Make the Right Choice Alinta: Solar Thermal with Storage, Not a Hybrid

In response to news that Alinta Energy would be announcing whether they would continue to study a solar thermal with storage power station or a hybrid coal/solar power station in their ongoing feasibility study the Port Augusta community came together to launch the "Make the Right Choice Alinta Campaign".

 

Repower Port Augusta members Lisa Lumsden and Dan Spencer presented Alinta with a banner handsigned by 1500 community members calling on them to choose solar thermal with storage, not a hybrid. 

 


See below for our press release, dated April 14,
links to some of the media coverage and a shareable graphic. Alinta are expected to announce the results of their options study around the end of May according to a statement made to the ABC.

 



“Make the Right Choice, Alinta”: Community Alliance Calls on Alinta Energy for a Commitment to Solar Thermal with Storage in Upcoming Feasibility Study.

 

 

Members of the Port Augusta community, the Port Augusta City Council and the CFMEU have come together to call on Alinta Energy to choose solar thermal with storage over a hybrid coal/solar power station in their feasibility study into solar thermal options in Port Augusta. Alinta are due to release an options study on April 30, which will determine what type of power station they continue to research in their feasibility study.

 

 

“Today we’re calling on Alinta to make the right choice for our community” Lisa Lumsden Chairperson of Repower Port Augusta said. “Choosing solar thermal with storage would open the door for a long term transition to clean energy in Port Augusta, something our community has been campaigning for for years”.

 

“Over the last two years, thousands of Port Augusta residents have signed petitions, attended forums, rallied and engaged politicians to call for solar thermal in Port Augusta. Some of us even walked all the way to Parliament House in Adelaide with 100 other solar supporters who came from across Australia to get behind Port Augusta” Ms Lumsden said. “Now, this month Alinta will make a choice that will define our community’s future and we need them to choose solar thermal with storage not a hybrid”.

 

Sam Johnson, Mayor of Port Augusta said “Our council wants to see a project that focuses on the future rather than one that simply extends the present”.

 

“Our community supported Alinta receiving Federal and State Government funding for their study. Now we want Alinta to take the community’s view into account and choose solar thermal with storage not a hybrid,” Mayor Johnson said.

 

“We commend Alinta for exploring solar thermal in Port Augusta but we want them to make the long term choice by choosing the path that gives Port Augusta the chance for a future beyond the life of the coal stations, and that choice is solar thermal with storage” Mayor Johnson said.

 

Greg Warner, regional organiser for the CFMEU who represents workers at the power station said “we support the community’s call for an investment in solar thermal in Port Augusta. We want to see Alinta make the right choice and secure long term jobs in Port Augusta by choosing solar thermal with storage”.

 

“Building solar thermal with storage would create the opportunity for a long term job transition for workers into clean energy, while a hybrid is just a band aid solution that will only secure jobs until the coal runs out” Mr Warner said.

 

“Our community will be watching on April 30” Ms Lumsden said, “now is a defining moment for our city and the state. Alinta need to make the right choice and support our community’s vision for a solar thermal future in Port Augusta”.

 

Members of the Repower Port Augusta Alliance will be contacting Alinta Energy in the coming days to seek a commitment to solar thermal with storage in their feasibility study.

Media Coverage
The Transcontinental "Final Push for Solar Thermal"

ABC News "Solar Thermal Push Continues for Port Augusta Power Station"

 

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