Gigawatt solar project in Queensland, Australia approved to proceed

The project will be located near a proposed REZ in Queensland. Image: Cambridge RE Partners.

The Burdekin Shire Council has permitted construction on a proposed gigawatt-scale multi-staged solar PV development in Queensland, Australia.

The Cambridge Solar Farm, being developed by Cambridge JMD Australia, a regional subsidiary of fund manager Cambridge RE Partners, is being proposed approximately 80km south of Townsville and will connect to existing transmission infrastructure.

Set to be developed in a multi-staged approach, the local council met last week (8 October) to decide whether to grant permission for the project to proceed to the construction phase. This was after the federal government granted the environmental tick of approval last month.

The local council members met and decided to grant permission for the project’s multi-staged development, which includes a 300MW first stage, a 205MW second stage, and a final 560MW third stage. The first stage is expected to take 24 months, the second will take 18 months, and the third stage is expected to take up to 24 months.

As previously reported by PV Tech, the solar PV power plant will be situated near a proposed Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) previously identified by the Queensland government. Three possible REZs, named Far North Queensland, Collinsville, and Flinders, could be developed in the north and far north regions of Queensland. These are expected to generate up to 5GW of renewable energy if all are completed.

In the case of the Cambridge Solar Farm, being close to the REZs could be a boon for the project, allowing it to leverage modern and upgraded transmission and infrastructure to connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Plans for the Cambridge Solar Farm also reveal that a battery energy storage system (BESS) could be developed on-site. The capacity and duration of this have not been disclosed.