SYDNEY, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Spanish energy giant Acciona has been selected by the Queensland State government in Australia on Friday to develop 1,250 hectares of land for a large-scale wind farm near the city of Gladstone.
"Acciona Energy will develop, finance, construct and operate a 500 million Australian dollar (389 million U.S. dollars) solar farm through a 30-year lease with the Queensland government," minister for state development, manufacturing, infrastructure and planning Cameron Dick said in a statement.
At maximum capacity, the facility is expected to produce around 265 megawatts of energy, which will be able to supply up to 122,000 households.
With an influx of recent sustainable initiatives, the move comes as a part of the state's strategic push into massive renewable energy developments.
"Over the past 18 months, five large-scale solar projects have commenced operations bringing the total operational capacity of renewable energy in Queensland to more than 780 megawatts," Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said.
"Another 23 large-scale projects, totalling 2,200 megawatts, are currently financially committed or under construction."
In total the combined projects are expected to create around 3,600 jobs and boost investment by a whopping 4.2 billion Australian dollars (3.25 million U.S. dollars).
Construction is set to begin in the second half of 2019, with completion due towards the end of 2020.?