A unique locally-developed technology that uses the sun’s rays...

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    A unique locally-developed technology that uses the sun’s rays to generate and store electricity will be demonstrated at scale for the first time.

    Developed by Melbourne’s RayGen Resources, the Raygen solar thermal plant concentrates sunlight to produce electricity while also capturing heat created by the process to provide thermal energy storage.

    Construction has begun on a first of a kind ‘solar hydro’ power plant with 4 MW of solar PV generation and 3 MW / 50 MWh (equivalent to 17 hours) of dispatchable storage capacity at Carwarp in Victoria’s north-west, following a successful ARENA-supported feasibility study launched early in 2020.

    https://arena.gov.au/blog/raygen-solar-thermal-plant-to-be-built-in-victoria/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ARENAWIRE%20090621&utm_content=ARENAWIRE%20090621+CID_f5846ca510aece9b2a4d51b77093d2b9&utm_source=enews&utm_term=World-first%20dispatchable%20solar%20thermal%20plant%20to%20be%20built%20in%20Victoria

    Raygen is a private co, in which AGL is invested, which explains the announcement yesterday of AGL having Raygen build their solar thermal plant at Liddell.

    The system runs using an "Organic Rankine Cycle". it seems Raygen has developed their own model using the principles set out by Rankine ...... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankine_cycle

    A further search shows that the system is not new with one Italian company, Turboden, owned by Mitsubishi, having been developing the systems since 1980. The difference for Raygen being that the Aus systems will be powered exclusively by solar thermal tech.

    This page from Turboden https://www.turboden.com/products/2463/orc-system explains the Italian manufacturers model use of the ORC system.

    For years ppl have been saying that renewable energy cannot provide base-load energy. I've been saying that solar thermal provides the answer but the cost of production needs to be addressed. Well this is the first genuine substitute for coal. ORC is not just baseload but can be adjusted to match load demand and the excess electricity stored for later demand.

    This first iteration of a real replacement will, like all other tech, including coal, will become less expensive with future developments.
 
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