Clarke Creek Wind Farm Receives Development Approval; May Add Solar and Battery Storage

The number of huge wind and solar projects in the development pipeline continues to rapidly expand, a proof to the claim that the federal renewable energy target by 2020 is as good as met because of the installation and construction of various wind and solar projects in the country.
The latest project in the works is the 800MW Clarke Creek wind farm located in central Queensland. It has received development approval from the state government and could be constructed alongside a 400MW solar farm that has also received planning approval, and battery storage. According to a report on RenewEconomy’s website, the $1 billion project is located approximately halfway between Rockhampton and Mackey in the Isaac regional council and is adjacent to key transmission lines.
The Director at Lacour Energy, Mark Rayner, stated that there is still a strong demand for renewable energy in some regions from retailers and corporate buyers. The article reads, “The Queensland market is also being underpinned by the government’s stated target of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, although it has yet to outline exactly what mechanisms, if any, it will use to reach the target.”
Lacour, according to Rayner, is conducting a feasibility study that is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, and the construction could begin early next year. The entire project is also expected to account for over 3 percent of Queensland’s total electricity demand. Rayner added, “The Clarke Creek Wind and Solar Farm development is a unique renewable energy project which combines excellent wind and solar resources at a location directly adjacent to the backbone of the Powerlink 275 kV transmission network.”
“The wind farm development approval is a significant milestone for the project and we look forward to completing the feasibility study by the end of the year so that construction can begin in early 2019,” Rayner continued. The wind farm will consist of approximately 195 wind turbines with an overall wind farm capacity of more than 800MW. The solar farm, on the other hand, was approved by the council earlier this year and could range in size from 200MW to 400MW.’
Read the full article here.