Alinta Energy's Playford B Solar Plant Faces Funding Setback

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--In September 2012, Australia's federal government scrapped funds for the shutdown of Alinta Energy Limited's (Sydney, Australia) Playford B power station in Port Augusta. The announcement came as a disappointment to Alinta, which is currently working on rebuilding the coal-fired power station as a concentrate solar power plant.

A spokesperson from Alinta has confirmed that the plans to build the solar power station have been put on ice, and could be redesigned or totally erased. Alinta also plans to reopen the operations on the existing coal power station, which is temporarily closed.

Earlier this year, Port Augusta submitted expressions of interest for the federal government's contract-for-closure program. This was a new program initiated by the federal government to support the shutdown of high-pollution, coal-fired power stations in Australia. The submission was followed by several negotiations through July 2012. Recently in September, the government declared that it will not support the power plant closure monetarily, and it has scrapped its plans to continue funding Alinta Energy.

"It made no sense to pay Alinta to shut down Playford B if it was already offline," said Climate Change Minister Greg Combet.

However, Alinta confirmed that Playford B remains available for recall and could be reopened anytime, depending on the market conditions.

Playford B is a coal-fired power station, operated by Alinta Energy. The power plant is coal-powered unit that produces 240 megawatts (MW) of electricity, with four 60-MW steam turbines. The plant has been momentarily closed because of increases in electricity prices due to the carbon tax. Alinta Energy will decide between permanently closing the plant and rebuilding the solar power plant, based on the final board decision, which will be made in the coming year.

Alinta operates another power station, Northern Power Station, in Port Augusta, which could also be replaced with solar power in the future. The power plant generates 420 MW of electricity. Alinta was notified of its intentions to operate the power plant only during summers, until it is permanently closed in 2015.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.