Why Gympie, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg have become a renewable energy hub

Billions of dollars of investment in renewable energy projects across the Gympie region, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg has transformed the Wide Bay into a renewable energy hot spot.

From solar farms to pumped hydro and wind turbines, billions of dollars of investment in green energy is under construction or mooted for the Wide Bay as the State Government tries to meet its renewable energy targets and investors jump on the bandwagon to prosperity.

The list of potential developments in parts of the Gympie region, the Fraser Coast and Bundaberg gets longer each year.

The Tuan Forest between Gympie and Maryborough is the location of choice for a proposed $2 billion wind farm to be built by Forest Wind.

In the Mary Valley south of Gympie, Borumba Dam is at the centre of plans to build a multibillion-dollar 1 Gigawatt pumped hydro plant, with the State Government spending $22 million on a design and cost analysis.

A $130 million, 210 Megawatt solar farm is under construction by Lightsource BP on the Wide Bay Highway at Woolooga.

Another 100MW Banksia Solar Farm by developer Venn Arbitir was approved in January at Isis River, not far from the Childers Solar Farm built by ESCO Pacific.

They will join the $175 million Susan River solar farm, also built by ESCO Pacific, and REST Energy’s Munna Creek solar farm at Maryborough.

The Forest Wind project is earmarked to be built over 1950km sq between Gympie and Maryborough at Tuan.

A $2 billion solar farm at Lower Wonga was approved in 2017 by Gympie Regional Council, but developers SolarQ have not started work and it appears the project has stalled or folded altogether.

State Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the region’s attractiveness for renewable developments came down to demand.

“Renewable energy operators are attracted to the Gympie region because of its proximity to SEQ demand, as well as Queensland’s skilled workforce and abundant solar and wind resources,” Mr de Brenni said.

“The pumped hydro facility at Borumba Dam will be a multibillion-dollar project with the potential to generate billions more in clean energy investment and around 2000 jobs for Gympie and the Sunshine Coast during construction.”

The developers of the wind farm at Tuan, Forest Wind, said picking the location for the 1950km sq development was a breeze.

“Forest Wind‘s location is ideal to capture the south easterly prevailing wind blowing in from the Pacific Ocean on to the Queensland coast,” a Forest Wind spokesman said.

State Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said renewable energy projects were drawn to Gympie by its proximity to the high demand areas of Queensland. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The “dense” pine trees created a natural buffer between the turbines and residents, he said.

That has not quashed concerns from some of those residents, though.

In March 2020, shortly after the wind farm proposal was announced, residents of nearby Maaroom received anonymous letters outlining claimed hazards, issues and dangers of the proposal.

These included fire hazards, the threat to birds and bats, and noise pollution.

The developers have had to fend off allegations of secrecy and that affected residents had not been consulted about the project.

Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien has been among those to flag concerns about the project, saying at its inception it was “”shrouded in State Government enforced secrecy”.

The $2 billion wind farm has been met with resistance in some corners amid allegations of secrecy and a lack of public consultation. Developer Forest Wind has denied these claims.

These issues were also raised in a parliamentary report on the wind farm.

Following the report Forest Wind roundly defended itself. saying it had “widely consulted with the community, timber industry, environment groups, regional councils, local businesses, and traditional owners”.

Forest Wind said Friday if the project got the go ahead, - it must be assessed by the Federal Government under the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Protection Act – then it would be a boon for workers across the Wide Bay.

“As the project is developed, hundreds of people in the Wide Bay and surrounding regions will have an opportunity to secure work over the two- to three-year construction phase,” the spokesman said.

Construction of a $130 million solar farm at Woolooga on the Wide Bay Highway is well under way.

“Local material resources, including sand, rock and road materials will be used and will require trucking operators to deliver raw materials to the turbines.”

Highly-skilled long-term jobs would be created once the turbines were spinning, including in mechanical, electrical and administrative industries.

“Most of these roles will be located in Wide Bay,” the spokesman said.

Tendering has begun for electrical and engineering advisers for the Borumba Dam hydro plant.

Community consultation and environmental assessments of the region will be included in the tendering process, and Mr de Brenni said the report was expected by the end of 2023.

The developers of the Woolooga Solar Farm, Lightsource BP, were contacted for this story.