23.6MW Solar Farm Planned For Central Western Queensland

Pending approvals, construction of the Barcaldine Solar Farm in Queensland could begin as early as next year.

The Barcaldine Solar Farm, currently in planning phase, is a proposed 23.6 megawatt facility situated approximately five kilometres east of  Barcaldine. The site is adjacent to an existing transmission substation, reducing the need for additional transmission infrastructure.

Barcaldine Solar Farm will cover approximately 35 hectares and incorporate approximately 76,000 solar modules mounted on solar trackers that will follow the sun through the day.

The project is will be developed by the Barcaldine Remote Community Solar Farm Pty Ltd (BRCSF), which is owned by Kingsway Europe SL and Elecnor Australia Pty Ltd.

Elecnor’s parent company, Elecnor SA, already owns and operates more than 400 MW of solar installations throughout Europe and the Americas. The company also has interests in wind power through its subsidiary Enerfín, which had nameplate of capacity of 1,267 MW wind power capacity at the end of 2013.

The Barcaldine Solar Farm project is expected to generate approximately 53,500 megawatt hours of solar electricity annually, avoiding approximately 50,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per annum.

In addition to clean electricity, the project is expected to bring other benefits to the local community. Elecnor says it will source workers from the local community and broader region wherever possible and support other local initiatives.

It seems Central Western Queensland is hot property for large scale solar power generation – figuratively and literally.

“The Barcaldine Region’s climate, which features consistently high temperatures and year-round sunshine, means the project site has excellent insolation characteristics,” says the project web site. “This allows efficient and effective solar energy generation throughout the year.”

The project team are holding a community information session in Barcaldine on Tuesday 10 March 2015, where residents will be able to meet the project team and discuss planning.

Barcaldine Regional Mayor Rob Chandler is hopeful of the project steaming ahead.

“I hope that they have got financial close, and now that the DA [development application] is up and they are doing their public consultation, the next thing will be they start building a solar farm project,” he said.

“All these western towns at the moment are hurting a bit with the drought and I just think any developments that come our way we will welcome with open arms.”

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