Utility Scale PV

Woodside says it has secured an agreement with the traditional owners for land on which it plans to build the first 50 MW stage of what could eventually expand to be a 500 MW solar power plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The Queensland government’s push for 70% of the state’s energy supply to come from renewables by 2032 has received a boost with the completed 162 MW Columboola Solar Farm in the state’s Western Downs region now sending renewable energy to the grid.

Australian renewables developer Energy Estate has signed a consortium of “globally recognised partners” to accelerate the development of a large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production and export facility in north Queensland.

Resource-sector heavyweight Rio Tinto is planning to invest $600 million (USD 402 million) building two new solar farms and battery energy storage systems in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as part of the company’s efforts to decarbonise its iron ore operations.

With construction underway on a $295 million (USD 197 million) transmission project to connect the landmark Kidston Clean Energy Hub to the grid in far north Queensland, developer Genex Power has announced plans to boost the generation capacity of what is already Australia’s largest hybrid energy project combining wind, solar and pumped hydro.

Queensland will be home to what the state government claims will be one of the largest onshore wind projects in the world after Spanish renewable energy giant Acciona Energia announced plans to develop a new 1 GW project in the state’s southwest.

Seven New South Wales local councils have united to secure a long-term electricity purchasing agreement utilising the 115 MW Metz Solar Farm which will deliver enough renewable energy to allow the participating councils’ facilities and assets to transition to 100% renewables in a staged approach from January 2023.

An irrigation community has built a 786 kW floating solar array on a small water reservoir in Murcia, Spain. The facility will provide power for a solar water pumping system, a desalination unit, and the community itself.

The Clean Energy Council has reiterated calls to reform the grid connection process to provide increased certainty and security for investors after a new report revealed only one renewable energy generation project reached financial close in Australia in the third quarter of 2022.

Energy giant AGL has disclosed it will shutter its gas-fired Torrens Island B power station in South Australia within four years, citing the impending completion of a new electricity interconnector that will link power grids across three Australian states, unlocking gigawatts of new wind, solar PV and storage projects.