The Australian government has granted Spanish solar PV developer X-Elio the green light to develop its 350MW Sixteen Mile solar-plus-storage project in Queensland, but must adhere to conditions to protect endangered local wildlife.
X-Elio’s proposed power plant will be located 22km southeast of Chinchilla, northwest of the state capital Brisbane, in the locality of Hopeland.
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The project, which also features a 120MW/240MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and will connect to the existing Western Downs Substation, will install around 579,000 solar PV modules.
The solar-plus-storage site will have an operational lifespan of 35 years and take 18-24 months to complete construction. The project area has been set at around 586 hectares.
X-Elio launched an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act application in May 2024, which has now been granted providing the project follows key conditions which require it to be slightly smaller than previously planned.
The site must avoid regions that house habitats for endangered and vulnerable species, including Koalas, Grey Snakes, and Squatter Pigeons. Although no Grey Snakes or Koalas were recorded in the project’s field surveys conducted last year, the government has called on the developer to avoid the southern section of the project area (below).
The southern section of the project site features eucalypt open woodland, as well as an isolated patch of eucalypt woodland in the proposed solar PV power plant area. Both could house Koalas or be used as a foraging area for the vulnerable animal. Under the conditions laid out by the government, this area must be avoided.
Tanya Plibersek, Queensland’s minister for the environment and water, hailed the project, securing consent from the federal government, and used it to attack plans by Peter Dutton, leader of Australia’s Liberal Party, to introduce nuclear energy into the country’s energy mix.
“Labor is getting on with the job of transforming Australia into a renewable energy superpower while Peter Dutton and David Littleproud’s so-called nuclear plan is threatening investment in renewables,” Plibersek said.
“Australians have a choice between a renewable energy transition that’s already underway and driving down prices, or paying for an expensive nuclear fantasy that may never happen.”
It is worth noting that the Sixteen Mile solar PV project will be located near the company’s 200MW Blue Grass Solar Farm, which was commissioned in late 2022.
