Construction of the Aldoga Solar Farm on Australia’s central Queensland coast has been completed seven months ahead of schedule. The 380 MW PV plant has already exported its first 850 kW of clean electricity into the main national grid.
Spanish renewable energy developer Acciona Energia said it has completed construction of the 380 MW Aldoga Solar Farm near the industrial city of Gladstone, Queensland, just 12 months after works officially commenced.
Acciona said construction of the estimated AUD 500 million ($320 million) project has been finalized seven months ahead of schedule and the solar plant has already exported its first 850 kW of electricity into the National Electricity Market (NEM) as part of the first steps in the commissioning process. Commissioning is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
“Large-scale solar projects are one of the fastest and most affordable means of delivering new electricity into the NEM,” Acciona Managing Director Brett Wickham said. “We’ve delivered this milestone project safely and faster than expected. It’s a credit to the 350 men and women who have built it.”
The Aldoga project comprises approximately 820,000 solar modules. It also includes locally produced steel components after Acciona partnered with global solar equipment provider Nextracker to use tubing made from Australian steel at the Orrcon Steel facility in Brisbane.
“We’re incredibly proud to be one of the foundation customers for Nextracker and Orrcon as they work to establish a long-term local steel and manufacturing supply chain for solar farms,” Wickham said.
Once fully operational, 100% of the electricity produced at the Aldoga Solar Farm will be supplied to Queensland government-owned energy company Stanwell as part of a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke said first energy production from the solar farm marks an exciting milestone for the publicly owned utility which is seeking to build its renewable generation portfolio.
“Stanwell will offtake 100% of the output from the Aldoga Solar Farm,” he said. “This energy will be sold into the spot market or retailed to our commercial and industrial customers, ensuring that they receive affordable, reliable and sustainable energy, now and into the future.”
The company is targeting 9 to 10 GW of renewable energy generation and 5 GW of firming by 2035. Stanwell said it has now secured more than 4 GW of renewable energy generation and firming capacity projects in development, under construction or operational.
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