Origin up against Euro majors for giant Qld renewables project
Origin Energy is up against two European rivals vying for the right to build what would be one of Queensland’s largest renewable energy projects, supplying green energy to a plant in the state’s north that will produce vanadium.
Vanadium is a designated critical metal used in energy storage.
Junior miner QEM short-listed a venture between Origin – under offer from Brookfield and EIG – and Energy Estate alongside separate rival bids from Italy’s Enel Green Power and Spain’s Acciona Energia to develop, own and run the hybrid wind and solar project with up to 1 gigawatt of capacity.
The project would involve three stages of wind and solar farm development. AP
QEM managing director Gavin Loyden said a final decision on the winning bid would be made within three-to-four weeks, with discussions on the three short-listed proposals already well advanced.
He said the project had attracted keen interest also from smaller and medium-sized renewables developers but that working with a larger company should help guarantee construction on-time and at a competitive cost for power supply,
“We needed the guys that can… do this thing on time,” he said, noting that about two years have been saved on the timeline because of the work QEM has already been doing in monitoring the wind and solar resource, which has been ongoing since last year.
“These guys can bring their power to bear on it,” he said of the larger companies’ ability to source the equipment that will be needed for construction. Preliminary estimates suggest the renewable energy project will cost about $1.4 billion, but the final cost will be determined by the developer.
Mr Loyden said the high quality of the bidders should support QEM’s intention to obtain competitive energy
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