Iberdrola, a Spanish electric utility company, has acquired the rights to Mount James wind farm in Queensland, Australia. The wind energy project covers more than 50,000 hectares of land and has completed its environmental studies. Reportedly, Mount James, in North Queensland, is said to be the world’s largest onshore wind farm, with a capacity of 1 GW. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed by either company.
As per the company’s statement, Iberdrola’s investment is projected to help Australia achieve its economic decarbonisation target of 50 per cent renewable energy by the end of this decade. With this acquisition, the Spanish utility has a portfolio of more than 3 GW in the region.
In December 2021, Iberdrola planned to build the world’s first wind storage battery in Biscay, Spain, which was expected to be operational in January 2022. The project is expected to come up at the Abadino TS, where the power from the 6 MW Oiz wind farm is evacuated. It would have a guaranteed storage capacity of 3.5 MWh, and installation will be handled by Ingeteam.
REGlobal’s Views: Iberdrola is expanding its presence in the Australian market as the country has high untapped renewable energy resource potential. Further, a significant thermal power capacity is getting decommissioned creating demand for new renewable power deployment.
