Dr David Mills invented the technology.* Credit:Marina Neil The plan had been to use thousands of mirrors to focus solar energy to pre-heat steam used to drive power-generating turbines. The technology's inventor, Australian scientist Dr David Mills, in 2014 received an Order Of Australia for his work on solar power from the Abbott government. But CS Energy scrapped the unfinished scheme last year, blaming "technical and contractual problems". It won't reveal exactly how much it cost, but recorded a $70 million impairment in its 2016 accounts because of the scheme. Half that amount came from the Queensland Government's Carbon Reduction Program. Commonwealth body the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) was to put up an additional $35 million in funding, although it told Fairfax Media it ended up handing over only $6.4 million.

Concentrated solar power uses the sun's heat, rather than its light, from a field of heliostat mirrors. Credit:James Brickwood In a report to ARENA last September explaining why the project was cancelled, CS Energy pointed to steam pipes that rusted in the Queensland climate and "rapidly moving clouds". "That's rubbish," says Ian Canham, who managed the site for Areva Solar from 2011 to 2013. "That just means [the clouds are] going to get out the way and the sun's going to come out again. Solar works extremely well when the sun's out." A veteran project manager with 30 years' experience, Mr Canham detailed a litany of planning, management and communication failures, compounded by the "aggressive" management style of Areva Solar's US-based executives. Mr Canham said pipes had rusted when they were left uncollected at the Port of Brisbane during the 2011 floods because of a dispute between Areva and shipping company DHL. As a result only 20 per cent of them were useable.

That's the saddest thing. The people who made the decisions, they're all on fat salaries and they're sweet. Dalby businessman Hermes Speziali. Meanwhile, a shipment of steel Areva imported from China was of such poor quality it had to be buried as scrap; then a company in Newcastle making another key component went into administration. He said at one stage Areva flew 40 workers to the site from the US but they arrived without appropriate safety gear or training. "They had no safety boots, they thought it was alright to go on site with normal shoes. I said: 'Pack them back on the plane'." Mr Canham estimated that Areva received between $45 million and $48 million for the project but spent as much as $95 million, representing a loss to the company of nearly $50 million.

According to Mr Canham, the head contract required regular site visits by the funding bodies. "ARENA never came to the site," he said. "They were supposed to come every three months. They were really into this solar thing and they never came once. "With the state government – the same thing. Never saw anyone." CS Energy was "very tolerant" of Areva, he said.

"Why CS Energy didn't terminate the contract I don't know – they could have done." CS Energy told Fairfax Media in a statement that "the decision to halt the project meant that CS Energy avoided spending in excess of $50 million to complete a project with significant technical and commercial issues. "CS Energy reached commercial agreements with ARENA and Areva Solar relating to the finalisation of the Solar Boost Project. The details of these agreements are commercial in confidence." The "compact linear fresnel" technology developed by former UNSW researcher Dr Mills has been successfully used elsewhere. It was first rolled out at a prototype solar thermal plant in Bakersfield, California in 2009 and later to build the world's largest such scheme at a power station in Rajasthan, India. Meanwhile, in Queensland delays and technical problems led to Areva storing 3000 solar reflectors in a former potato paddock at Dalby owned by local company Nortask, prompting a two-year legal dispute in the Supreme Court in Brisbane between the two companies that remains unresolved.

Mr Canham, who was retrenched by Areva in May 2013, provided evidence for Nortask. In a statutory declaration filed as an exhibit in the case, he warned of Areva Solar's plans to withdraw entirely from Australia, predicting that "the political embarrassment to all tiers of government would be immense". He noted that the background to the project's difficulties included a serious legal dispute brewing between the Areva group, which is controlled by the French government, and Australia over uranium mining rights in the Kakadu. Nortask owner, Dalby businessman Hermes Speziali, said those responsible for the scheme "owe a duty of care to the people of Queensland and people of Australia ... who subsidised this project". He said his company had tried to find potential buyers for the thousands of unused solar reflectors "and we couldn't find any takers". "If [CS Energy] walk away, or they're mothballed, there can't be any value [in them]," he said.

"That's the saddest thing. The people who made the decisions, they're all on fat salaries and they're sweet. "I'd be wanting someone's balls on a plate if I was to end up in such a predicament." CS Energy said it was decommissioning the solar thermal site at Kogan Creek and "salvaging what it can in the most value accretive way for the business". It declined to reveal details of the contractual requirements for site visits and referred Fairfax Media to ARENA and the Queensland government. Queensland energy minister Mark Bailey's office, in turn, referred enquiries about site visits back to CS Energy. ARENA declined to answer detailed questions about inspections, saying only that it "takes a proactive approach to contract management. This can include site visits".

It said ARENA and CS Energy had "reached a mutual agreement to terminate the project" in March 2016 but provided no details. Areva acknowledged receipt of questions from Fairfax Media but provided no responses. *Correction: The caption incorrectly stated Dr David Mills is now chairman and chief research officer at Ausra. Ausra was acquired by Areva in 2010 and Dr Mills left the company soon after.