{"id":188145,"date":"2017-08-28T19:26:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T09:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=188145"},"modified":"2020-08-14T15:00:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T05:00:40","slug":"woolooga-solar-farm-still-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/08\/28\/woolooga-solar-farm-still-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolooga Solar Farm Still On Track"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The huge solar farm would be built alongside the Wide Bay Highway and adjacent to the Woolooga Substation, at top (Photo: SolarQ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 28, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

A proposal to build an enormous solar farm at Woolooga is progressing well, and the project’s creators hope to be able to gain approval by October.<\/p>\n

The SolarQ solar farm project would be built in an empty paddock next to Woolooga’s high-voltage sub-station on the Wide Bay Highway.<\/p>\n

The solar farm could include up to 1.3 million solar panels, as well as a battery storage facility which will put power into the grid at night or when it\u2019s not sunny.<\/p>\n

The initial output of the farm has been put forward as 350MW, which is equivalent in size to one unit at Tarong Power Station, but not in capacity.<\/p>\n

SolarQ managing director Scott Armstrong, a former technician at Tarong, explained that while a coal-fired generating unit could run at 100 per cent capacity, solar farms typically have a 26-30 per cent output.<\/p>\n

Output would also depend on whether fixed or tracking panels were installed.<\/p>\n

However, SolarQ aims to eventually more than double capacity at the site to 800MW.<\/p>\n

In April this year the company lodged a development application with Gympie Regional Council for the $2 billion-plus project, and the period for public objections has now closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Armstrong told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> on Monday that all being well, he hoped the project would receive a go-ahead within the next few months.<\/p>\n

He said SolarQ had already consulted with all relevant State Government departments, and had also briefed Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington on their plans.<\/p>\n

He said he was surprised at the high level of positive support the project had received from the general community, which was something he had not previously seen in his career.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re putting up a transmission line or a tower on a coal-fired power station, there’s always objections,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But in this case, we’ve actually had people step forward and ask how they can help, and that’s really great.”<\/p>\n

Mr Armstrong said he thought this was probably because most of the community was now very comfortable with solar and realised it was a safe, non-polluting source of power.<\/p>\n

He thought another advantage of the project was that unlike a coal mine or a power station, any problems that might arise could be easily addressed.<\/p>\n

“To avoid visual pollution on the landscape, we want to put vegetation barriers around the solar farm which would shield it from view,” he said.<\/p>\n

“And if there are noise problems, we can always move the inverters to another location so people aren’t affected. And so on.<\/p>\n

“Solar is very gentle on the landscape compared to other forms of power generation, and that’s another big advantage.”<\/p>\n

The project, if approved, is expected to create up to 450 full-time jobs during its 18-month construction phase, and six to eight full-time jobs afterwards.<\/p>\n