The Uterne Solar Power Plant is the first utility-backed solar power purchase agreement in Australia - electricity generated will be sold to Power and Water Corp at a guaranteed price for the next 20 years.

This is an important part of moving to a renewable energy future - a guaranteed price for long term power generation that minimises the risk of future price rises that is can be expected in generating power from non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels.

'While we don't know what the price of oil or gas will be in ten years, we can confidently predict the price of sunshine in 20 years,' says Prof Ray Wills, SEA Chief Executive.

‘Greater reliance on renewable sources for electricity generation should reduce inflationary effects of energy over the coming decades, and the Power and Water Corp contract is good news for residents' says Prof Wills.

‘Generation plants like Uterne are scalable and growth in electricity demand can be met by simple commercial decisions to increase the size of the solar farm to deliver more electricity from sunshine to the residents of Alice Springs.'

As the nation with the world's best renewable energy resources, all Australian Governments need to become even more ambitious in the support for renewable energy generation - to generate energy from sources that promise to minimise the price of energy in the future.

SEA congratulates Sunpower, Power and Water Corp, the Alice Solar Cities team, and all others involved in the delivery of this great project.

SEA Media Release - 28 July 2011

Editors notes:
1. Alice Solar City is one of seven cities participating in the Australian Government's $94 million Solar Cities initiative. Alice Solar City program, the Australian Government contributed $3.3 million to the $6.6 million Uterne project. Each city is trialling a combination of technologies including solar hot water and photovoltaic technology, energy efficiency, load management, smart meters and cost-reflective pricing in large-scale grid-connected urban sites. Data collected from each of the trials will demonstrate how different projects can reduce energy consumption and will inform future policies. ‘Uterne' is an indigenous word meaning "bright, sunny day."
2. Sunpower media release http://us.sunpowercorp.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/?relID=594513
3. Power and Water Corp media release http://www.powerwater.com.au/newsroom/front_page_stories/alice_springs_1mw_solar_power_station_launch
4. The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA) is a chamber for all enterprises from all industries supporting sustainable energy, and the fastest growing energy industry body in Australia. www.seaaus.com.au.