A pioneering solar power station in the remote outback town of White Cliffs in north-western New South Wales has been listed on the State Heritage Register, recognising what is believed to be the world's first commercial solar thermal plant.
In 1981, a team from the Australian National University, backed by the New South Wales government, set out to research solar thermal power. What they created was a commercial solar power station in a remote outback town that had no electricity supply.
The station's 14 sun-tracking parabolic dishes, each 5 metres across with 2,000 small mirrors, concentrated the sun's rays to a central focal point. Water pumped through a coil at that point was heated into superheated steam at 1,000 pounds per square inch and fed into a steam engine.
The heritage listing followed a campaign by Graeme Hanigan, a former satellite communications worker who first visited White Cliffs eight years ago and formed the White Cliffs Solar Thermal Power Station Friends Inc to preserve the site. "I had a tour of it and I said to my wife, 'This place needs preserving,'" he said.
Hanigan warned the equipment would not last without care. "It's been here for 50 years out of sheer luck, but it'll degrade, it'll fall apart and rust if we don't look after it," he said, noting that other research plants built at the same time around the world had already been demolished.
He said Engineers Australia had described the station as equal to the Snowy Mountains Scheme or the Sydney Harbour Bridge. "It's nowhere near as big, but it's of that importance."
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The listing recognises an Australian world-first in solar technology, built before large-scale solar photovoltaics existed
- Without preservation, the dishes risk rusting and falling apart in the outback
- The campaign shows how community and volunteer effort can secure heritage protection for industrial sites
Background
Solar thermal power uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and generate heat, which can drive engines and turbines. In the early 1980s the technology was still experimental, and most research plants built at the time around the world have since been demolished. The White Cliffs station was built in a remote opal-mining town without electricity, demonstrating that solar thermal power could replace diesel generation in isolated communities.
Key Perspectives
Graeme Hanigan, founder of the White Cliffs Solar Thermal Power Station Friends Inc: Hanigan argues the station's world-leading technology deserves preservation, warning that it will degrade and rust without care. He notes that other research plants of the same era around the world have been lost.
Engineers Australia: According to Hanigan, the engineering body rated the station's significance as equal to the Snowy Mountains Scheme or the Sydney Harbour Bridge, despite its far smaller scale.
Critics and skeptics: While the source records no opposition to the listing, the practical risk is that heritage recognition alone does not fund maintenance. Hanigan himself has warned the site will fall apart if it is not looked after, making ongoing conservation the key question.
What to Watch
- Whether the friends group can secure funding and support for conservation work
- The physical condition of the 14 dishes over the coming years
- Whether the heritage listing raises the station's profile as a tourist destination in White Cliffs