RayGen Resources has secured A$3 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to conduct a feasibility study for a pilot Concentrated Solar Power plant that uses water as storage medium.
Located at Carwarp in north-west Victoria, the facility would deliver 4 MW of solar power generation, including 17 hours of 3 MW storage capacity. RayGen aims to reach financial close this year and commission the facility in 2021, it said.
The RayGen hybrid design uses heliostats to reflect sunlight onto a tower-mounted photovoltaic receiver. The receiver contains 400 modules which generate electricity and heat.
Energy is stored through thermal hydro, using two reservoirs with a temperature difference of 90 degrees C. Stored energy is dispatched as power via a thermally-driven Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) engine.
“This project will provide the National Electricity Market with day-night renewable electricity and support grid reliability,” RayGen said.
“The project will also supply synchronous power where it is critically needed in the West Murray region,” it said.
