CEFC to support network capacity for Queensland REZ

The Australian government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) on Thursday unveiled a AUD-160-million (USD 112m/EUR 109m) financing commitment to support the Southern Downs Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in Queensland.

CEFC said its investment will unlock an additional 500 MW of new network hosting capacity. This will be in addition to the proposed 1,000 MW of renewable plant capacity to support the MacIntyre Wind Precinct, including the 103-MW Karara and 923-MW MacIntyre wind farms.

In this way, the REZ will be developed at scale and future-proofed. The financing will also help Powerlink, Queensland’s publicly-owned transmission company, keep connection costs down for the initial or foundation generators.

Powerlink will build and operate 65 km (40 miles) of overhead transmission lines and two new switching stations in the southern part of the Southern Downs REZ. The company has this month initiated work on-ground on connecting the wind precinct to the grid.

The Queensland government announced in March that Powerlink had signed a deal to connect the MacIntyre Wind Precinct to the grid.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.698/EUR 0.681)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!