Investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has acquired a 200 hectare site to build a polysilicon production plant in Townsville, Australia.
Quinbrook was allocated the land of the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Townsville through a council-run competitive tender process. The company proposed to develop a polysilicon production plant facility at Lansdown, powered by a large-scale solar and battery storage project.
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Moreover, the conditions of land allocation included a strict timeline to develop the project and a requirement to contribute to critical Lansdown infrastructure.
Quinbrook did not disclose the capacity of the manufacturing facility and the solar-plus-storage project.
The company said the projects will support the development of solar manufacturing capability in Australia and help achieve the objectives of both the Queensland and Australia government’s renewable energy and critical minerals strategies.
PV Tech reported that Queensland had set multiple renewable energy targets, including bringing 22GW of new solar and wind projects online by 2035. The Queensland government has also planned to build 12 renewable energy zones (REZ).
The company said the manufacturing facility and the project could benefit from Townsville’s access to abundant solar energy and critical minerals resources. Quinbrook noted that the entire development, which it called a “multi-billion-dollar” project, would source high quality silica quartz from the North Queensland region.
“We have strong relationships with and are a major customer of leading solar and battery manufacturers across the globe – meaning components manufactured here in Townsville will be exported to these leading manufacturers and made into finished solar modules and batteries,” said Quinbrook’s senior director Brian Restall.
Other than development plans in Australia, Quinbrook also operates projects in the US. The company, along with its subsidiary Primergy Solar, has already closed a US$1.9 billion financing deal for a 690MWac/380MW hybrid solar-plus-storage project in the US.