And on Sunday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visited the power station with Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon to promote the range of renewable power and clean coal programs in the federal budget announced last Tuesday.

The Solar Flagships Program will seek to develop up to four individual generation plants on the national grid.

As well as a coal-fired power station, Liddell has a “demonstration scale” solar plant that Mr Rudd said was a prototype of what the Government hoped

to achieve.

The solar plant at Liddell is the first of its kind in the world and Mr Rudd said the four new plants would generate up to 1000 megawatts of electricity.

Mr Rudd said the Government hoped to build the world’s biggest solar power generating plant, three times the size of the one which currently exists in California.

“What our friends here at Macquarie Generation have done, very intelligently, is co-locate an eight megawatt station with an existing coal-fired power station,” Mr Rudd said.

“This is a very good way in which to demonstrate how this sort of energy can complement traditional forms of energy.”

Mr Rudd said the Solar Flagships Program looked at needs for the future and creating jobs.

“Not only does it support clean energy, it will boost economic activity,” he said.

“The best part of it is that we will be using our biggest natural resource – the sun.”

While Mr Rudd was at Liddell, he also announced Australia would become a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency.

“This will strengthen our role as a global leader in tackling climate change,” Mr Rudd said.

“It is important that we are solar leaders world wide and clean energy leaders world wide.”

The first meeting of the agency is in June.

Mr Rudd said tender specifications would be developed this year for the Solar Flagships Program, with successful tenderers nominated by July 2010.

Mr Rudd also visited Whittingham near Singleton last Thursday, making two trips to the Hunter in four days.

He, along with Treasurer Wayne Swan, NSW Premier Nathan Rees and Mr Fitzgibbon turned the first sod for the $1.34 million Minimbah Third Rail Track project.