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$220m education investment to generate hundreds of construction jobs
The Queensland Government has announced a $220 million package to refurbish education facilities for state schools. The package will create hundreds of jobs for tradespeople and construction workers across the state.
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$1.96B QLD MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct Approved
Two windfarms and up to 400 jobs in the Southern Downs are a step closer to reality with the State Assessment and Referral Agency giving the green light.Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Steven Miles said Acciona received approval to build the $1.96 billion MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct (the Precinct) at Cement Mills, approximately 40 kilometres south-west of Warwick.“Soon there will be 180 wind turbines in the Darling Downs South West region propelling up to 1026 megawatts of energy into Queensland’s electricity network,” Mr Miles said.“Once operational the MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply about 700,000 Queensland homes.“The MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct is set to provide up to 400 local jobs during construction, with an additional 240 jobs for the construction of the 64km transmission line, and 14 fulltime jobs once in operation.“Acciona also expects its local spend during construction to exceed $500 million, which is great news for the Southern Downs, Goondiwindi, and Toowoomba communities.”Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni said the project would deliver jobs for Queenslanders.“I’m pleased that Acciona have committed to our Government’s Buy Queensland approach to use a local workforce and suppliers on this $1.96 billion project,” he said.“This will deliver significant economic benefits for the Darling Downs and beyond, and more renewable megawatts as the state works to reach its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.“The commitment to a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 has already enabled more than $9.9 billion of investment since December 2016 and created 7,000 construction jobs.Mr de Brenni said the 103 megawatt Karara Wind Farm, which forms part of the MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct, will be owned and operated by the Government-owned energy generator, CleanCo Queensland.“This will be a central energy generator for CleanCo and will significantly bolster its portfolio of low-emission energy assets – owned by Queensland, for Queensland.”In addition to owning and operating the Karara Wind Farm, CleanCo will also purchase 400 megawatts of renewable energy per year from the MacIntyre Wind Farm.CleanCo CEO Dr Maia Schweizer said the approval is a significant step forward for the project.“CleanCo is proud to be partnering with Acciona to deliver such a significant project in Queensland’s renewable energy landscape,” Dr Schweizer said.“With this project we are harnessing wind with a profile that perfectly complements solar energy - that allows us to provide reliable, affordable low-emissions energy to our large commercial and industrial customers using our unique portfolio, and is an important step toward unlocking Queensland’s potential to generate and use globally competitive clean energy.” Acciona’s Australian Managing Director for Energy, Brett Wickham said the 36,000-hectare MacIntyre windfarm represents the company’s largest ever wind farm.“We are excited to be moving forward with this project and are proud to support the Queensland Government’s decarbonisation strategy.“The Precinct will avoid the emission of nearly 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.”Part of the Precinct will be developed in partnership with Queensland’s own Ark Energy Corporation. Ark Energy, a subsidiary of Korea Zinc Co. and the Australian vehicle for its clean energy business, has taken a 30 per cent stake in the 923 megawatt MacIntyre Wind Farm exercisable at Final Investment Decision. The approved development of the Precinct includes the 162 turbine MacIntyre project, the smaller 18 turbine Karara project and 64km overhead transmission line to the Powerlink network near Millmerran.Acciona expects to start construction on the MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct in the second half of this year and be fully operational by 2024.
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Coomera Connector’s Preferred Northern Route Confirmed
The preferred route for the new Coomera Connector’s northern section has been identified following an independent study of potential routes, with $1.5 billion in funding already secured for stage one of the project. The route is proposed to cross the Albert River east of Eagleby, connecting to the M1 and Logan Motorway at Loganholme.It was considered in comparison to six other alternative routes by independent traffic planners and environmental specialists.Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister, Mark Bailey, said the Coomera Connector would be critical to easing traffic congestion between the Gold Coast and Logan.“Thanks to our state’s strong management of the COVID-19 health and economic crises, more Australians are choosing Queensland as the place to live and invest in,” Mr Bailey said.“Even before COVID, communities in the northern Gold Coast were among the fastest growing parts of Australia.“The Coomera Connector is a major project in our $50 billion infrastructure guarantee to build better roads and support new jobs for Queenslanders.“It will become a key route for residents making local trips without having to get on the M1.“The Palaszczuk Government has worked with the Federal Government to lock in $1.5 billion to start building stage one between Nerang and Coomera, but we can’t lose momentum on planning for future stages.”Mr Bailey said independent specialists involved in the route assessment agreed the previously gazetted Coomera Connector alignment was the most suitable alignment.“We gave a commitment to the community to rigorously investigate six alternative alignments for the northern section of the Coomera Connector,” Mr Bailey said.“I thank the community members who put their time and effort into that process.“Key considerations for independent specialists were the impacts on communities, impacts on the environment, the proposed cost, and the ability to reduce M1 congestion.“The conclusion from their assessments was that the current Coomera Connector alignment had the least number of impacts on properties and homes and did not impact on the RAMSAR wetlands located north of the Logan River.”Mr Bailey said community proposals to connect the new road to Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road would impact more properties due to the need to expand Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road to six lanes in some sections, driving higher traffic volumes past three schools and increasing project costs.“Connecting to Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road was also found to not be as effective in reducing M1 congestion, compared to the gazetted alignment which provides a direct connection to the Logan and Pacific Motorway interchange at Loganholme.”Mr Bailey said all options for the Coomera Connector’s northern section were located within the Logan and Albert River catchments.“Concerns have been raised by some community members about the preferred route’s impact on the wetlands next to Eagleby.“To avoid those impacts, one of the alternatives put forward by the community was to build the new road further east, through the Gilberton and Alberton area.“Assessments found that option would impact a larger portion of more environmentally sensitive areas, including RAMSAR wetlands to the north of the Logan River and a Koala Priority Area.”Mr Bailey said the community would continue to be closely involved in planning for the future road connection.“Our focus over the next 18 months on the northern section of the Coomera Connector will be determining the staging plan for future works between Loganholme and Coomera,” Mr Bailey said.“When planning major roads, we always seek to design and construct them in an environmentally sensitive manner, in consultation with the local community.“The Smithfield Bypass that’s currently being built north of Cairns is a good example of that.“As part of that project, a new wetland habitat was created by excavating the site and using soil from the project to create bunds that could be planted with native flora, including water plants suitable for local bird life.“Our project team will look for opportunities like that to enhance the local environment around Eagleby, with the potential to include features like additional board walks around the wetlands to support bird watching and ecotourism.”Mr Bailey said a series of community information sessions would be held in the coming weeks to share details from the independent Coomera Connector route assessments.“We’ll hold at least four community information sessions at Beenleigh, Cornubia, Carbrook and Eagleby, as well as letterbox the local community to explain the findings of the independent route assessments,” Mr Bailey said.Background:The 45km Coomera Connector corridor between Loganholme and Nerang was formally confirmed in the Queensland Government Gazette on 15 March 2019.
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