Amazon & Vena Energy solar farm for Queensland, Australia
In February 2024 Amazon announced investments with Vena Energy for a solar farm in Queensland that is larger than 700 football fields – 250,000 solar photovoltaic panels with up to 125 megawatts of electricity – to power over 60,000 Australian homes annually
Amazon has teamed up with Vena Energy, a Singapore HQ’s renewable energy company, to commence commercial operations at the Woleebee project in the Western Downs region of Queensland. The solar farm will be owned and operated by Vena Energy.
In addition to the Queensland solar investment, Amazon has two solar projects in NSW, at Suntop and Gunnedah, and a wind farm in Hawkesdale, Victoria, also runs rooftop solar projects at its facilities in Sydney and Melbourne.
Amazon, the global retail titan, global renewable energy portfolio as of November 2023 that is big enough to power 6.7 million homes with Asia projects in India, South Korea, and Singapore, announcing two new wind farms in China, breaking ground for projects in India and Indonesia, with new solar projects in Japan and New Zealand on the boards – and more than 100 new solar and wind energy project investments globally in 2023.
New economic data from Amazon shows the company’s investments in wind and solar farms in Australia from 2020 to 2022 generated an estimated AU$467 million in local economic investment and this project marks the fourth in Australia – “driving strong sustainability outcomes for our customers and local communities,” said Ken Haig, Head of Energy and Environment Policy, Asia Pacific & Japan, Amazon Web Services – and “demonstrates our continued investment in Australia’s future”.
Mick de Brenni, the Queensland Energy Minister, praised the solar farm investment, stating that it validates the state’s renowned renewable resources and will create more green jobs.
He emphasized Queensland’s commitment to leading Australia’s transition to clean energy and partnering with international businesses and industries to stimulate local growth.
The solar project will be a part of a larger project on the Western Downs, which will include Queensland’s biggest utility-scale battery.
The project will be operational after a challenging year for large-scale projects, with data from SunWiz indicating a contraction in Australia’s overall solar projects last year, primarily due to a decrease in the number of solar farms.
The Australian industry installed 4.6 gigawatts of solar power in 2023, a decrease from 5.6 gigawatts in 2022, according to SunWiz.
Warwick Johnston, the managing director of SunWiz, suggested that these figures should serve as a warning for governments to assist businesses in investing more in renewable energy. He stressed the need for policy changes at the federal and state levels to expedite the development and construction of solar farms.
