The federal government has granted environmental approval for ZEBRE’s proposed Hookey Creek Solar Farm in just 17 days.
The 100MW Hookey Creek Solar Farm will be located 25km northwest of Gympie in Queensland, and includes a 200MW battery energy storage system with up to eight hours of storage capacity.
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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 showcased 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.
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“This was made possible because the 267ha 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.”
