The Aurora Solar Energy Project will build a 150-megawatt solar thermal power station in South Australia. (Image credit: SolarReserve)SolarReserve is a leader in large-scale international solar thermal projects, so it makes sense that they're behind a new plan to build the world's largest single-tower solar thermal power plant in South Australia.
(Image credit: SolarReserve)Dubbed the Aurora Solar Energy Project, this massive plant has a proposed output of 150 megawatts, which means it will be able to power an estimated 90,000 homes and generate a whopping 495 gigawatt hours of electricity per year.
For context, 495 gigawatt hours per year rougly equates to 5 percent of South Australia's total energy needs.
South Australia is set to build the largest single-tower solar thermal power station in the world. (Image credit: SolarReserve)The plant's design uses solar energy that's focused by arrays of heliostats onto a central tower where molten salt technology is utilized to store the harnessed energy as heat, which means the facility can generate electricity day or night.
SolarReserve's announcement also follows closely on the heels of Tesla's deal to create the world's largest lithium-ion battery storage facility.
An artist rendering of the proposed SolarReserve, dual-tower project in Chile. (Image credit: SolarReserve)The Aurora project is scheduled to begin construction next year, with the hope that the massive facility will be ready to power up by 2020.
