<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-could-host-73gw-of-solar-in-abandoned-coal-mines-study/>
"Abandoned coal mines could host up to 52 gigawatts (GW) of solar in Queensland
alone, and up to 14GW in New South Wales (NSW), according to a Global Energy
Monitor study.
Australia, as one of the top four coal producers globally, has some of the best
sites for coal-mine conversions, with 1,470 km² of mine sites potentially
supporting some 73 GW of solar in total — and some 2.7GW of coal-to-solar
conversions have been announced.
These numbers came out of an analysis of Global Energy Monitor’s coal mine
tracker, and suggest globally mines that have been abandoned in the last five
years and which could be abandoned in the next five years could host up to
300GW of solar.
There are 312 open cast mines that closed in the last five years, covering
territory of 2,089 square kilometres. Another 143 mines covering 3,731 square
kilometres may be abandoned by the end of 2030.
Nearly three quarters of these sites are in those top-four coal producing
countries of Australia, the US, Indonesia and India, and nearly all of which
are near electricity infrastructure such as substations and transmission lines.
China is the biggest player in this space, with 90 operational coal
mine-to-solar conversions now delivering 14GW or power, and 46 projects in
planning worth 9GW."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics