An iconic 200-year-old station in Tasmania’s Northern Midlands, renowned for its wool products, will host a 288MW solar farm, the first of a series of projects that will include offshore wind in the Bass Strait, a new renewables player has announced.
Launceston-headquartered, Tasmanian-owned renewables outfit TasRex, which is headed up by Bess Clark, the former Marinus Link chief executive, held a company launch at the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone on Thursday.
Ms Clark said the company planned to build up to 5GW of onshore and offshore wind and solar generation over the medium-term, including offshore wind projects in the Bass Strait, off Tasmania’s North-East and North-West coasts.
Its first project likely to get off the ground is a $500m, 288MW solar farm located on grazier Roderic O’Connor’s iconic Connorville station at Cressy, a 17400ha holding that once hosted Queen Elizabeth II.
The solar farm, currently before Northern Midlands Council for planning approval, has a tentative completion date of 2026, pending the DA process and successful tender, Ms Clark said.
According to TasRex figures, the solar farm would have a footprint of 600ha, involve 670,000 individual panels and create 370 direct jobs during the construction phase, with a further 25–30 ongoing, permanent jobs.
Part of the project would involve building a 220kV transmission line to the nearest substation, Palmerston.
With Tasmania consuming approximately 1200MW of electricity each day, the solar farm could power approximately one-sixth of the state at full capacity, Ms Clark said.
TasRex has signed an MOU with the state government to prioritise Tasmanian suppliers and local jobs, with Ms Clark noting the need for the company to work with government to “map our skills needs and identify training pathways”.
“We can build a pipeline of opportunities that will skill-up Tasmanians,” she said.
Ms Clark said conversations were ongoing with additional landholders regarding future onshore wind and solar projects, with more projects needed to take TasRex to its goal of 5GW of renewables generation.
Regarding its plans for offshore wind projects in the Bass Strait, Ms Clark said it was awaiting advice from the Commonwealth. A ministerial declaration must be first made on the proposed area’s suitability, before TasRex can submit an Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Feasibility Licence application.
Mr O’Connor said the continuing diversification of Connorville, which also earns income via a range of biodiversity and carbon storage projects, will ensure the business’ survival into the future.
“With Marinus Link going ahead, we have a golden opportunity to create more business in the state,” Mr O’Connor said.
Tasmania is in desperate need of additional electricity generation to meet its ongoing and future energy needs, with the state government targeting a doubling of renewable generation by 2040.
