For more than 35 years, a world-first piece of Australian technology lay gathering dust in the outback — until the passion of a Rushworth man placed it on the world map. John Lewis reports.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Three years ago Rushworth's Graeme Hanigan and his wife Tina were driving to see friends perform at a music festival in the tiny opal mining town of White Cliffs, 255km north-east of Broken Hill, when they saw something that would change their lives.
“As we drove into White Cliffs, on the right-hand side of the road, we saw 14 mirror dishes and we thought — what is that? It's like something out of a James Bond movie,” Graeme said.
After a lifelong career in satellite communications, working as a telecommunications technician in remote areas, Graeme's interest was sparked by his discovery at White Cliffs.
He tracked down local Bill Hoskins who had a key to the site and was given a tour.
Bill told Graeme the 14 dishes were part of a solar power station built in 1980 by Australian National University technicians.
The dishes automatically tracked the sun with 2300 mirrors on each dish. The mirrors concentrated the sun's thermal energy on to stainless steel coils which were fed with water via capillary tubes. The water was then turned into steam super-heated to 550°C, and the steam was fed into an engine which provided power to the local hotel, post office, school and 12 houses.
It was a world first — and it was hidden away in the Australian outback, known only to locals and a few academics.
In 2005, after almost 25 years of operation and facing rising maintenance costs, the site was shut down and mothballed. In 2006 it was recognised by Heritage Australia as the first commercial solar power station in the world.
“I was just gobsmacked,” Graeme said.
“I said ‘why isn't this place being preserved?’ It was sitting there, falling apart gathering dust. Bill said quietly — ‘oh we'd love to have it preserved'."
Three years later, Graeme is now secretary of the Friends Group and project manager for the White Cliffs Solar Thermal Power Station Preservation Project.
“Having worked in satellite communications — all my old work sites have either been demolished or stripped. I can't take my kids anywhere and show them where I used to work,” he said.
“This place is someone's life work, and it would be such a shame for Australia to have it fall apart and disintegrate. So we need to preserve it for future generations.
“From a preservation perspective, it's all there. We've got the original operations and maintenance manual, all the original drawings.”
The striking images of the 14 mirrored dishes sitting in the Australian outback have now been given worldwide recognition.
Graeme's photographic entry into the British-based Engineering & Technology magazine's Hidden Engineering Heritage competition scooped joint first prize out of scores of entries from across the world. The magazine described Graeme's entry as "astounding in every way" for its remoteness and its engineering significance.
Since Graeme's involvement, the preservation project has secured a $60000 grant from the NSW Government's Office of Environment and Heritage.
Graeme said the money had been spent on signage and information brochures, a 10-minute short film on the site's history written and produced by local school children, equipment for disability access and dish upgrades to protect them from high wind damage.
He now hopes to bring others, particularly young people and retirees with technical backrounds, into the project.
“I retired three years ago, and I didn't know I needed a project, but I have one now,” he said.
“We need to get the younger generation involved, and there must be grey nomads out there who also need a project.”
He said the significance of the White Cliffs solar power site is huge for future generations.
“As we transition from fossil fuel to a more renewable energy source, particularly solar, I think it's important that we recognise Australia's achievement as being a global leader in solar energy.
“It's something we should be proud of.”
Graeme can be contacted via email at: secretary@mailcan.com or via the Facebook group FotWCSPS.
