Acciona Energia has announced that it will begin building the AUD 500 million ($330 million) Aldoga Solar Farm in Queensland, Australia, early next year. The Spanish renewable energy developer expects construction of the 380 MW PV plant to be completed before the end of 2025.

Acciona Energia Managing Director Brett Wickham said the solar farm will create a peak workforce of 350 jobs and inject AUD 150 million back into the local economy during the 18-month construction period.

“Acciona Energia have been working closely with the supply chain as part of our local content strategy which will source at least AUD 150 million in work from local companies and suppliers around Gladstone and the Sunshine State to help build the project,” he said.

The entire output of the PV plant, being developed about 20 kilometres northwest of the industrial centre of Gladstone, is linked to a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Queensland’s publicly owned energy company, Stanwell Corp.

Stanwell plans to use all the energy produced at Aldoga to help power the proposed AUD 12.4 billion Central Queensland Hydrogen Hub (CQ-H2) project which would initially involve the installation of up to 640 MW of electrolysers to produce green hydrogen for domestic use and export.

The CQ-H2 project, being built on a 236-hectare site alongside the solar project, is now in the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) stage. Commercial operation for CQ-H2 is scheduled for 2028.

“The Aldoga Solar Farm will be a catalyst for a vibrant hydrogen industry here in Gladstone and we’re proud to finally be getting construction underway,” Wickham said, noting that the project underlines Acconia’s commitment to Australia as a strategic country to accelerate its growth.

The company is also building the 1,026 MW MacIntyre Wind Farm near Warwick in southwest Queensland and developing the adjacent 1,000 MW Herries Range Wind Farm, an expansion of the MacIntyre Wind Precinct that will double the precinct’s total generation capacity to 2 GW.