The Australian government has approved an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Southern Queensland.
Developed by SkyLab, the Punchs Creek Solar Farm will be paired with a 250MW battery energy storage system (BESS). Although stated as having a 250MW output by the Australian government, the BESS unit could have an output of 200MW and a capacity of 250MWh, as covered previously by our sister-site Energy-storage.news.
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Located near the city of Toowoomba, the solar park will include the installation of 1.7 million solar panels on previously cleared agricultural land. A timeline for the construction of the project and its expected commercial operation date was not disclosed by the Australian government.
The construction of more than 1GW of renewable capacity in Queensland is a push forward for the state’s goal to add 22GW of renewable energy by 2035. The government of Queensland recently published its roadmap for its 12 Renewable Energy Zones (REZs), of which Toowoomba is part of the South Queensland region and is expected to install between 1.8-2.4GW of renewables.
Queensland has seen an increase in gigawatt-scale capacity projects or portfolios being developed in the region with renewables company Enel Green Power Australia seeking to buy a 1GW solar and wind project in January 2024. Or CleanCo Queensland, a state-owned renewables company, seeking expressions of interest to add 3GW of new solar and wind capacity in the state.
Furthermore, the Australian government is to celebrate a tender this month seeking 6GW of renewables capacity under the expanded Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), its largest tender ever.
