A wind farm being developed as part of the $3 billion, Andrew Forrest-backed Clarke Creek clean energy precinct will help take the Brisbane Airport to 100% renewables, as part of a landmark deal announced on Monday.
Brisbane Airport Corporation says it has inked a power purchase agreement with government-owned energy generator, Stanwell Corporation, to supply up to 185GWh of renewable energy a year to power the airport’s operations.
The renewable energy will be contracted from the 450MW Clarke Creek wind farm, currently being built north-west of Rockhampton in Queensland, as well as X-Elio’s 200MW Blue Grass solar farm in Queensland’s Western Downs region.
The Clarke Creek wind project is being built by Windlab for Forrest’s Squadron Energy, as stage one of a plan that will ultimately combine 800MW of wind with solar and battery storage to total more than 1GW in generation capacity and 2GWh of storage.
Just last week, the huge turbine blades for the project set sail for the port in Gladstone.
In 2020, a deal was struck with Queensland government-owned Stanwell Corporation to buy the majority of the output of the first-stage wind farm, marking the first major renewable energy off take deal for Stanwell, which supplies around 40% of Queensland’s coal-fired power.
Stanwell’s plan for the 346.5MW from Clarke Creek stage 1 was to sell to commercial and industrial customers and act as intermediary for the wind farm, taking responsibility for the dispatch and the bidding of the electricity generated into the National Electricity Market.
Two years later, Stanwell has struck a new deal to sell that renewable energy on to BAC, to power everything from the airport’s runway lights to its travellators and IT and electric vehicles, and help get it to net-zero emissions by 2025 – 25 years ahead of schedule.
Queensland energy minister Mick de Brenni says the deal shows that Stanwell is moving to diversify to support the decarbonisation of one of the hardest to abate sectors.
“From small businesses to big corporates like Brisbane Airport, they all have one thing in common – they want access to low emissions power,” the minister said.
“The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan sets out a path to bring another 22GW of renewable energy into the system, enabling Brisbane Airport to help travellers reduce their carbon footprint.
“The Palaszczuk government will invest $4.5 billion into its government-owned energy companies to build and own more renewable energy, storage and hydrogen projects, in partnership with carbon conscious consumers.”
Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke said the renewable energy offtake deal marked the “first of many” for the gen-tailer’s retail arm, Stanwell Energy.
“This is the first of many renewable energy options Stanwell Energy will be offering to support our commercial and industrial customers meet their decarbonisation requirements,” O’Rouke said.
“We are diversifying our generation portfolio in response to evolving market and consumer expectations to include renewable and low emission energy sources.”
Queensland environment minister Meaghan Scanlon says the deal will also make a big contribution to the state’s commitment to cut energy emissions by 90 per cent by 2035.
“The Palaszczuk government’s Energy and Jobs Plan is the most ambitious action on climate change and renewables in Queensland’s history,” Scanlon said.
“And what we’re seeing is businesses right across the state keen to take their own action and match our ambitions.
“This announcement shows the transformation of our coal-fired power stations to clean energy hubs is already reaping dividends in providing cheaper, renewable energy across Queensland,” the minister said.
