CIMIC, the Australian subsidiary of ACS, has acquired a solar project in the State of Queensland, Australia, through its company Pacific Partnerships. The project in question is the Hopeland solar park, with a capacity of 300 megawatts peak (MWdc). This represents the second major solar project under the ownership of the Pacific Partnerships subsidiary, and marks its first acquisition in the state of Queensland.
The materialization of this project will be carried out through Pacific Partnerships Energy, the energy branch of the company, which will be in charge of the development, investment and management of the operations of the Hopeland solar park. Located on Darling Downs, 290 kilometers west of Brisbane, this project will take advantage of the region’s high solar radiation, backed by the Queensland Energy and Jobs Scheme, which highlights the high quality of plots in this area.
The Darling Downs region has become a major focus for renewable energy, with around 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of committed capacity in renewable energy projects and an additional 11 gigawatts under development in South Queensland, cementing its position as a leading area for sustainable power generation in Australia.
The solar park will support the energy transition
The executive president of the CIMIC group, Juan Santamaría, has highlighted his company’s commitment to support Queensland’s energy transition and to the development of large-scale renewable generation assets.
“Queensland is a strategic focus as we expand our diversified national portfolio of energy and utility assets and contribute to Queensland’s Energy and Jobs Plan to bring 70% of electricity consumption from renewables by 2032 and 80 % in 2035”, he explained.
For his part, the managing director of Pacific Partnerships, Simon Nicholls, stressed that the development of the Hopeland solar park in the South Queensland Renewable Energy Zone (QREZ) will support the energy transformation of this Australian state, create jobs , will diversify the economy and reduce emissions.
“We are delighted to have reached this milestone. The solar park will have the potential to generate enough stand-alone electricity to supply approximately 100,000 medium-sized homes in Queensland and its strategic location close to the Western Downs substation makes it ideal for co-location. of a potential 175MW/350MWh battery storage system”, he added.
With the support of other CIMIC companies
Cimic has acquired the Hopeland solar park from Renewable Energy Partners, a Brisbane-based company that originates and promotes Australian renewable energy projects.
In this sense, the general director and CEO of Renewable Energy Partners, Luke McDonald, has pointed out that the acquisition of the development rights of the Hopeland park by Pacific Partnerships “provides a high degree of certification for the successful completion of the project and the long-term generation of quality renewable energy for Queensland”.
Currently, Pacific Partnerships is carrying out the first works within the framework of the development of the project and collaborates with UGL, another company of the CIMIC group, to support this phase. Engineering, contracting and construction will be handled by Pacific Partnerships, with operations and renewable energy generation expected to begin in 2026.
