Ratch Australia aims to start work on USD-75m solar park in 2016

Power producer Ratch Australia Corp Ltd hopes to start construction in 2016 of an AUD-100-million (USD 75m/EUR 68m) solar power plant in Queensland, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said Monday.

Anil Nangia, general manager of business management, was cited as saying that the project in Collinsville had been on hold due to the uncertainty around the Renewable Energy Target (RET). In late June, the Australian parliament passed legislation that restored bipartisan support for the RET so many projects are now moving forward.

The Australian Clean Energy Council’s CEO, Kane Thornton, said in a separate statement today the peak body expects “approximately AUD 10 billion of investment and thousands of jobs will be created across 30-50 large-scale renewable energy projects over the next five years, as well as hundreds of medium-sized projects.”

The ABC report did not include further details on the Ratch projects. Over the years, the company has announced plans for two solar developments for Collinsville -- one for a 20 MW-30 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and one for a 30 MW hybrid solar thermal power station. A year ago it was reported that the company has scrapped the latter project due to high costs.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.747/EUR 0.677)

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