South Australia-headquartered renewable energy gen-tailer Zen Energy’s proposed Hookey Creek Solar Farm and battery energy storage project has been given the all-clear by the federal government’s environment watchdog.
The Hookey Creek project, being developed near Woolooga, about 25 kilometres northwest of Gympie, is to include a 100 MW solar farm and a 200 MW battery with between four to eight hours of storage capacity.
Zen, as part of its joint venture with Taiwan’s HD Renewable Energy (HDRE), last month submitted the project for review under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
In a decision notice issued Tuesday, the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said the project is “not a controlled action,” clearing the way for it to advance towards construction.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said the approval process for the Hookey Creek project had taken just 17 days, a testament to the work put in by the developers prior to submission.
“This was made possible because the 267-hectare project site was designed so its environmental impacts were minimised,” he said.
“It will be located on predominantly cleared land, so there’s an option for agricultural use on the site, including sheep grazing through the solar array, demonstrating once again that there’s ways for renewables and agriculture to work together.”
Watt said the project will also contribute to the federal government’s clean energy targets, including achieving 82% renewable energy in Australia’s generation mix by 2030.
“Since 2022, the Albanese government has given the green light to 90 new renewable energy projects, enough to power more than 11 million Australian homes,” he said.
“This new solar farm is another important contributor, producing enough energy to power 40,000 homes, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
The Hookey Creek project will now need to progress through the state planning process with Zen also working on grid connection and council development approvals. Construction is expected to commence in 2027 with completion anticipated in mid-2029. The project is expected to support up to 264 jobs during the construction phase.
The Hookey Creek project is part of Zen’s joint venture with Taiwanese partner HDRE, announced earlier this year, targeting the development of 400 MW of solar and 1 GW of energy storage capacity in Australia.
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