A new solar thermal plant being constructed in Australia will collect solar energy and store it as thermal energy, which will then be converted to electrical energy. The plant will store some of the thermal energy in graphite blocks for nighttime power distribution. According to the company constructing the plant, the plant will have a capacity of 30 MkWh/year. Graphite has a specific heat capacity of about 700 J/kgK at room temperature. The company claims a storage capacity of 1000 kWh/tonne at 1800 ^◦C. Is this plausible? Explain. If they are planning enough storage so that they can keep up the same power output at night as in the day, roughly how much graphite do they need? Estimate the number of people whose electrical energy needs will be supplied by this power plant.