Nicola Gage reported this story on Thursday, April 19, 2012 08:12:00

ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Government is being lobbied to buy up and shut down two of Australia's most polluting power stations.



Residents in Port Augusta in South Australia blame the Playford B and Northern power stations for health and environmental problems in their community, which they say include higher than average cancer levels.



Both power stations are under consideration for closure under the Federal Government's Contract for Closure program.



Today environmentalists will release a plan to turn them into solar thermal plants.



Nicola Gage reports from Port Augusta.



(Sound of a coal train)



NICOLA GAGE: Trains have transported coal from the Leigh Creek Mine to run Port Augusta's two coal-fired power stations since the 1960s.



But the burning of those thousands of tonnes of brown rocks has come at a cost.



JOY BALUCH: The health of the people in Port Augusta has been affected by this coal-fired power station for the last 40 years and statistics prove this.



NICOLA GAGE: Port Augusta's Mayor Joy Baluch has been a long advocate for a cleaner power option in the city.



The coal-fired generators are two of the oldest in Australia, and have been made unviable under the Federal Government's carbon pricing scheme.



Their owner Alinta Energy is hoping to attract funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to close them down.



Joy Baluch says it needs to happen.



JOY BALUCH: We need to see solar thermal energy developed in South Australia and for us to become world leaders in this renewable energy. Certainly gas is not the answer.



NICOLA GAGE: Converting the plants to gas-fired using fuel from the Moomba gas fields in the State's far north is being considered by Alinta Energy.



But it's also looking into greener options as well.



Renewable energy think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions will today detail plans to convert the ageing power stations to solar thermal.



The group's Mark Ogge says it's been proven internationally as a base-load power supply.



MARK OGGES: There's about 10, 50 megawatt solar thermal power plants in Spain and they've been dispatching base load solar power to the Spanish grid for a number of years now.



NICOLA GAGE: The proposal, he says, would save 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions, and create 1800 jobs.



MARK OGGES: That will include about 300 permanent on-going operation and maintenance jobs, 250 manufacturing jobs and about 1300 construction jobs over a six-year period.



NICOLA GAGE: State Greens MP Mark Parnell says now is the time to move to renewable energy.



MARK PARNELL: Gas is still a fossil fuel. It still leads to carbon pollution. Solar thermal is the clean green future.



NICHOLA GAGE: He is calling on Alinta Energy along with the state and federal government to support the solar thermal option.



MARK PARNELL: It will be a missed opportunity if all they do is replace one fossil fuel with another. Yes, there might be some marginal improvement in emissions but it will be nowhere near as good as if we went straight to solar thermal.



NICHOLA GAGE: But he admits there is a price barrier.



MARK PARNELL: Of course the first cab off the rank is always going to be more expensive but the time is right - the place is right, the workforce, the political support, the community support, it's all there.



NICHOLA GAGE: For the residents of Port Augusta, just knowing the smoke stacks on the edge of their town will eventually be torn down is a relief.



Cafe owner Ann Johnston.



ANN JOHNSTON: All of us are very fed up with having black coal or ash or whatever it is coming over our houses and our cars and everything, even though environmentally they say that it is not happening, it certainly is still happening. That is certainly a concern so we need to be looking at something else, yes.



JOY BALUCH: We have support from doctors in the AMA that substantiate it is the burning of Lee Creek coal that has affected the health of this city.



NICOLA GAGE: The Federal Government says the carbon pricing scheme encourages investment in renewable options but the final decision of the plant's future lies with Alinta Energy.



ELEANOR HALL: Nicola Gage reporting from Port Augusta.