Nation’s ‘largest renewable energy zone’ to be built in Qld

A ‘landmark’ deal between the state and federal governments will fast-track the connection of the nation’s largest wind farm precinct in Queensland, paving the way to power hundreds of thousands of homes.

A multimillion-dollar cash injection from the federal government’s clean energy investment arm will help connect a major renewable energy precinct in southern Queensland to the electricity grid, paving the way to power hundreds of thousands of homes.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, in its first investment into a renewable energy zone (REZ), will pump $160m into the Southern Downs REZ so critical grid infrastructure can be built.

The MacIntyre Wind Precinct in the Southern Downs.

The renewable energy zone is currently made up for the 103MW Karara Wind Farm and the 923MW Macintyre Wind Farm — which will be one of the world’s largest once it is up and running some time in 2024.

Once complete, 180 turbines on site across both wind farms will generate enough power to supply about 700,000 Queensland homes, with room on the network for future renewable projects.

But it will also need 65km of transmission lines to connect it to the grid, with Powerlink constructing and operating the infrastructure along with two new switching stations.

The Macintyre Wind Farm is being developed by Spanish company Acciona and Korea Zinc while the Karara Wind Farm will be owned by Queensland’s state-owned CleanCo.

“Connecting the massive project to the national grid not only unlocks $2 billion worth of investment, it also boosts reliability of power across the three east Australian states, with clean Queensland-made energy,” Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said.

“It also presents another opportunity to build onshore capability and skill Queenslanders for renewable energy jobs of the future.”

BREAKING: Australia’s largest renewable energy zone will be delivered right here in Queensland.

We’ve signed a landmark deal with the Australian Government to fast-track the connection of Australia’s largest wind farm precinct to the National Electricity Market.@MickdeBrenni

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 10, 2022

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk took to social media on Thursday morning to celebrate “Australia’s largest renewable energy zone” coming to Queensland.

“We’ve signed a landmark deal with the Australian Government to fast-track the connection of Australia’s largest wind farm precinct to the National Electricity Market,” she wrote on Twitter.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said it was the first time the federal government had backed a publicly-owned energy company in Queensland.

“The best way to reduce electricity costs ... is to build more renewable energy,” he said.

“This underscores our level of commitment to making sure we see more renewable energy.”

The project is expected to create 620 local jobs, with Mr de Brenni saying there would be more to come.

“This is about putting downward pressure on electricity prices,” he said.