The Albanese Government has approved a new Queensland solar farm in just 17 days, producing enough energy to power 40,000 homes, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The 100-megawatt Hookey Creek solar farm will be located 25km northwest of Gympie, and includes a 200 MW battery energy storage system with up to 8 hours of storage capacity.
The solar farm will connect via underground cables to the Queensland SuperGrid with energy traded on the National Electricity Market.
The project will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 208,000 CO2-e tonnes each year - the equivalent of taking around 75,000 passenger cars off the road.
Minister for the Environment, Murray Watt said the Hookey Creek solar project showcases Australia's potential to produce abundant renewable energy and make the shift to cheaper, clean, reliable, renewable energy.
"Since 2022, the Albanese Government has given the green light to 90 new renewable energy projects - enough to power more than 11 million Australian homes," Minister Watt said.
"This new solar farm is another important contributor and its approval process took just 17 days.
"This was made possible because the 267-hectare project site was designed so its environmental impacts were minimised.
"It will be located on predominantly cleared land, so there's an option for agricultural use on the site, including sheep grazing through the solar array, demonstrating once again that there's ways for renewables and agriculture to work together.
"Under the Albanese Government, Australia is producing record amounts of renewable electricity, as we head towards transforming Australia into a renewable energy superpower."
Boosting renewables capacity not only provides substantial cost savings, but it is also great for local jobs and economies.
This project alone will support up to 264 direct jobs in construction and several ongoing positions.
