The Solar Dawn Consortium has confirmed that it will abandon its project to build a 250 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the Australian State of Queensland.

The move follows the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's (ARENA) decision not to fund the project in its Investment Plan 2012-2015. It also follows the government of Queensland's termination of USD 75 million in funding for the project, after the consortium failed to meet financial close on June 30th, 2012.

"With ARENA soon to embark on a range of new initiatives, we look forward to sharing our experience and working with ARENA to help build Australia's clean energy future," stated Solar Dawn spokesperson Anthony Wiseman.

The Solar Dawn consortium was comprised of Areva Solar (Paris, France) and Wind Prospect (Adelaide, South Australia). The project had intended to employ compact linear Fresnel CSP technology by Areva.

The project was additionally tied to a USD 68 million research and development program at the University of Queensland.

ARENA to selectively fund Solar Flagships projects

In its Investment Plan 2012-2015 ARENA announced that it will selectively fund other projects through the nation's Solar Flagships program, including AGL Energy and First Solar's thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) project.

The agency is also in discussions with the Moree Solar Farm and Infigen and Suntech about the future of their projects. However, ARENA will not pursue the Energy Australia project, which it says is due to its similarity to the AGL project.

The Investment Plan will include four new programs including programs to remove obstacles to developing renewable energy in regional and remote locations, as well as developing a knowledge sharing program.

2012-11-13 | Courtesy: Solar Dawn, ARENA; Image: Areva | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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