Australia Clears Major New Solar & Battery Storage Project

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Australia's federal government has given the green light to a gigawatt-scale solar farm and battery storage project in Queensland.

The 800-megawatt (MW) Punchs Creek solar project, paired with a 250-MW battery energy storage system (BESS), is located about 64 kilometers southwest of Toowoomba in Queensland, not far from the 825-MW Milmerran coal-fired plant and mine. Developer Skylab Group (Brisbane) had cited its location next to the existing plant as ideal to aid the ongoing energy transition in the country. "With recent decisions to phase out coal generation plants, this project is in the optimum location to replace almost 900 MW of adjacent generation," it said. The facility will be capable of supplying power to around 300,000 homes.

The project includes the installation of 1.7 million solar panels on previously cleared agricultural land, which will connect to the existing Powerlink transmission line. The government said: "This is another big step in the Government's plan to make Australia a renewable energy superpower."

Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek said: "We want to unlock Australia's potential to be a world leader in renewable energy. I've now ticked off 47 renewable energy projects which will power over 3 million homes. And we have a record 134 renewables projects in the approval pipeline. This is an exciting time. As well as lower emissions, it means cheaper, cleaner power for all Australians."

In related news, Plibersek recently granted permission for the biggest solar farm in New South Wales (NSW) and a neighboring big battery that could also be a contender for the biggest in Australia. The Sandy Creek Solar Farm will have a capacity of 840 MW while the BESS could have a capacity of up to 750 MW. When completed, it will be larger than Acen's 720-MW New England Solar Farm under construction near Uralla, New South Wales.

Australia has some of the best solar resources of any continent and recent governments have been capitalizing on this. Last year, the country set an ambitious target of 82% renewable energy by 2030, which most of its state governments have been aiming to achieve or better. To that end, it has introduced its Capacity Investment Scheme to help finance successful bidders in its power auctions for the construction of solar and battery storage projects. It aims to deliver 32 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2030, which will fill expected reliability gaps as aging coal power stations are shut down. It expects to invest a total of $67 billion to achieve that target. In December 2023, Australia's over 3.69 million solar solar installations--household and grid-scale--had a combined capacity of 34.2 GW. Industrial Info is tracking more than 460 grid-scale solar projects worth more than $82 billion in potential investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).