The local council of Burdekin Shire in Queensland (Australia) has approved the staged development of the 1.3 GWp (1.1 GWac) Cambridge solar project in Townsville. The AUD2.4bn (US$1.6bn) solar project was proposed by Cambridge JMD Australia and it is planned to be developed in three stages with minimum capacities of 374 MWp (300 MWac), 257 MWp (205 MWac) and 699 MWp (560 MWac). It will be connected to the Powerlink high voltage electricity transmission corridor that traverses the site. The Cambridge solar power plant sits within Queensland’s Northern Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), on sugar cane farming land, and it received its federal environmental approval in September 2024. The project is expected to start construction in 2025 and should generate its first power in late 2026, with full commissioning of the three stages in 2031. 

Cambridge RE Partners is a Singapore-based fund manager with investments in real estate and – more recently – renewable energy. Cambridge JMD Australia is collaborating on the solar project with North Queensland landholder Davco and Confluence Energy, which will be responsible for overseeing all development activities.

At the end of 2023, Australia had a total installed capacity of 106 GW, including nearly 34 GW of solar (32%), and solar accounted for 16% of the power mix.