Jobs boost as solar farm wins approval

A RENEWABLE energy facility spread over 540ha will soon be under construction at Woodstock, creating more than 250 jobs.

An application for the solar farm lodged in April was approved by Townsville City Council yesterday after confirming environmental regulations had been met.

Mayor Jenny Hill said the “substantial venture” could generate up to 400MW of electricity.

The solar farm will be built by Edify Energy, an Australian renewable energy development and investment company based in Brisbane.

Edify Energy head of development Andy Winter said it was a significant milestone for the region. He said construction could begin mid- 2018.

“If we build it all as a single stage it will be complete inside of 12 months and that decision will be made closer to the confirmed start date,” he said.

The solar farm is set to create more than 250 jobs during construction. “Our site is only 40km out of the city and most of the jobs will be sourced locally,” Mr Winter said.

“We will specify a high de- gree of local content, especially as the trades we require are available in Townsville.”

The facility will also create three to five permanent jobs once complete.

Cr Hill said there had been one objection to the development proposal, however, changes to the plan resulted in the application being generally compliant with the City Plan.

During the assessment process, Edify Energy reduced the proposed footprint to minimise encroachment into areas identified as having high environmental importance.

A black- throated finch habitat was removed from the development area.

Mr Winter said the solar farm would use just 540ha of a possible 2300ha to adhere to an environmental survey.

“We have restricted to a smaller area for a few reasons, such as wetlands, the blackthroat finch and other environmentally significant areas we have decided to avoid rather than seek approval,” he said.

Cr Hill said conditions in place for the facility had been recommended by the State Government. “We are mindful that it is not a whole destruction of the vegetation,” she said.

OUR SITE IS ONLY 40KM OUT OF THE CITY AND MOST OF THE JOBS WILL BE SOURCED LOCALLY EDIFY ENERGY HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT ANDY WINTER