Potential demand for non-Chinese made poly-silicon – crucial to the solar sector – could put Australia in a box seat for the material, if the country can turn a $1.3 million report into an actual industry.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has spent $1.3 million of the $1 billion Solar Sunshot fund on a report into whether a poly-silicon plant in the Hunter Valley might be feasible.
The answer is yes, provided the plant has access to cheap power, manufacturing materials and low capital costs, and if the final product could offer “sustainable” pricing.
A 50,000 tonne a year polysilicon plant at AGL’s Hunter Energy Hub in the Bayswater/Liddell coal power plant site could throw off a huge number of benefits – not least replacing thermal coal exports as Australia’s primary energy export, the report says.
That volume would be enough for 27 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels, for a start.
