> > They all get rejected, but not for any reason you might suspect.
> > 
> > Grab a map, and chuck a dart at your "cheap land".  There's 
> plenty of 
> > it, it's called "desert".  Come to Oz, we've got heaps!  
> Anyhoo, draw 
> > a line between your plant and the nearest spot on the grid.  First 
> > problem, it's probably a long line = not cheap.  [...]
> 
> Hmmm, I guess I get it, Tony... sadly :)
> 
> --
> Ciao, Dario


Yup.  Apparently the conversion goes:

Them: "I wanna build a solar farm."
  VC: "Ok, how many transmission towers and how much for each?"
Them: "er, what?"
  VC: "Next!"

It really is a killer.  Unlike talk, a single tower wouldn't be cheap, and
you need how many per kilometer?  Got the leases from the farmers yet?

It's worse in Oz than in the USA - both places are about the same size, but
we simply don't have the infrastructure.  The grid is only in a very small
area, the southeast bit mainly.

The alternative is a small plant to service a small town, which will still
need grid power as solar/wind/etc can't provide baseload power.  Unless
you're cheaper than the grid by a long way, you're still out of luck.

Now hot rocks on the other hand...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/hot-rock-power-the-way-ahead/2007/04/
11/1175971183212.html
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/08/19/1218911717520.html

Tony

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