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AUSTELA regularly makes policy submissions, press releases and is quoted in the media. You can see all our contributions here.

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October 29, 2024

Media Release: Concentrated solar thermal and eTES offer breakthrough in industrial decarbonisation

Industrial decarbonisation in Australia took a major step forward today after Mars and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced a renewable heat project – with concentrated solar thermal (CST) at its heart – at its Mars Petcare Wodonga factory.

October 24, 2024

Media Release: NSW leading the way on delivering reliable, lowest-cost energy transition with additional long duration storage target: ASTRI and AUSTELA

In a submission to a consultation earlier this year, ASTRI and AUSTELA outlined the importance of 12 hour plus storage technologies to ensure the reliability and affordability of NSW’s electricity system as coal is phased out.

July 4, 2024

Media Release: NSW Must Plan for Long-Duration Energy Storage in its 2030 Renewables Grid, say Industry Bodies

The New South Wales electricity system will be at risk if the government dilutes its own planning for long-duration electricity storage, The Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute (ASTRI) and the Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) have cautioned in a submission to a consultation on Long Duration Storage by the NSW Government

June 18, 2024

Submission: AUSTELA and ASTRI response to the NSW Government Review of Long-Duration Storage (Part 6 of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020)

The Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) and the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute (ASTRI) welcome the opportunity to respond to the NSW Government’s consultation on long-duration storage (LDS).

May 31, 2024

Opinion: GenCost points to a future made in Australia with solar thermal

Authored by AUSTELA directors Dr Keith Lovegrove, Víctor Marín and Craig Wood

May 22, 2024

Media Release: GenCost shines light on low-cost of solar thermal to deliver renewable dispatchable capacity to Australian energy system

The Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) today welcomed the findings in CSIRO’s GenCost report that solar thermal has the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of any ‘flexible load, low emission’ technology and is cheaper than gas peaking plants and comparable to coal-fired plants.

Policy
April 8, 2024

Media Release: AUSTELA calls for hybrid contracts to recognise generation and storage capabilities of CSP as part of CIS consultation response

The Australian Solar Thermal Energy Association (AUSTELA) has outlined changes that will be critical to attract long-duration dispatchable capacity into the National Electricity Market (NEM), in its response to a consultation on the Implementation Design Paper for the Capacity Investment Scheme.AUSTELA welcomed aspects of the Paper, including the merit criteria of ‘system reliability’, ‘delivery of renewable energy’ and ‘additional benefits’.

Research
November 7, 2023

Media Coverage: Future looks bright for CST power as decarbonisation focus shifts beyond 2030

A new report from the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute shows that concentrating solar thermal power has a major role to play in cost-effectively decarbonising electricity, industry and fuels over the short- and long-term.

Research
October 12, 2023

Report: The Australian Concentrating Solar Thermal Value Proposition

Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays to a small area (receiver) to produce medium to high temperature heat (from 150°C up to 1,000°C or beyond). The heat can be used immediately or stored in a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system- for multiple hours or even days. The heat can be used directly as industrial process heat or further utilised to generate electric power or to drive chemical processes. The report examines the values that CST can provide to Australia across grid connected and remote / off-grid power generation, industrial process heat and green fuels production.

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