Australian renewables companies team up on solar energy work

Capricorn Power and Impacts Solar announced a strategic partnership agreement on Thursday, aiming to combine Capricorn’s heat engine and Impacts’ solar collectors to “increase efficiency and drive down the cost of solar power.”

“This partnership aims to address the enormous unmet demand for sustainable heat and power in every community,” said Capricorn Power CEO, Mike Hodgkinson. 

“We can reduce the size and cost of solar-thermal power stations capable of providing ‘baseload’ electricity, by combining Capricorn Power’s high efficiency heat engine with Impacts Solar’s low cost solar collectors.”

Impacts Solar has developed solar thermal collection technologies for applications such as agriculture, process heat, water supply, and desalination, replacing off-grid generation.

According to a statement from the two companies, the heat engine is “particularly significant” for solar thermal applications as it means fewer solar collectors would be required to generate the same amount of electricity, reducing project costs.

“All renewable energy is important to the energy mix,” said CEO and founder Trevor Powell 

“We’re aiming to increase access to renewable energy and make it less expensive for communities and especially the agribusiness sector — the people that need it the most.”

Capricorn is currently commercialising its Barton engine, which is able to convert heat from green waste and other sources into electricity, and is currently accepting expressions of interest for another capital raise through equity crowdfunding site Birchal.

It follows and announcement last week that it had begun commissioning its first commercial engine at Austeng’s site in Geelong.

Picture: Pixabay

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