Queensland's Renewables 400 program attracts strong interest

The Queensland Government’s auction for 400MW of large-scale renewable energy generation and storage has attracted interest from more than 200 business, including project developers, investors and local small businesses.

Renewables 400 is one of the initiatives of Queensland's AUD1.16 billion (US$873 million) Powering Queensland Plan and a natural follow on from the success of the Solar 150 program.  With the Renewables 400 initiative, the government expects to secure up to 100 MW of energy storage by 2020. 

In early August, the Government called for registrations of interest from developers of standalone renewable energy or storage and integrated projects. The closing date to register was on August 28. Now will follow the Expressions of Interest process that will open on Thursday 31 August.

Energy minister Curtis Pitt said:

“There has already been significant interest in our Renewables 400 program, with 201 businesses registered so far including project developers, investors and local small businesses.

Under this new initiative, we will support companies wanting to build the next generation of large-scale renewable and energy storage projects in Queensland.

As part of the Renewables 400 process, and to support the accelerated deployment of this technology, the Queensland Government is undertaking a specific process to secure up to 100 megawatts of energy storage prior to 2020.

We all agree that energy storage technology will play an important role in the transition to higher levels of renewable energy and we are keen to see the benefits of this new investment flow into the Queensland economy. 

Not only are we encouraging investment in Queensland, but we’re also supporting diversity in renewable generation supply which is an important for our future energy security. "

Under the reverse auction process, companies would bid for Queensland Government support for both renewable generation and storage projects, most of which will be situated in the regions. In the reverse auction process, companies are encouraged to bid for the lowest price necessary to support their project. 

The first large-scale solar projects in Queensland have come on-line and there are another 20 projects either commencing construction or finalising commercial arrangements. These projects will have an installed capacity of almost 1800 MW.

Roughly 1.7 GW of rooftop PV has been installed in Queensland, in addition to 700 MW of large-scale renewables capacity, according to government figures. Approximately 1.2 GW of large-scale projects have gone into development at 17 locations in the state since early 2016, including the 135 MW Ross River array and a 50 MW near the town of Kidston.

For more information on the or to submit an EOI visit www.dews.qld.gov.au 

We have lately informed about other renewable projects in Queensland:

• 50 MW Hayman solar park in Queensland
• 150 MW Daydream solar project in Queensland
• 22.5 MW Hughenden solar farm in Queensland
• 270 MW Kidston Solar Project Phase Two (KSP2) in Northern Queensland
• 50 MW Kidston Solar Project Phase One (KSP1) in Northern Queensland
• 250 MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Northern Queensland
• 125 MW Clare solar project in Queensland