Power in the NT is mainly generated by T-Gen using Natural Gas and Diesel so new renewable plant will be competing against that cost base. There is one small solar farm used the government owned power operator. The network adds up to about 610 MW capacity. A lot of small operations and communities also produce their own power (solar/diesel) due to remoteness but these are not grid connected anyway. The T-Gen is in strife as they are not competitive against renewable projects so there is a market opportunity to start generating and sell into their grid at a lower cost base thereby allowing them access to lower cost power at no capital cost. That would be very attractive to the government as an alternative to bailing out the existing system and it can retire older assets or use them for backup as renewable come on line. I lived in Katherine and they have about 8 months of straight cloudless sunshine then a few months of buildup and then torrential rain. The thunderstorms knock out the power pretty regularly during the buildup and it takes a while to get the gas turbines back online. A solar/battery system would easily eclipse what the gas turbines can do with the advantage of quick restoration after over voltages from lightning using the batteries. With a few systems in different locations southward there would be coverage even in storm season. The NT also has a good opportunity to use small scale Hydro as it has catchment locations that would suit.
IFN Price at posting:
45.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
