Mytilineos breaks ground on 110 MW Moura solar project

Greek industrial group Mytilineos continues to build out its Australian renewable energy portfolio with confirmation early works have begun at its $120 million Moura Solar Farm in Queensland’s Banana Shire.

In an update released earlier this week, Banana Shire Deputy Mayor Colin Semple welcomed the beginning of construction of the 110 MW solar power plant, a first for the region widely known for its coal mining heritage.

Council said the renewable energy project, being developed about 12 km north-east of Moura and 6.5 km south-west of town of Banana, is expected to inject “significant revenue” into the local economy, generating an estimated 250 jobs during construction.

“We look forward to seeing the innovative new technology that the Moura Solar Farm will provide and watch with interest to see how the industry progresses, particularly in our region,” Semple said.

The solar farm, which will connect to the Moura Substation via an overhead transmission line, will comprise an estimated 185,000 solar modules mounted on a single axis tracking system, spread across approximately 203 hectares. There is also scope to add a battery energy storage system at a later date.

Construction company Vikcon has commenced civil works on site while fellow Queensland-based company All Energy Contracting said it had started trenching and cable lay.

Network operator Powerlink said the construction of the required connection infrastructure, including a new feeder bay at the Moura Substation and associated connection work, has already been completed.

Construction of the solar farm is expected to the completed around August 2022.

Once operational, the project is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to power more than 43,000 Australian homes. But even before it comes online, more than half of the output has been allocated through a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Queensland government-owned generator CS Energy.

Originally developed by Esco Pacific, the project was acquired by Mytilineos in late 2020 and is part of a growing portfolio of solar farms the Greek company is developing in Australia.

According to the company, its Australian portfolio totals 400 MW including the 75 MW Wyalong, 40 MW Corowa, and the 40 MW Junee solar farms in New South Wales (NSW). The 40 MW Wagga Solar Farm and a planned 23 MW extension, labelled Wagga 2, are also part of the portfolio.

Mytilineos said work on the Corowa, Junee and Wagga solar farms has commenced and the remaining projects in its Australian portfolio are “reaching the maturity stage and will be ready to start construction during 2022”.

Nikos Papapetrou, general manager of the RSD Business Unit, said this would further consolidating Mytilineos’ position in the wider Australian and Pacific market.

“Australia is a key market for Mytilineos’ global renewables development strategy, extending across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America regions,” he said.

Mytilineos said the Australian projects are part of a worldwide pipeline of solar PV and energy storage projects under various stages of development that exceeds 4 GW.