Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest’s private company Squadron Energy has marked the start of construction on the $3 billion Clarke Creek renewable energy precinct with a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of what it has described as Australia’s largest grid-connected renewable energy project. The Clarke Creek project comprises an 800 MW wind farm, up to 400 MW of solar installations, and a battery energy storage facility of an as yet unspecified size although there have been reports Squadron is looking at installing up to 2 GWh of battery storage at the site.

At the time, that meant adding peaking capacity with gas turbines. Peaker plants run only at times of high electricity demand, which means that they generally have a low capacity factor – in many instances they are only called into action for about 10% of the entire year, each year.

The Queensland government has announced that it will establish a $2 billion clean energy fund as part of the state’s economic response to Covid-19 that will “supercharge” the state’s expansion of its renewable energy and green manufacturing industries.

The Queensland government has announced that it will establish a $2 billion clean energy fund as part of the state’s economic response to Covid-19 that will “supercharge” the state’s expansion of its renewable energy and green manufacturing industries.