Morawa Shire Pulls Out of $20 million North Midlands Solar Project in Australia

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Morawa Shire has cancelled plans to build the $20 million North Midlands Solar Power Project in Western Australia, due to financial reasons.

Morawa Shire proposed to build a 3-megawatt (MW) concentrated solar thermal plant southeast of Geraldton in Western Australia in joint venture partnership with Western Australia-based Carbon Reduction Ventures Pty Limited (West Perth, Australia), and technology partner Solastor Pty Limited (Sydney, Australia).

The Shire intended to build the North Midlands Solar Project using Virtual Solar New Graphite storage technology, which can store the solar energy as a back-up to drive a 3-MW steam turbine. The project would also feature approximately 15 modules, comprising a solar tower with a Virtual Solar energy unit and 96 heliostats to produce electricity.

The joint venture partners were working on the project for more than two years with huge support from the local community and have recently completed feasibility studies. The studies proved that the project is economically unviable due to huge costs, which made the Shire withdraw from the project. Although the Morawa Shire moved out from the project, the remaining partners, Carbon Reduction Ventures and Solastor, have left a small hope for the local community. According to the officials, Carbon Reduction Ventures and Solastor might find a new development partner to proceed with the development in the future. It is not yet known if and when the project would become active again.

On a similar note, Investec Australia Pty Limited's (Perth, Australia) 50-MW Chapman Hybrid Solar Project, proposed to be built in Geraldton, Western Australia, is also in a state of flux due to ownership issues. The company behind the $200 million Chapman solar project is in the process of selling its energy business in Australia and has put a hold on all of its power projects, including Chapman. Investec anticipates finalizing the ownership deal by mid-2014, after which the Chapman project could see construction by early 2016.

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