Solar Manufacturing in Our Backyard
By Jessica Rouse
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid the old Liddell Power Station site at Muswellbrook a visit today, to announce a partnership to manufacture solar panels.
The Albanese Government announced $1 billion for their new Solar SunShot program to encourage solar manufacturing in Australia. That program will be run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and deliver grants and production credits.
The Government said Solar SunShot will help Australia capture more of the global solar manufacturing supply chain through support, including production subsidies and grants.
The aim is to ensure more solar panels are made down under, including in the Hunter region. Now, only 1 per cent of solar panels are made in Australia despite on average, 1 in 3 Australian households having solar panels.
Today’s announcement also included a Memorandum of Understanding signed between energy giant AGL and NSW-based company SunDrive, to manufacture solar panels using breakthrough copper plating technology right here in the Upper Hunter somewhere on the 10,000-hectare Liddell site.
SunDrive sprung from Vincent Allen’s PHD that he completed at the University of NSW. He’s very excited to have now turned that University PHD into a commercially viable company with his university housemate David Hu.
“This announcement means that Australia can not only be a renewable energy innovation powerhouse, but also a renewable energy manufacturing powerhouse.
“Commercial sale advanced manufacturing facility that will produce in our first phase, hundreds of thousands of panels on this site and then moving towards manufacturing millions of panels,” said Vincent.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government is determined to make as much as possible in Australia, and the Hunter region is a key part of that.
“We have the highest per capita use of solar panels on roofs of any country in the world but of all of those about 1 per cent are made in Australia.
“This technology that SunDrive has developed is the most efficient in the world, so why wouldn’t we take that opportunity and pair it with AGL’s vision that they have with my government’s commitment with the NSW Government to manufacture more things here.
The Prime Minister also said he wants to see more people employed through new industries on the site of the old power station, than the number who were there while it was operating.
It is hoped the SunDrive team will be working from the Liddell site before the end of the year.