It’s all systems go for Fotowatio Renewable Ventures’ 100MW Lilyvale Solar Farm, which will soon commence construction at a site around 50 kilometres from Emerald in Queensland.
Queensland’s Energy Minister Mark Bailey announced yesterday the project had reached financial close, ensuring the developers will be able to secure the necessary funding required.
“I congratulate FRV for reaching yet another Queensland milestone, this is yet another project which will bring Queensland closer to reaching the Government’s 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030,” said Minister Bailey.
Polycrystalline solar panels will be used at the facility, with a horizontal, single-axis tracking system also being considered.
It’s expected Lilyvale Solar farm will be operational by late 2018 and will generate enough electricity to power around the equivalent of 45,000 Queensland homes. Up to 200 jobs will be created during the construction phase.
As part of the works, Powerlink will construct a new substation and a short transmission line.
Powerlink Chief Executive Merryn York said the company currently has 11 new large-scale plants committed to connect to the Queensland transmission network, collectively representing more than 1,600 MW of wind and solar power generation.
One of the primary factors for FRV’s choice of site was that it had among the highest levels of solar irradiation in Australia.
Other FRV projects in Australia include Royalla Solar Farm in the ACT, Moree Solar Farm in New South Wales and Clare Solar Farm in Queensland. Since it was founded in 2006, FRV has developed and constructed over 780 MWp of solar energy projects in 24 countries and across 5 continents.
You can read more about Lilyvale Solar Farm here (note: FRV’s dedicated web site seems a bit out of date.).
The announcement follows a flurry of others in recent times regarding the progress of large-scale solar in the sunshine state. Earlier this week, we reported Mareeba Shire Council has approved plans for the 60MW Mareeba Solar Farm and last week Western Downs Regional Council announced approval of the 250MW Western Downs Solar Farm; the second large-scale solar farm approval from the Council in a week.
Mr. Bailey said Lilyvale is one of 20 renewable projects with a collective capacity of 1,781 megawatts committed to or under construction in Queensland. The state also has a pipeline of 40 major proposed renewable energy projects representing 5,297 MW capacity and more than 9,000 potential jobs.
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