Columboola Solar Farm (Finally) Achieves Full Output

Renewable energy developer RES recently announced Columboola Solar Farm in Queensland has reached full generation output.

Situated approximately 10 kilometres north-east of Miles in Queensland’s Western Downs region, Columboola Solar Farm is a 162 MW(ac)/202.5 MW(dc) clean power station comprised of 417,000 bifacial solar panels that make use of light hitting both module faces, and 39 SMA Medium Voltage Power Stations.

It was originally planned the solar farm would deliver its first electricity generation to the grid in Q3 2021 and ramp up to full commercial operation by Q1 2022. But no plan survives contact with the enemy real world it seems when it comes to many of these big PV projects; particularly over the last few years. But better late than never.

Given the delays, no doubt RES was particularly pleased to hit this stage.

“Full generation is one of the final pieces in the construction puzzle, and we look forward to graduating Columboola into ongoing operations with our asset management team in the new year,” stated RES (AU) last week.

The company said Columboola Solar Farm will supply the equivalent of 100,000 homes (stated elsewhere as 75,000), approximately 6% of all homes in Queensland. With output an expected 440,000 MWh annually, it’s probably closer to the 75,000 mark. As for the percentage of homes, it’s assumed that refers to stand-alone dwellings. Still, Columboola Solar Farm’s contribution to clean energy in Queensland will be significant.

Columboola Powering QLD Universities

Queensland Government owned and operated CS Energy has dibs on 100% of the solar farm’s renewable energy generation for the first 10 years of its operation, which will be sold to large electricity customers including Griffith University, CQUniversity and Queensland University of Technology.

Commenting on the arrangement early last month, Griffith University Chief Operating Officer Peter Bryant said Columboola Solar Farm will provide equivalent to 50 per cent of the university’s electricity needs. And with the university consuming around 60 million kilowatt hours annually that contributes to approximately 70 per cent of its total carbon footprint, supply from Columboola will give Griffith’s emission reduction efforts a major boost.

“This will help us be a more sustainable university by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we produce from electricity,” Mr Bryant said. “It will also help us achieve our commitment of halving our 2010 emissions by 2030 and then to net zero emissions by 2050.”

UK-headquartered RES is active in 11 countries. The firm says it has delivered more than 23GW of renewable energy projects globally, and supports an operational asset portfolio exceeding 10GW. Beyond onshore/ offshore wind and solar power, its activities also include energy storage and transmission and distribution.

RES set up shop  in Australia back in 2004 and has a bunch of wind and solar projects here either operating, under construction or otherwise in the pipeline. Among others we’ve recently mentioned on SolarQuotes is the Watta Wella Solar Farm and Watta Wella Battery Energy Storage Facility, which will be a 400MW / 1200MWh BESS project.