CONSTRUCTION of a $300 million solar farm on a disused former gold mine in far north Queensland is expected to start at the end of the year.
Etheridge Shire Council has granted town planning approval to an application by power generation development company Genex to establish a solar farm on the decommissioned tailings storage facility at the old Kidston Gold Mine, 270km northwest of Townsville.
The $100 million first phase of the project will generate 50 megawatts of electricity by late 2017, with the second phase providing an additional 100 megawatts to the grid.
Genex Executive Director Simon Kidston said Genex aimed to kick off construction by end of the year.
“We are having detailed discussions with construction firms about employment and are in the process of finalising a preferred tenderer which will be a major construction group,” Mr Kidston told the North Queensland Register.
“Somewhere between 150-180 people will be involved in construction over a 12 month construction timeframe.”
Mr Kidston said the site was located in the highest solar resource area.
“We put a monitoring station on the site last year and that confirmed it has the best solar resource of any solar project in the country by a long way,” Mr Kidston said.
“We are in the process of selecting solar panels that are suited to the dynamics of that resource.”
Kidston Gold Mine closed in 2001.
Etheridge Shire Council Mayor Will Attwood said town planning approval was a giant step forward for Genex.
“We have had quite a few projects on the drawing board and its taking a while to get them working on the ground,” Cr Attwood said.
“This is a giant step forward for Genex to be able to say they are shovel ready.
“This really is about optimism in our shire – to show this area has a lot of potential not only for solar but for wind and irrigated agriculture.
“It will be good for the project get up and going.”
Genex’s plans to establish a renewable energy hub on the site are two-pronged.
A feasibility study for the Kidston Hydro Pump Storage Project, similar to Wivenhoe Dam, utilising the site’s two existing reservoirs will be completed later this year. Approvals are being sought concurrently, with a two-year construction program expected to start in 2017.
“We have been delighted with support from the Etheridge Shire Council which has been matched with strong engagement from the Queensland and Federal Governments,” Mr Kidston said.
“The government see this is putting a renewable energy project on a disused mine site and turning a redundant site into a site that will have an economic future well into the long term.
“Sometimes it needs people to think outside the box and sometimes you can turn an old mine into a long-term renewable green project.”
Cr Attwood agreed the reuse of the former gold mine was particularly pleasing.
“The mine had a rehabilitation order over it and now what this means is that another organisation has been able to come along and utilise the mine as it was left for a different purpose,” Cr Attwood said.
Historic Connection
Genex executive director Simon Kidston has a historic connection to the former Kidston Gold Mine. The gold mine was named after his great, great grandfather, William Kidston, who was Premier of Queensland twice in the early 1900s. The town of Kidston was named after William when gold was discovered.