ARENA to provide USD 45m for Vast Solar’s 1st utility-scale CSP plant

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on Monday said it has approved USD 65 million (USD 45m/EUR 42m) in funding to help Australian company Vast Solar build its 30-MW/288-MWh reference concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Port Augusta, South Australia.

The AUD-203-million project, called VS1, aims to demonstrate Vast Solar’s technology at utility scale.

ARENA’s funding is conditional on the project achieving financial close, which is expected in late 2023. VS1 is seen to start commercial operations in late 2025.

Vast Solar said in a separate announcement it is currently working with state and federal governments to find a site for its first full-scale manufacturing facility to produce the company’s CSP technology.

“Making this technology commercially viable on a larger scale could go a long way to meeting the growing need for dispatchable renewable energy, energy security and longer duration storage,” commented Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.

The news comes after a Vast Solar-led project, Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), recently won funding under the HyGATE initiative of the Australian and German governments. The SM1 green methanol plant, which will include a 10-MW electrolyser, will produce fuel for aviation and shipping and will co-located with VS1 in Port Augusta.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.693/EUR 0.648)

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