06-27-2019, 03:32 AM
After some internal debate, I felt I better put this on this side.
15,000 hectares are equal to 58 square miles. Sounds like a lot, but that's only about 1% of the Northern Territory (which is largely desert).
The largest nuke plant in the US (Palo Verde, AZ) has three reactors producing a total of just under 4 GW. The largest hydro plant is the Grand Coulee dam at 7 GW (although it typically operates at ~30% capacity) The largest coal plant (Georgia) is capable of 3.5 GW.
Ambitious plans have been announced for a 15,000-hectare solar array...in Australia’s Northern Territory. If built, the 10 GW solar farm would be the world’s biggest solar park and be coupled with a massive battery with an unspecified capacity.
The project would export electricity to Darwin and overseas to Singapore...
15,000 hectares are equal to 58 square miles. Sounds like a lot, but that's only about 1% of the Northern Territory (which is largely desert).
The largest nuke plant in the US (Palo Verde, AZ) has three reactors producing a total of just under 4 GW. The largest hydro plant is the Grand Coulee dam at 7 GW (although it typically operates at ~30% capacity) The largest coal plant (Georgia) is capable of 3.5 GW.
...timeline to start construction in 2023 with commercial operations to start in 2027. The project is set to employ Australian businesses and personnel and could create thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs.
The cost is projected at $14B (US). South Carolina Electric and Gas spent over $4B on the VC Sumner nuclear project before it was abandoned; the original cost estimate was ~$10B, but experts estimated the actual final (construction) cost, had it been finished, would have been $23B (for an additional 2 GW production at the plant).
PS- the three largest planned solar projects in the US (in NV) will total 1.2 GW, about a tenth of the Aussie project. Why are we lagging?