Perth / Western Australia

Well, this parts disappointing,

One example is the project’s failure to build a permanent power supply to the telescope at the Australian site, which is now being run on temporary diesel generators.

The SKAO website claims power for the project’s central processing plant “is provided by a photovoltaic plant [solar] and energy storage system backed up by diesel generators, generating renewable energy a majority of the time to power the antennas and all site infrastructure”.

However, no solar plant has yet been built. The project is yet to award a tender for the power plant and is allegedly spending more than $1m a year on diesel to power the plant.

A tender document published by the SKAO in March reveals that a “phase one” diesel-operated system for the site is “expected to be operational in early 2026”, with the tender seeking interest to build a “phase two” power plant to integrate renewable energy.

The scope and schedule of the SKA project, a massive undertaking to deliver the world’s two largest and most complex radio telescopes, are under constant review SKAO spokesperson The SKAO spokesperson confirmed that the project would be running on diesel generators until the long-term solar-based plant was operational – expected in late 2028.

“An expert team is implementing a complex multi-stage power procurement process that will result in a long-term power purchase agreement with an independent power provider to build and operate a radio quiet power station with a very high fraction of power generated from solar photovoltaic cells and using a substantial battery energy storage system.”