 100 megawatt project capable of providing secure, dispatchable power to help support grid stability in Victoria and reduce emissions.

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the government is focused on supporting the development of innovative new technologies to produce reliable and affordable power.

“Making sure our solar assets are backed up by dispatchable generation is vital for energy grid stability and shoring up our long-term supply so that Australians have access to the reliable and affordable power they need,” he said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Christos Georghiou