The announcement of the two successful consortiums to build power plants under Round 1 of the Australian Government’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program is a great advance for renewable energy in Australia, according to Labor Member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese.
"The Gillard Labor Government will provide more than three quarters of a billion dollars to help build two of the largest solar power stations in the world," said Mr Albanese.
A 150 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plant will be built near Moree which will be nearly twice the size of any photovoltaic power plant operating in the world today.
A 250 MW solar thermal gas hybrid power plant will be built near Chinchilla in Queensland.
Together, the projects are expected to generate enough power to support the electricity needs of more than 115,000 Australian homes per year.
Mr Albanese said the Solar Flagships program is part of the Government’s Clean Energy Initiative (CEI), which was announced in the May 2009 Budget.
The projects were selected in accordance with the recommendations of the independent Solar Flagships Council.
"This Government is committed to action on climate change, including a price on carbon and investment