Energy Estate, Media Release, 24 October 2023
In exciting news, it was announced that CleanCo is partnering with Central Queensland Power to progress the development of the Moah Creek Wind Farm.
CleanCo, Queensland’s publicly owned low-emission energy company, has secured $500m funding through the Queensland Budget to invest in renewable energy projects in Central Queensland, helping the state meet its renewable energy targets of 70 per cent by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035. Their investment will propel the development of up to 2.3GW of new renewable wind and solar projects unlocking enough clean energy to power more than 1.5 million Queensland homes.
This investment puts CleanCo on a path to supercharging its current portfolio of publicly owned generation assets connected via the state’s renewable energy backbone, the Queensland SuperGrid. Beyond delivering critical renewable energy capacity, the ability to combine these projects into a program of work creates a unique opportunity to support delivering other vital objectives of the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.
Moah Creek Wind Farm is the first in a portfolio of up to 2.3GW of projects to progress under a partnership between CleanCo and Central Queensland Power (CQP). CQP is a joint venture between RES Australia and Energy Estate and is developing a portfolio of wind, solar, and storage projects with a capacity of over 4GW in Central Queensland.
Together CleanCo and CQP will rigorously assess and shortlist projects in Central Queensland which deliver the best outcomes for the environment, communities, industry and Queensland’s overall renewable energy transformation.
Tom Metcalfe CEO of CleanCo stated “We are delighted to partner with CQP in the development of the Moah Creek Wind Farm which, at 372MW will add significant capacity to our portfolio and allow us to provide our customers with tailored clean energy solutions and advance Queensland’s decarbonisation journey.”
“CleanCo’s partnership with CQP on delivering the Moah Creek Wind Farm is a pivotal step forward for CleanCo’s $500m investment in Central Queensland which will bolster the Queensland SuperGrid, boost jobs growth, and deliver clean, publicly owned renewable energy for Queensland.”
CQP Director Annette Deveson comments “CQP is proud to announce this major step in our partnership with CleanCo. We are excited by the huge opportunity the partnership presents to accelerate the transition to clean energy in the Central Queensland region and to support Queensland’s plans to achieve its ambitious renewable energy targets.”
“CQP is dedicated to developing a large portfolio of high-quality renewable energy projects through close engagement with landowners, traditional custodians, local communities and local stakeholders which deliver significant economic, environmental, and social benefits within the region.”
Background
Moah Creek Wind Farm is located 30 km west of Rockhampton and 10 km north-west of Stanwell, in the Rockhampton Regional Council Local Government Area and includes the development of a wind generation facility (including up to 60 turbines) and associated infrastructure. It will connect into the existing 275-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that traverses the project site. Once operational, the Wind Farm is expected to deliver up to 372 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity into the National Electricity Market, the equivalent of powering approximately 195,000 households each year.
Central Queensland Power is a joint venture between experienced renewable energy developers RES and Energy Estate to deliver a portfolio of projects in Central Queensland.
RES, with over 40 years of experience and over 2500 people employed around the world, is the world’s largest independent renewable energy developer. The RES ethos is to deliver significant economic, environmental, and social benefits from the projects it develops and manages across Australia.
Energy Estate is an Australian developer of large-scale energy transition projects. Its mission is to accelerate the transformation of the energy sector and the decarbonisation of industry. We believe passionately in the opportunities to revitalise industrial communities through low carbon solutions and clean industrial precincts.
