Renewable energy

Responding to climate change and the national Mandatory Renewable Energy Target of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020 will dramatically reshape the Australian electricity market over the next 20 years.

We aim to be at the forefront of these changes and have developed long-term development strategies for the implementation of renewable energies. This includes developing a renewable energy generation capacity in excess of 500 megawatts over the next 10 years.

In order to help accelerate the development and implementation of renewable technologies, we’ve applied for grant funding from the Australian Government for some of the projects listed below. If our applications are successful, the grants will contribute $1 for every $2 we invest in the eligible projects:

Projects currently under development include:

Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project

In coal-fired electricity production, extra energy is required to pre-heat water entering the boiler. We plan to install a 44 megawatt equivalent solar thermal addition to the Kogan Creek Power Station to supplement this process, which will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the plant and improve overall plant efficiency.

Wind projects

CS Energy is assessing the viability of a number of wind power projects in Queensland, each of which is above 50 MW in capacity. Wind power is a technically mature technology and one of the most economically viable sources of renewable energy currently available. Wind power generates electricity with no carbon dioxide emissions, has no fuel costs and has relatively low plant capital and running costs compared to other forms of renewable energy.

Electricity is generated in wind turbines through the rotating action of the wind turning the turbine blades, which turn an electro magnetic coil that generates electricity as it rotates.

Biomass

We’re also investigating a potential biomass co-generation project at a Queensland sugar cane mill. The project would use waste from the sugar cane crushing process (bagasse) to generate electricity.