2022-06-06 12:45:00
AUSTRALIA'S WIND 1 GW, $2 BLN
IEEFA- June 02, 2022 - Spanish energy giant Acciona Energía has hailed a “golden age of renewables” at the official launch event for the start of construction at Australia’s biggest wind farm to date – the 1.026GW MacIntyre project in Queensland.
The start of construction of the $2 billion project was first announced by Acciona last month, as we reported here, but the official celebrations were held on Thursday at a “sod turning” ceremony event with the state minister at the site about 60km west of Warwick in south-west Queensland.
“I believe MacIntyre is the start of a golden age of renewable energy in Australia. One that takes full advantage of our renewable resources with projects that help drive and develop our regional economies,” said the head of Acciona Energía in Australia Brett Wickham. “MacIntyre is the largest project Acciona Energía has undertaken anywhere in the world and will be our flagship development for many years to come.”
The project will be a welcome addition to the grid in Queensland, which is suffering the highest electricity prices in the country due to its near total reliance on coal, and because of the surging price of coal and gas and some major coal outages.
Queensland has a 50 per cent renewables target by 2030 but has so far delivered less than 20 per cent. The state government is expected to announce a “plan” to fill that gap later this year. MacIntyre will help fill the gap, along with other projects currently under construction, including the Dulacca and Kaban wind farms, and the 400MW Western Downs solar project, which will be the biggest in the country, at least for a time.
The MacIntyre precinct – which will include 180 Nordex turbines rated at 5.7MW each and with a tip height of 235m – is actually two projects in one. The McIntyre wind farm itself will comprise 162 turbines and 923MW of capacity, while the adjoining Karara wind farm, comprising 18 turbines and 103MW of capacity, will be directly owned by Queensland government utility CleanCo.
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Earlier:
2022, June, 2, 11:15:00
AUSTRALIA'S URANIUM WILL UP
The forecast AUD113 million (USD81 million) capital cost of the development (including contingency) of the Honeymoon project is fully-funded,
2022, April, 1, 11:05:00
AUSTRALIAN URANIUM MERGER
According to the two companies, the merger will create a new global uranium player with "significant scale" and with cash resources of AUD106 million (about USD80 million).
