ACCIONA has secured approval from the Queensland Government for its Material Change of Use for the Aldoga Solar Farm development near Gladstone, taking this renewable energy project a step closer to being built.
The approval will enable ACCIONA to expand the project’s development site to include an area that surrounds the Larcom Creek Terminal Station as well as increase capacity to 600MW.
“The Aldoga Solar Farm marks a flagship renewable energy project for Economic Development Queensland and is part of the Queensland Government’s Advancing our Cities and Regions strategy, which aims to renew and repurpose underutilised state land to generate jobs and drive economic growth. ACCIONA has signed an agreement to lease the land from Economic Development Queensland for the purpose of constructing and operating the Aldoga Solar Farm for a period of 30 years,” ACCIONA said in a statement.
The now $550 million project is anticipated to support up to 350 construction jobs and about 10 ongoing operational jobs.
The Aldoga Solar Farm is located approximately 20 kilometres north west of Gladstone.
Once up and running, this renewable energy project is expected to generate enough electricity to power about 222,000 homes a year. Power generated from Aldoga Solar Farm is going to be fed into the national electricity grid through a connection into Powerlink’s Larcom Creek Station.
This multi-million-dollar project is going to be delivered in two stages, with the first stage to deliver 315MW and the remaining 285MW in the second stage can be utilised to support the development of Gladstone’s green hydrogen industry.
“This project will contribute to the Queensland Government’s renewable energy target of achieving 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030 to reduce emissions and act on climate change,” ACCIONA said in a statement.
Early works on the project is anticipated to commence in 2022.
Source: ACCIONA; Renew Economy; Renewables Now; PV Magazine Australia; Australia New Zealand Infrastructure Pipeline