CopperString’s founders and seven rural councils are banding together to advance a planned 930km clean energy corridor for western Queensland.

The Central Western Queensland Remote Area Planning and Development (RAPAD) board, the Barcaldine Regional Council and VisIR have formalised plans for the development with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announced in Brisbane today.

The RAPAD Power Grid is set to comprise 5.2GW of HVDC transmission technology and about 4200 megawatts of solar generation.

The proposed transmission line would link the important Townsville-to-Mount Isa CopperString corridor at Hughenden through the central west and into the Biloela and Gladstone.

RAPAD chairman and Longreach Mayor Tony Rayner said the central west could help build on the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan (QEJP) targets for 80 per cent renewables by 2035 through the construction of a new transmission network from Hughenden to Barcaldine and east to Biloela.

This would help power the state’s green industrial and hydrogen export ambitions, particularly in Gladstone and Townsville.

“Western Queensland has an unrivalled capacity to produce clean energy and green industrial products, such as urea, and export these products across the State, the nation and the world just as our grazing industry has done for generations.” Cr Rayner said. 

“With the government’s commitment to deliver CopperString 2032 coming online as part of the Energy and Jobs Plan, and Gladstone and Townsville emerging as green industrial hubs, it seems our region might hold the key to Queensland becoming a clean energy superpower.

“We want to ensure we take that opportunity to strengthen our local economy, creating new jobs and complementing our economic mainstays of agriculture and tourism.”

VisIR founder Joseph O’Brien said the RAPAD Power Grid was led by the community and presented a unique opportunity to build on the QEJP with a clear pathway to supply Queensland as a clean energy superpower.

“Western Queensland holds the key to nature-positive clean-energy development and our partnership with the central west communities is a unique and powerful model that we are grateful to be part of,” he said.

The RAPAD Power Grid comprises:

• 4.2 gigawatts (4200MW) of solar (site selected)
• 5.2 gigawatt capacity HVDC transmission network
• Common-user battery storage integrated with the transmission network
• Third-party renewables will be able to access the HVDC transmission line
• The transmission network will be a non-regulated line supported by long-term commercial contracts with major network users (generators and industrial/wholesale consumers)