Vast Solar has just announced plans for a $428 million USD hybrid CSP-PV-gas-battery baseload power plant in a remote Australian mining town. The concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) component will use the company’s own design, a modular array with a liquid sodium heat transfer fluid control system, for which it won the SolarPACES Technical Innovation award in 2019. Mount Isa is a town in the desert of north-west Queensland, with 19,000 inhabitants and nearby mining industry. Its microgrid is currently served by the gas plants, including the soon-to-retire Mica Creek gas plant. Delivery of the gas to this remote location comes at considerable cost, and the town’s cost of electricity is over $110 per MWh. The requirements for Vast Solar’s…