Can solar thermal energy compete on costs with wind?

By Giles Parkinson on 7 May 2012

The challenge facing solar thermal technology and its quest to compete with other energy sources was underlined in a proposal released late last month by Beyond Zero Emissions, for a replacement for the ageing and highly polluting Playford coal-fired power stations in Port Augusta.

BZE, along with a host of other environmental groups, the local mayor and, it seems, much of the local population, want the current power stations replaced by solar thermal energy, using solar towers with capacity of 760MW, and a further 90MW of wind turbines.

BZE estimates the current levellised costs of energy (LCOE) of solar thermal to be $250-$300/MWh. Even with storage, and the ability to dispatch into peak periods between noon and 6pm, when the electricity price averages around $150/MWh, the nascent technology still falls short without further assistance such as loan guarantees or feed-in tariffs.