Liberals promise to help fund construction of Port Augusta solar thermal power station

LIBERALS promise to help create jobs by supporting Port Augusta solar thermal power plant.

Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt promised financial support for the construction of a solar thermal power plant. Picture: AAP

THE Federal Government will help fund the construction of a solar thermal power plant near Port Augusta if it wins the election.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday promised financial support for the project, which could create up to 1000 jobs during construction.

Labor also expects to support the solar power plant and storage facility through a $200 million grants program if it wins government.

Mr Hunt’s announcement comes in the wake of the closure of Port Augusta’s coal-fired power stations and ahead of the release of official unemployment figures on Thursday.

Asked by The Advertiser if the Coalition would fund the solar thermal plant through its $1 billion clean energy loans scheme, Mr Hunt said: “In our case, yes.”

“We have set out when we laid out the Clean Energy Innovation Fund that our number one priority in Australia would be a comprehensive solar thermal plant in Port Augusta.”

Mr Hunt and Labor environment spokesman Mark Butler on Wednesday debated environment policy in a televised National Press Club debate.

Shadow environment spokesman Mark Butler and Greg Hunt face off at the National Press Club.

Mr Butler said a Labor government would allocate grants for solar thermal projects through a process run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and he expected Port Augusta to be at the “front of the queue’’.

“The Port Augusta community has been at the forefront of developing plans and allocating land to that sort of a project,’’ Mr Butler said.

“So you’d have to think it was certainly at the front of the queue.”

American company SolarReserve wants to build a 110 megawatt solar thermal plant which would employ about 50 permanent staff.

The company built a similar-sized plant in the American state of Nevada at a cost of about

$US700 million.

The closure last week of Alinta Energy’s two coal-fired power stations resulted in 180 workers losing their jobs.

Alinta last year ruled out building a solar thermal power station near Port Augusta after concluding the project was not financially viable — costing $577 million for a 50MW plant.

Repower Port Augusta spokeswoman Lisa Lumsden praised Mr Hunt and Mr Butler for backing the solar plant.

“To get this over the line we now need the Federal and State Government to come together and make a deal to see solar thermal built” Ms Lumsden said.

In the lead up to the July 2 election major political parties have promised major projects to create jobs in South Australia, including the construction of 12 submarines and public transport extensions.

SA’s official 7.2 per cent unemployment rates for March was much higher than the national result of 5.7 per cent.

The number of South Australians who have been unemployed for more than two year blew out by 1500 to 8,900 in the year to March.

About 14,500 people had been out of work for between four and 13 weeks in March.