The Banana Shire Council has given the green light for a solar farm to be built just outside Baralaba.
This will be solar company FRV Services Australia’s second farm in central Queensland after the Central Highlands Regional Council gave it the go ahead in September to build one outside Tieri.
The proposed Baralaba Solar Farm is expected to create up to 200 jobs in its 18-month construction phase planned from 2017 onwards.
The farm would take up to 520 hectares at its proposed site 4 kilometres from Baralaba, which is currently being used for cattle grazing.
FRV is a subsidiary of global power developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, based in Spain, and has already built the fully operational 20 megawatt Royalla Solar Farm in the ACT and is currently constructing the 56MW Moree Solar Farm in NSW.
The Baralaba Solar Farm will be built on a site located next to an existing sub-station, providing easy access to the national electricity grid, according to the company.
Solar panels will be mounted in rows on a system that will track the path of the sun and the electricity generated will be fed into the grid.
