Work has commenced on Genex Power’s $126 million 50MW Kidston Solar Project in Far North Queensland – 270-kilometres northwest of Townsville.
This is the first solar project to begin construction under the Queensland Government’s Solar 150 Program and it is praised for showing investor confidence in regional Queensland as well as the State’s renewable credentials.
“Once constructed, the project will have the highest capacity factor of all solar projects in Australia, a testament to the strong solar resource in the Sunshine State.
“In addition to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the strong Genex has received from the Queensland State Government in the approvals process and the Solar 150 Program has underpinned the successful development of the project,” said Genex Power’s Managing Director Michael Addison.
UGL Limited has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) contracts for stage one of the project back in December 2016.
Genex has recently begun collecting Expressions of Interests for employment and is encouraging local Queenslanders to apply through their website. UGL will also be posting job opportunities on their website.
“The successful deployment of the stage 1 solar project at Kidston will now enable Genex to fast track development of the stage 2 expansion and, importantly, the 250MW pumped storage project at Kidston,” Mr Addison said.
The Kidston Solar Farm is expected to be completed and operational by early 2018.
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Source: Queensland Mining & Energy