The Australian government announced this week plans to build a plant that could power up to 45,000 homes. It will be located in Victoria.
The plant will be developed by TRUenergy and Solar Systems, a subsidiary of CLP Holdings Ltd, and it will have a capacity of 154 MW. There will be a 2-megawatt pilot plant. The facility will cost around 290 million Australia dollars (180 m euros), and it will be partially supported by the federal and state governments, besides other investors. The plant is expected to start feeding electricity into the grid by 2010, and it will be completed by 2013.
This announcement is probably part of the Labor's government drive for renewable energy, with a target of 20% of energy generated by renewables by 2020.