Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I rise to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and a related bill. The electorate I represent in this place is home to an energy province that has solar, geothermal, coal fired and gas fired power generation. In fact it is one of our energy capitals and, as we speak, it is growing in terms of energy production. I come to the debate tonight supporting these bills.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 will establish the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, or ARENA, which is designed to centralise the administration of some $3.2 billion of existing federal government support for renewable energy currently managed by the Australian government. I want to talk a little about renewable energy a bit later because it is something that has been around in the electorate of Maranoa for more than 100 years. I hope some of this money will also go to research and further advancing those technologies and tapping into some of the renewable energy sources identified by the very early pioneers out in western Queensland. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 complements the main ARENA Bill by providing the transitional and consequential activities that need to occur.

ARENA is designed to centralise the administration of existing federal government support for renewable energy currently managed by the Australian government and government funded bodies such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, or ACRE, and the Australian Solar Institute, and it is expected to commence operation in July next year. It is a sensible move to bring these bodies together. ARENA will also be responsible for policy advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy and will take over, and expand on, the activities of ACRE. There is no place like Canberra for abbreviations—and I guess it sometimes drives us all a bit mad.

The coalition does not necessarily support all of the existing programs to be administered by the proposed ARENA. However, the creation of ARENA represents a streamlining of, and improvement in, the procedures by which these and future such programs are selected, funded and overseen. Accordingly, we consider that the establishment of ARENA is in the interest of good governance and should be supported.

As I said, my electorate of Maranoa is home to a number of successful renewable energy projects, including a solar farm, an algae energy plant, a biochar farm and a geothermal plant. For instance, the community of Windorah, which is right in the western part of my electorate and not on the main electricity grid, has a solar farm with integrated diesel power to generate power for that community and some surrounding pastoral properties. As a result of that solar farm, it has an estimated saving of some 100,000 litres of diesel that otherwise would be used to generate the equivalent amount of power for the community of Windorah. It holds great promise for other remote communities that receive long hours of sunlight.

Likewise, the township of Birdsville, right out on the edge of the Simpson Desert, has for many years tapped into the geothermal heat of the artesian water. I was there this year with the Speaker and with the Leader of the Opposition showing them this project, which for more than 50 years has tapped into the heat of the artesian water and earth to boil water and generate power for the township of Birdsville. Obviously the town has a diesel backup because the geothermal heat of the artesian water is not sufficient for the demand that is on the town of Birdsville these days, but it saves diesel and that means it is saving carbon emissions and it is coming almost free through the solar energy coming up with that artesian water.

Thargomindah is another interesting place because more than 100 years ago they utilised artesian water. In fact, it was the first place in Australia to do. The community generated thermal power from the artesian bore water once bores were first established in that part of western Queensland. Just across the border from those two communities, Thargomindah and Birdsville, is the township of Innamincka. When we were in government we invested—as I am sure some of the energy companies did as well—in the Geodynamics hot rocks project, which utilises the heat emanating from hot rocks deep underground. My understanding is that those hot rocks are degrading uranium and are some 5,000 feet or about 1,500 metres below the surface.

Australia's unique desert-like conditions mean that there is much potential for the utilisation of this sort of technology because many hot rocks areas have been identified, which could be utilised for absolutely zero carbon emission power generation plants that are sustainable and renewable. There are a number of areas that are yet to be fully developed, as is this concept and project. They have had trouble with the development, but I hope money from the fund relating to this bill tonight is able to go to such projects so that we do not give up on it. While there have been some problems associated with Geodynamics development, we must persist because it offers great hope for totally renewable, zero emission power generation. I hope funding continues for the technology that will ultimately one day prove successful.

It is important because just one cubic kilometre of this hot granite rock is the energy equivalent of 40 million barrels of oil. So hot rocks technology certainly has the potential to meet Australia's energy needs. It will be driven by new technologies based on what we have learned from the Innamincka project. It is out there, it is almost free—although obviously the technology and the development of it are not free. One downside of these hot rocks being at Innamincka is that they are a long way from major populations, but that should not deter us from continuing to invest in this hot rocks technology to make sure that in our lifetime, and in the lifetime of our children, this will be a significant source of energy for generating electricity for Australians well into the future.

The Western Downs region in my electorate is also quickly becoming the hub of solar energy projects, represented by the proposed 250-megawatt Solar Dawn power plant near Chinchilla and the 44-megawatt Kogan Creek solar boost project. In June this year the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced Solar Dawn as the preferred solar thermal project in round 1 of the Australian government's Solar Flagships Program. I support the project and I support the funding from this government. I support taxpayers' money being spent on such a project, not only because it is in my electorate but also because we must continue to develop solar technology. I hope that one day Australia is the leading country in the world in solar technology. For too long we have lagged in this area and yet we are a vast land with so much sunshine. It is technology we should be able to develop and be a leading authority on, not only from the technology point of view but also from the manufacturing and the science behind the solar industry.

The Commonwealth and Queensland governments have announced $104.7 million for the Kogan Creek solar boost project. That will see Kogan Creek power station become home to the world's largest source of solar integration with a coal-fired power station. It is quite exciting news for my constituents of Maranoa, including the people around Chinchilla and Dalby, to know that this is coming and will be the hub of one of the largest integrated solar-thermal, coal-fired power generation sites in the world.

The Solar Dawn project is a proposed 250-megawatt solar thermal gas hybrid power plant to be built halfway between Dalby and Chinchilla in western Queensland by a consortium including AREVA Solar, CS Energy and Wind Prospect CWP. The project is part of the Australian government's Solar Flagships program, which aims to provide the foundation for large-scale, grid-connected solar power and to accelerate the commercialisation of solar power in Australia. It is an exciting project, and I guess that is why they are using the Solar Dawn—it is the dawn of, hopefully, a very exciting future in the area of solar electricity power generation. It is a key component of the government's $5 billion Clean Energy Initiative. Once completed, the Solar Dawn will be the largest of its kind in one of the most environmentally responsible power production plants in the world.

One of the other things about it—and this is important in the context of some of the comments from some people—is to do with the coal seam methane gas industry and of course the water that comes up as part of that process. This solar thermal electricity farm will use the water that comes up as part of the coal seam methane gas extraction. They will be putting that water to a very good use, making a betterment use of the water that comes up as part of the coal seam methane gas extraction.

The other element of this project is that it is going to create a lot of jobs in its construction. In the old scale, there will be 4,000 acres of solar reflectors reflecting onto pipes carrying the water that has been cleaned up, utilising it for the thermal energy turbines that are obviously part of this project. I have spoken with a firm in Dalby where young people are getting a start in life as a result not only of CS Energy but also of this solar project. In fact they will be making and manufacturing the pipes that will be utilised in this project. That also creates local jobs and, I would hope, ultimately, expertise that will flow from the development and learning that goes with projects such as this.

I think that the Solar Boost project is the largest solar project in the southern hemisphere and the largest of its kind in the world. The Kogan Creek Solar Boost project will involve the installation of a solar thermal addition to CS Energy's 750 megawatt coal-fired Kogan Creek power station, which is halfway between Dalby and Chinchilla. The solar addition will increase the amount of electricity generated by up to 44 megawatts during peak solar conditions, providing an additional 44,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year. So it is also a very exciting addition to a coal fired power station and when the solar energy can be utilised it will be a boost to the existing coal fired power station and the grids that are connected to the power station. This innovative solar project will augment Kogan Creek's power station steam generation system to increase the station's electricity output and fuel efficiency. It forms part of CS Energy's commitment to producing cleaner electricity from existing coal fired power stations.

I come to this debate tonight to say that it is an exciting time in the electorate of Maranoa with the developments in Western Queensland. I hope that with this money for research we will be able to develop the hot rocks, the geothermals, and the solar energy prospects and opportunities well into the future.

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