Adani has apparently been developing plans to build a large scale solar plant in the Bowen Basin, in the heart of Queensland's major coal region in Australia. It has been learnt that executives from Adani have been meeting with landowners in the Isaac Regional Council to seek their interest in doing a deal to host a large solar farm.
The company has been for long, trying to develop a controversial mega-coal mining project in the Falilee Basin, seeking support from the federal and state government. A spokesman speaking for the Indian firm was unavailable to immediately confirm the status of the project. However, if a project is proposed, it will likely take some months to merely get development approval from the local council, even after agreements are struck with local landowners.
Queensland has emerged as a hotspot for large scale solar developments, with Ergon Energy holding a tender for up to 150MW of capacity. Several proposals have been made for large scale solar in the region, including from the proponents of a large scale pumped hydro plant on an old gold mine, proponents of a combined 1,200MW solar and wind hybrid plant inland from Townsville, a potential 2GW mega solar park in southern Queensland, and various other large scale plants of 100MW or more.
A solar project from Adani would be ironic, considering its commitment to the coal and the fact that it would be located in the middle of coal country. Adani has a total of 10,480 MW of generation capacity, all of it in coal, except for one 40MW solar park that is actually operating. Recent solar auctions show that the cost of solar energy is cheaper than that using imported coal. Other Indian coal companies are also turning towards solar, with even the state owned India Coal – the world’s biggest coal company – announcing that it would install 1GW of solar to help power its assets.
