|2 December 2016|
Australia
Plans to triple Australia’s large-scale solar capacity have taken a major step forward with the signing of a multi-million pound contract for a groundbreaking project in North Queensland.
As part of its initiative to slash the costs and speed up the roll out of big solar, Australian’s Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) will provide up to $8.9 million towards Genex’s $126 million Kidston Solar Project. A study by Genex also revealed last month that the construction of a pumped storage facility operating alongside the solar farm was technically feasible.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the project is an integral part of its solar ambitions to support a dozen new solar farms.
“ARENA’s unprecedented investment in large-scale solar is expected to unlock almost $1 billion in commercial investment that will mostly be spent in regional Australian economies,” Mr Frischknecht said.
“Nationally, the six plants in Queensland, five in New South Wales and one in Western Australia will be a huge boost to regional areas with the expected creation of around 2,300 direct jobs and thousands more indirect jobs.”
It is expected the remaining 11 large scale solar projects will reach financial agreements with ARENA early next year.
