Solar Thermal, Desalination, Veggies & Jobs At Port Augusta

RenewEconomy reports on Australia’s largest solar power tower plus a desalination plant at Port Augusta, approved recently for Sundrop Farms, a commercial greenhouse business which already uses solar power and seawater to grow vegetables. The project will total 20 hectares and will use 36MW of solar-thermal energy.

About Sundrop Farms

Sundrop Farms was founded in 2009 with a focus on sustainable horticulture for the arid world. Using seawater and sunlight, its first greenhouse, near Port Augusta, has been successfully growing high quality produce since 2010.

The Plans Include:

• construction of a 100 metre high solar power tower topped by a 15 metre high solar receiver
• a ‘solar field’ of around 11,000 stands, each holding three heliostat mirrors
• construction of two Multiple Effect Distillation (MED) plants and several seawater pipelines
• a pipe for brine dispersal into the gulf
• a visitor centre to help promote tourism interest in the venture

How Will The System Work?

“The solar thermal infrastructure will heat a closed loop system of hot water that heats another closed loop, transferring heat to the greenhouses by circulating through the internal pipework. After being circulated through the greenhouses the water is returned to the hot water storage tank for reheating.

Some of the stored heat will also be used to distil seawater..for the plants in the greenhouses.

Around 3,000 megalitres of seawater a year will be drawn from Alinta’s Northern 2 intake channel, to produce over 335 ML of freshwater for use in the greenhouses and for other purposes on the site.

Most of the solar thermal generated steam will be used for the greenhouses and the desalination, but the steam will also be used to spin a turbine that powers a generator, producing up to 1.5MW of electricity to run the site. A connection to the mains power supply will provide backup power.

A diesel driven backup boiler will also be installed, to supplement the hot water if the solar thermal power supply is disrupted.

According to Sundrop, work on the expansion is expected to begin this year. Last year, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation said it would help finance the facility, which could cost up to $100 million.

The project is expected to employ more than 200 people and will produce over 15,000 tonnes of tomatoes a year for metropolitan markets across Australia. The company hopes it will be the fore-runner of many more projects in Australia and other desert regions, particularly in the Middle East and north Africa.”

Impressive