Plans lodged for Miriam Vale Renewable Energy Hub

Plans have been lodged for a brand new solar farm and substation to be built near a rural town in Queensland.

A new solar farm has been proposed to be built near Miriam Vale.

A rural town south of Gladstone in Central Queensland could soon be the home of the region’s newest green energy infrastructure, further cementing the region as a renewables powerhouse.

Plans have been lodged with Gladstone Regional Council and an environmental report has been submitted with the Federal Government for a new solar farm and substation to be built near Miriam Vale.

The plans for the Miriam Vale Renewable Energy Hub were lodged on behalf of Private Energy Partners Pty Ltd who are proposing for the infrastructure to be built about six kilometres south west of the rural town of Miriam Vale.

The company is a subsidiary of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and has been active in the development, construction and operation of Australian energy projects for more than 40 years.

According to the planning document the site of the proposed solar farm spans across 14 freehold parcels with a combined total of 1082.25 hectares, with the “disturbance footprint” taking up 926 hectares.

The number of solar panels used to build the infrastructure will depend on the specific module model chosen, however the plans state the panels are proposed to have a capacity of 527 MWp.

The project is also proposed to include a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with an initial capacity of up to 400MW/hm with the potential to increase to increase to 1600MWh.

According to the proposal the project has the potential to supply up to one gigawatt of solar power into the national electricity market.

The project would also help support the state government target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

The plans state the project would create up to 950 jobs during the 18 to 24 month construction period, and up to 30 direct and indirect jobs during operation.

The Miriam Vale Renewable Energy Hub isn’t the only solar project pegged for the Gladstone region.

In October last year the Smoky Creek Solar Power Station, to be built near Biloela, was given the green light by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Meanwhile in January mining giant Rio Tinto agreed to buy all electricity from the proposed Upper Calliope Solar Farm.

In April construction began on the $500 million Aldoga Solar Farm, which will feature up to 820,000 solar modules with the capacity to pro480 MWp.