Townsville Solar Farm Gets Green Light

Queensland large-scale solar

Townsville City Council yesterday approved a development application for a $250 million solar farm to be constructed in the Upper Ross district.

The facility will be constructed on a disused mango farm and cover an area of 202 hectares. The 450,000 solar panels to be installed for the project will have a collective capacity of approximately of 135MW.

The solar panels will be mounted on trackers that will follow the sun throughout the day. Electricity generated by the modules will be fed into approximately 70 containerized inverter systems that will in turn feed into an onsite power reticulation system before export to the local grid via the Ross River Bulk Supply Substation.

“Townsville is the sunshine city and securing a significant solar farm for the area adds an important, sustainable industry to our region,” said Planning Committee chairman Cr Les Walker.

“Renewable energy is the way of the future and it’s important Townsville, as a regional capital for the North, is supporting opportunities for the industry in suitable locations.”

150 jobs are expected to be created during construction, with five permanent and 10 part time jobs at the solar farm once the power station commences operations.

In response to concerns from adjoining landholders, Council has stipulated an extended landscape buffer and three emergency access points be integrated into the project.

Construction of the solar farm is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year, subject to approvals, and will take around a year to build.

The Townsville region is ideal for solar projects. On average, Townsville’s solar irradiation levels are approximately 5.73 kilowatt hours per square metre daily.

As well as providing many benefits for Townsville, the 135MW solar farm represents a significant contribution to Queensland’s solar targets.

Earlier this month, Queensland’s Government announced it will provide long-term financial support for up to 120 megawatts of installed large-scale solar generation.

The Palaszczuk Government has also set a target of 1 million solar rooftops in Queensland by 2020. According to the latest information from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, there are currently approximately 476,000 small scale solar photovoltaic systems installed throughout the state.

Top Right Image Credit: BigStock

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