Cairns Regional Council Inks Clean Power Deal

Cairns Regional Council has taken another big step towards meeting its commitment to all the organisation’s electricity being sourced from renewables.

From July 2024, 80 of the organisation’s biggest facilities will be supplied with 100% renewable electricity under an agreement with QLD Government owned CleanCo – the first between a Queensland local government and the company. Among the facilities covered under the agreement are Cairns’ Performing Arts Centre, City Library, Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre and wastewater treatment plants.

The electricity supplied will be predominantly generated by Neoen’s Kaban Green Energy Hub near Ravenshoe, which is a 157 MW wind farm project with approval for a 100 MW battery. Kaban Green Energy Hub achieved energisation and connected to the grid in October this year. At that point, 16 of the wind farm’s 28 turbines had been completed and the project was on track to be operational from next year.

The other facility underpinning the agreement with Cairns Regional Council is the Western Downs Green Power Hub located south-east of Chinchilla; another Neoen project. The 460 MW solar farm is to be accompanied by a 200MW battery system situated adjacent. The PV aspect of Western Downs Green Power Hub is expected to be operational in 2023, and the battery in 2024.

CleanCo has offtake agreements with both facilities, which will also be supplying (among others) Queensland Westfield Living Centres under another CleanCo deal announced in August this year.

Renewable Energy Critical To Net-Zero Goal

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning says renewable energy is critical to achieving Council’s goal of net zero emissions by 2030. In the interim, the organisation expects to meet its 50% scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target by the end of 2022/23.

“As the guardians of two World Heritage-listed natural environments – the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforest – it is our responsibility to do all we can to protect these assets and our lifestyle by taking action on climate change,” Cr Manning said.

It’s assumed Council will also be saving a significant amount on its electricity costs through this agreement, which is often the case when renewables are involved. It will also protect against future electricity price shocks – some of which we’ve seen recently and there are more to come.

As well as this agreement, Cairns Regional Council has been busy racking up solar panels on its assets. It has installed nearly 3 megawatts of solar power capacity across dozens of facilities. Combined, these installations are generating more than 4.5 gigawatt hours of clean electricity each year; saving Council (and ratepayers) over $700,000 annually and avoiding 3,600 tonnes of CO2e per annum.

Council’s biggest PV systems to date are 600kW installations at both the Northern and Southern Waste Water Treatment Plants.

Many local residents and businesses are also taking advantage of the region’s abundant sunshine to slash their power bills, with assistance from some great solar installers in Cairns. More than 9,832 small-scale solar systems had been installed in Cairns‘ postcode area as at the end of October this year.