Enel Green Power Australia, a subsidiary of Italian energy company Enel, has agreed to acquire the 1GW Julia Creek renewables project in Australia from QEM.

The project is located next to QEM’s flagship Julia Creek vanadium and oil shale project in north-west Queensland.

It will generate 1GW of power through a combination of wind and solar energy.

Enel will make an upfront payment of A$3m along with two contingent milestone payments totalling A$4m and a further contingent milestone payment after reaching a final investment decision.

QEM will also receive revenue-based royalty payments of between 1% and 2% during the project’s operations.

The company will be supplied with 25MW to power the mining operations under a ten-year power purchase agreement.